Ask for Specific Certifications, Not the Word "Certified"
"Certified" by itself means nothing without a name attached. Ask specifically whether technicians hold IICRC WRT (Water Damage Restoration Technician) or ASD (Applied Structural Drying) certification, since those are the verifiable industry credentials. Washington also has no state-issued mold remediation license, so a company that claims a Washington mold license is making a claim that doesn't exist, which is worth treating as a red flag rather than a selling point.
Ask What Equipment They Actually Bring
Extraction and drying require specific equipment: truck-mounted extraction units, LGR (low-grain refrigerant) dehumidifiers, and FLIR thermal imaging to find moisture behind walls without cutting into them. A company that can't describe what's on their truck, or that plans to bring household fans and a shop vac, isn't equipped for a real water damage job.
Ask How They Document the Job
Insurance claims live or die on documentation. Ask whether they photograph and log moisture readings throughout the job, not just before and after. A company with thin documentation can leave you defending your own claim later, often without the evidence an adjuster needs to approve it.
Ask About Pricing Before Any Work Starts
A legitimate company gives a written estimate before work begins, even if the final number depends on what they find once walls are opened. Be cautious of anyone who wants a number over the phone with no inspection, or who pressures you to sign anything before they've actually assessed the damage.
Ask How They Handle Bothell's Specific Risk Factors
Bothell has real, named local risk factors: the Sammamish River and North Creek confluence creates bidirectional flood risk for certain neighborhoods, and much of the city's older housing stock uses crawl-space construction rather than slab foundations. A company that's worked here before should be able to talk about these specifics without prompting. If they can't, that's a sign they're working from a generic script, not local knowledge.
Red Flags That Mean You Should Call Someone Else
Watch for door-to-door storm chasers, pressure to sign an insurance assignment-of-benefits form on the spot, and quotes that seem unusually low compared to everyone else. All three are common patterns behind restoration work that ends up costing more, not less, once problems surface later.
Want to ask us these exact questions? Call (425) 845-9888. Our crew is IICRC-certified and L&I-registered, and we're happy to answer every one of them before you decide.