Insurance Water Damage Restoration — Grade II Listed

The Challenge

The damaged rooms included a principal bedroom with surviving hand-painted scenic wallpaper (two panels undamaged, two destroyed by water), Venetian plaster walls in the dressing room, and original Victorian decorated cornicing throughout. The insurer's initial specification underestimated the cost of like-for-like reinstatement for these specialist finishes, and extensive documentation was required to establish the appropriate scope and cost. Moisture drying times on the original lime plaster extended the programme by four weeks beyond the initial schedule.

Our Approach

We began by commissioning moisture meter surveys across all affected surfaces, establishing a drying programme with specialist dehumidification equipment before any decoration could commence. Working with the client's heritage consultant, we documented all surviving original finishes in detail — photographing undamaged wallpaper panels for matching reference, obtaining spectrophotometer readings of the Venetian plaster, and cataloguing all cornice profiles for cast replacement. We submitted a detailed like-for-like specification to the loss adjuster, with cost justifications for each specialist element. Once moisture readings confirmed the plaster was sufficiently dry, we replaced damaged cornice sections using plaster casts matched to the originals, reinstated the Venetian plaster to match the spectrophotometer reference, and sourced replacement wallpaper panels from the original manufacturer's archive.

The Result

The completed reinstatement returned all four rooms to their pre-loss condition, with specialist finishes matched so precisely that the areas of damage are undetectable. The loss adjuster approved the final works at first inspection. The client expressed particular gratitude for our advocacy with the insurer, which secured a settlement that fully funded the like-for-like reinstatement rather than the inferior standard the initial schedule would have produced.