Industries / Restoration: water, mold and fire
One scheduler for restoration: water, mold and fire.
Works today
Take the emergency call, send a crew, plan the drying days, keep the paperwork straight.
Water damage restoration
Apex answers the emergency call, creates a daily drying-check route until the readings hit dry, and keeps the photos, equipment and claim details an insurer will ask for on one job.
Who it is for: Water mitigation and restoration companies with an on-call crew, running emergency extraction, drying and handoff to reconstruction.
What generic schedulers get wrong for water restoration
The emergency is the funnel
Target arrival is within 60 to 120 minutes, 24 hours a day. A calendar with office-hours windows loses the job to whoever answers first.
One job, three to five visits
Drying means a monitoring visit every day or so until the dry standard is met. Generic tools make you create each visit by hand.
Equipment is rented by the day
Which dehumidifier and air movers sit at which site, placed and retrieved, is a billing record as much as a tracking list.
The insurer wants a paper trail
Claim number, adjuster, scope, supplements and timestamped photos by phase are what win a dispute.
A storm turns one board into fifty calls
After a regional event the call volume outruns your crews. Overflow to partner crews and temporary staff needs to be a mode of the board, not a spreadsheet.
Drawn in code for water restoration
A day in a water restoration business
- Emergency
- Drying check
- Equipment pickup
- Estimate visit
- Reconstruction
Drying checks stop when readings reach dry.
A trend by room and material. In build.
- Call
- Authorization signed
- Photos by phase
- Scope sent
- Supplement
- Paid
Carrier, claim number and adjuster stay on the job. Insurance workflow is in build.
A water-loss job: an emergency visit, daily checks and a claim that keeps its paper trail. Illustration of planned screens: entries are examples, not customer data, and not every screen shown is built yet.
How water restoration runs in Apex: the key settings
Starter settings for this trade. You change any of them. Nothing here is a promise about your numbers.
How jobs get booked
Emergency response 24 hours a day with a target arrival, then daily monitoring visits until dry.
Stops in a day
Around 4 to 6 visits a day per crew, mixing new emergencies and monitoring checks.
Routing
Emergency calls bypass density; monitoring visits cluster by area.
Who says yes
Dispatcher confirms emergencies; the owner confirms estimates and insurance scope.
How you price
Line items matched to an estimating standard, equipment billed per day, and carrier price lists where they apply.
Repeat customers
Auto-created drying checks every day or so until the dry standard is met, then equipment pickup.
Follow-up calls
Call after pickup; day-30 call about the claim and any reconstruction handoff.
Review requests
Review request after the claim is settled and no issue is open, once.
What we ask the customer
- Source of the water and when it started
- Category and class of the loss, if known
- Affected rooms and approximate area
- Insured? Carrier, claim number and adjuster
- Is power on? Occupants home?
- Age of the building (asbestos and lead flag)
Photos and papers to collect
- Timestamped photos by room and phase
- Moisture readings by room and material
- Before, during and after photos
- Signed work authorization and direction to pay
Rules to watch
- IICRC certification on the lead tech
- State licence for mold work where it applies
- Asbestos and lead flag on older buildings
- Work authorization signed on arrival
What you get as a water restoration business
4 of 16 work today. The other 12 are coming soon.
Missed-call text-back
A text on a customer-initiated call, asking for the source, rooms and photos.
Photo chaser
A task when moisture or damage photos have not arrived.
Follow-up and claim call tasks
Dated calls after pickup and at day 30.
Scheduled drying-check windows
Arrival windows for each drying check.
24/7 emergency dispatch with response target
A call becomes a dispatch with a promised arrival and an escalation.
Daily drying-check visits
Created automatically after the first visit and stopped when readings reach dry.
Moisture log by room and material
Readings each visit with a trend and a dry-standard flag.
Equipment placed and retrieved
Scan or tap check-in per unit with per-day rental billing.
Insurance workflow
Carrier, claim number, adjuster, scope and supplements on the job.
Estimating-standard export
Line items ready for the insurer's estimating software.
Timestamped phase photos
Photos filed by room and phase to answer a dispute.
Work authorization and direction to pay
Signed on arrival on the crew phone.
Crew certifications and licenses
Assignment blocked when a certification has lapsed.
Mitigation to reconstruction handoff
The job moves to a project pipeline with its documentation.
Storm surge overflow
Partner crews and temporary staff added to the board during a regional event.
Offline-first crew app
Readings and photos save with no signal and sync later.
The tools in water restoration, and where we can honestly do better
Tools our research found in use for water restoration: Albiware, DASH, PSA, Xcelerate, Restoration Manager, ServiceMonster, JobNimbus. Listing a tool is not a claim about it.
DASH
Reviewers on Capterra mention slowness and mobile freezing mid-task.
Review-site summary: Capterra, DASHWhat Apex does about it: The crew app is designed offline-first so a reading never waits on signal. It is in build.
Albiware
Reviewers on Capterra mention high price, paid training and hard-to-reach phone support.
Review-site summary: Capterra, AlbiWhat Apex does about it: Plan prices are public and no training fee appears on them. We will publish a support response target on the status page.
When another tool may be the better choice: Albiware and similar restoration tools are built around moisture logs, equipment tracking and estimating integration today. If you need those this month, they are the mature choice. Apex is newer and the restoration items above are in build.
What it costs for water restoration
Apex lists three public plans, priced by users: Solo $59 per month for 1 user, Crew $99 for 2 to 5 users, Business $129 for 6 users plus $10 for each extra user. No plan includes any texts, AI phone minutes or AI usage. For this trade we would start you on Business. A restoration company with an office and several crews usually has six or more users, which fits Business.
Housecall Pro lists Basic at $59, Essentials at $149 and Max at $299 per month billed annually, or $79, $189 and $329 billed monthly. Workiz does not publish plan prices, so we show none. These are public figures as read on 2026-10-06, verify before buying. Seat counts and included features differ between vendors, and we have not verified every one, so compare your own crew size on the pricing page before you decide. Texts and AI run on your own provider account or a prepaid wallet, and card processing is at the processor's own rate.
Water damage restoration: questions, answered first
Does Apex run a moisture log?
What is built for restoration today?
Can it handle insurance paperwork?
Does it dispatch at night?
Is the pack tested by a restoration company?
Mold remediation
Apex schedules mold work as a protocol of dated steps, assessment then containment then clearance, and holds the final invoice until the clearance result is on the job.
Who it is for: Licensed mold assessors and remediators working residential and small commercial losses, often after water damage.
Works with a few tweaksMold is covered in our research only inside restoration. Protocol and licensing items are domain knowledge to confirm with a licensed operator in each state.
What generic schedulers get wrong for mold remediation
It is a protocol, not a visit
Assess, write a plan, contain, remediate, then retest. Each step is a visit with a prerequisite, and a generic calendar has no dependencies.
Assessor and remediator may be different people
Many states separate testing from remediation. The system needs to keep them apart and link the results.
Clearance gates the finish
The job is not done until a post-remediation test passes. Closing it without one is a liability.
Licenses vary by state
A mold remediation license where required, plus asbestos and lead flags on older buildings, decides who may take the job.
Drawn in code for mold remediation
A day in a mold remediation business
- Assessment
- Containment
- Remediation
- Clearance test
- Rebuild
- Assessment
- Plan approved
- Containment
- Remediation
- Clearance test
- Passed
- Invoice
Each step needs the last. The invoice waits for a passing clearance result. Protocol steps are in build.
A failed clearance adds another remediation day and a retest.
Records are in build.
A mold job as a protocol: assess, contain, remediate, clear. Illustration of planned screens: entries are examples, not customer data, and not every screen shown is built yet.
How mold remediation runs in Apex: the key settings
Starter settings for this trade. You change any of them. Nothing here is a promise about your numbers.
How jobs get booked
Inspection window, then multi-day project blocks with a clearance visit at the end.
Stops in a day
One to three visits a day; containment days take a crew.
Routing
Dynamic cluster for assessments; remediation days sit apart.
Who says yes
Owner confirms the plan and the price before work starts.
How you price
Assessment fee, then a written remediation plan priced by area, with containment and equipment as lines.
Repeat customers
None; a follow-up retest reminder after remediation.
Follow-up calls
Call after clearance; day-30 check for recurrence.
Review requests
Review request after clearance passes, once.
What we ask the customer
- Where is the mold and how large an area
- Source of moisture and whether it is fixed
- Insured? Carrier and claim number
- Occupants with health concerns
- Building age (asbestos and lead flag)
- Test already done?
Photos and papers to collect
- Photos of each affected area
- Moisture readings
- Containment setup photos
- Clearance test report
Rules to watch
- State mold remediation license where required
- Assessor separate from remediator where the state requires it
- Asbestos and lead flag on older buildings
- Protective equipment and waste disposal records
What you get as a mold remediation business
4 of 13 work today. The other 9 are coming soon.
Inspection and clearance windows
Arrival windows for assessments and retests.
Missed-call text-back
A text asking for photos and the moisture source.
Photo chaser
A task when area photos have not arrived.
Day-30 recurrence check call
A dated call with outcomes.
Protocol of dated steps
Assessment, plan, containment, remediation and clearance, each gated by the last.
Clearance gate on the final invoice
The job cannot close until a passing result is attached.
Assessor and remediator kept apart
Separate records and users where the state requires it.
Containment and equipment log
Negative-air machines and scrubbers placed, running and retrieved.
Moisture source tracking
Whether the leak is fixed before remediation starts.
License and state-rule flags
Blocks assignment when a license does not match the job.
Lab sample chain of custody
Sample IDs from collection to the lab report.
Waste and disposal record
Bags, weights and disposal site per job.
Handoff to reconstruction
A cleared job moves to a rebuild pipeline with its documents.
The tools in mold remediation, and where we can honestly do better
Tools our research found in use for mold remediation: Albiware, DASH, ServiceMonster, Restoration Manager, JobNimbus. Listing a tool is not a claim about it.
DASH
Reviewers on Capterra mention slowness and mobile freezing mid-task.
Review-site summary: Capterra, DASHWhat Apex does about it: Crew screens are designed offline-first. They are in build.
Albiware
Reviewers on Capterra mention high price, paid training and hard-to-reach phone support.
Review-site summary: Capterra, AlbiWhat Apex does about it: Plan prices are public and no training fee appears on them.
When another tool may be the better choice: If your mold work comes through restoration software you already run, stay there. Apex helps most for an independent assessor or a small remediator who needs scheduling, text-back and follow-up calls first.
What it costs for mold remediation
Apex lists three public plans, priced by users: Solo $59 per month for 1 user, Crew $99 for 2 to 5 users, Business $129 for 6 users plus $10 for each extra user. No plan includes any texts, AI phone minutes or AI usage. For this trade we would start you on Crew. A small mold company with a few people fits Crew.
Housecall Pro lists Basic at $59, Essentials at $149 and Max at $299 per month billed annually, or $79, $189 and $329 billed monthly. Workiz does not publish plan prices, so we show none. These are public figures as read on 2026-10-06, verify before buying. Seat counts and included features differ between vendors, and we have not verified every one, so compare your own crew size on the pricing page before you decide. Texts and AI run on your own provider account or a prepaid wallet, and card processing is at the processor's own rate.
Mold remediation: questions, answered first
Does Apex support clearance testing?
Can I keep assessor and remediator separate?
Does it know my state license rules?
What can I use today?
Can customers send photos of the mold?
Fire and smoke restoration
Apex keeps a fire loss as one job across emergency board-up, soot cleaning, contents pack-out and reconstruction handoff, with the claim and the inventory in one record.
Who it is for: Fire and smoke restoration contractors, often running alongside water mitigation, handling cleaning, contents and rebuild.
Works with a few tweaksFire restoration appears in our research only inside the general restoration notes. This is the thinnest of the restoration packs.
What generic schedulers get wrong for fire and smoke restoration
The first call is board-up
Securing the structure within hours comes before cleaning. It is an emergency dispatch with a different crew and equipment.
Contents are an inventory
Every item packed out is photographed and listed, then stored, cleaned and returned. A job note cannot carry that.
Soot has types
Wet, dry and protein residues clean differently, and the method sets the price and the time.
The claim spans months
Mitigation, contents and reconstruction run on different clocks with the same adjuster.
Drawn in code for fire and smoke restoration
A day in a fire and smoke restoration business
- Board-up
- Soot cleaning
- Pack-out
- Odor treatment
- Rebuild
- Board-up
- Mitigation
- Contents pack-out
- Cleaning
- Odor
- Reconstruction
- Closed
One record from the first night to the rebuild. In build.
Phases overlap; the claim number stays the same.
Inventory is in build.
A fire loss across emergency board-up, pack-out and rebuild. Illustration of planned screens: entries are examples, not customer data, and not every screen shown is built yet.
How fire and smoke restoration runs in Apex: the key settings
Starter settings for this trade. You change any of them. Nothing here is a promise about your numbers.
How jobs get booked
Emergency board-up and mitigation, then scheduled cleaning, pack-out and rebuild blocks.
Stops in a day
Two to four visits a day, mostly project days.
Routing
Emergency bypasses density; later phases cluster by area.
Who says yes
Dispatcher confirms emergencies; owner confirms scope and contents estimates.
How you price
Estimating-standard line items for structure, a contents inventory price, and a separate reconstruction scope.
Repeat customers
None; staged visits across mitigation, contents and rebuild.
Follow-up calls
Check-in call weekly during the loss; day-30 call after reconstruction.
Review requests
Review request after reconstruction closes, once.
What we ask the customer
- Date and cause of the fire
- Structure secure? Board-up needed tonight
- Rooms affected and smoke spread
- Insured? Carrier, claim number and adjuster
- Occupants displaced
- Building age (asbestos and lead flag)
Photos and papers to collect
- Photos by room before work
- Contents inventory with photos
- Soot type and area notes
- Signed work authorization
Rules to watch
- Work authorization and direction to pay
- Asbestos and lead flag on older buildings
- Crew certifications
- Contractor license for reconstruction
What you get as a fire and smoke restoration business
4 of 13 work today. The other 9 are coming soon.
Scheduled phase windows
Windows for cleaning, pack-out and walk-throughs.
Missed-call text-back
A text on a customer-initiated call asking for the address and whether the structure is secure.
Follow-up call tasks
Weekly check-ins as dated tasks.
Photo chaser
A task when photos have not arrived.
Emergency board-up dispatch
A tonight tier with a response promise and its own crew type.
Contents inventory with photos
Items packed out, photographed, stored and returned.
Soot-type notes per room
Wet, dry or protein residue with the cleaning method.
Claim record across phases
Carrier, adjuster, estimate versions and supplements.
Timestamped photos by phase
Filed by room for an insurance dispute.
Odor treatment tracking
Treatments applied and re-checks scheduled.
Displaced-occupant contact plan
Who to call and where they are staying.
Reconstruction pipeline handoff
The cleaned structure moves into a project pipeline.
Subcontractor scheduling
Electrical, drywall and paint in the right sequence.
The tools in fire and smoke restoration, and where we can honestly do better
Tools our research found in use for fire and smoke restoration: Albiware, DASH, ServiceMonster, Restoration Manager. Listing a tool is not a claim about it.
DASH
Reviewers on Capterra mention slowness and mobile freezing mid-task.
Review-site summary: Capterra, DASHWhat Apex does about it: Crew screens are designed offline-first and are in build.
When another tool may be the better choice: If your fire work runs inside a restoration platform with inventory and estimating today, that is the mature option. Apex is a front end plus the scheduling and follow-up for now.
What it costs for fire and smoke restoration
Apex lists three public plans, priced by users: Solo $59 per month for 1 user, Crew $99 for 2 to 5 users, Business $129 for 6 users plus $10 for each extra user. No plan includes any texts, AI phone minutes or AI usage. For this trade we would start you on Crew. A fire-loss business with an office and a couple of crews fits Crew.
Housecall Pro lists Basic at $59, Essentials at $149 and Max at $299 per month billed annually, or $79, $189 and $329 billed monthly. Workiz does not publish plan prices, so we show none. These are public figures as read on 2026-10-06, verify before buying. Seat counts and included features differ between vendors, and we have not verified every one, so compare your own crew size on the pricing page before you decide. Texts and AI run on your own provider account or a prepaid wallet, and card processing is at the processor's own rate.