Just after labor day weekend in 2023, I was an idiot. I forgot to turn off the stove after making some French fries for lunch. I had gone outside to enjoy the weather, and when I went back in to get something all I could see was flames and smoke. Over half of the interior of my house was charcoal.
After a couple of days to get my affairs in order with insurance and such, I contacted Servpro. I used their services for not only cleaning, but restoration. The cleaning was done out of Mason City, and they were amazing! Every single thing in my house needed cleaned. Not only the structure, but all of my belonging. What could not be cleaned they made a detailed list and provided me with photographs to turn into my insurance for replacement. The Ames office of Servpro was set to do the structural cleaning, but due to staffing issues, they were unable to get it done in a timely manner, so Mason City stepped in again to save the day and got the job done. With it being winter in Iowa in an unoccupied house, another disaster happened in this time. I had a pipe burst. Not only did they help me get the water turned off, but they immediately set to work, drying out the house to prepare for any repair that may be needed. Thankfully none was needed, but I had the water at the house shut off for almost six months. Six months, no running water, and a house full of walls and ceilings to scrub. They didn't let that stop them. When they drove down everyday from Mason City, they brought with them buckets and buckets of water to get the job done. Jessica was amazing to work with, and I can't help but sing her praises.
Reconstruction. That's a different story all together. It was a NIGHTMARE. Demo and rebuild didn't start, for real, until roughly August 2024. Almost a year. Between personal issues on my end, insurance issues, and Servpro's issues, that's when I was able to get a quote from them to turn into insurance. The day after I got the check from insurance, I paid my down payment to get the ball rolling. I believe this was the middle of August, so almost one year post incident. I started getting weekly update emails. Things were looking good, for two weeks. Then the emails stopped. I contacted my contact and realized I had been forgotten after the coordinator had left the company. No big deal, we had already addressed the Ames was short staffed. My contact apologized and promised to be starting again. I was given a finish date of November 1st. From the beginning of September to the middle of October I had no word. I had called my contact several times. No answers. I finally called the office after a week of daily attempted contact, I called the office. Within an hour, I had a call from Ty, the director of construction for this district. He stepped in, got the ball moving, and reconstruction started back up. Everything was going good again. November rolls around, they're still working. That's fine. As long as things are moving. Then, the conversations stopped. Again. Fast forward a week before Christmas, nearly two months after the date we were told it would be done. At this point I'm starting to get angry. Ty stepped in again and got the ball rolling again, this time personally overseeing the completion of the project. It is done!
Now, you may ask why I'm writing about the reconstruction being a nightmare but still giving a very high rating? Easy. Because of Ty. He took a disaster and made it into a positive. He got down to the root of the delay on my project, resolved it, personally took it over and got it done. Every single issue I have had with this company has been via communication, and it was acknowledged and corrected promptly, and I feel with grace. The work that went into the house, had a few minor hiccups, but they were quickly fixed. Loose screws here, cabinet doors opening the wrong way, little things that anyone could over look and were promptly addressed. And through all of our communication issues, I have never once felt like the quality of the work that was done was unacceptable.
