How to Take Before, During & After Photos to Showcase Restoration Work
Restoration
4 min read
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In restoration, photos are among your most valuable resources. Whether dealing with water, fire, or mold, capturing your work with appropriate photos at each stage—before, during, and after—ensures clarity for your team, clients, estimators, and adjusters. Plus, it’s a solid way to show exactly what you did and how the job progressed. Let’s break down how to take the right photos to make sure everything’s covered.
The 3 Types of Photos You Need for Every Job
Before Photos: Capture the Damage
During Photos: Keep Your Team on Track
After Photos: Tell the Story of Your Work
When the job is done, it’s time to take story-based photos. These are your “after” shots, and they’re what you’ll use in reports for clients, insurance companies, or your own records.
What to do:
Snap a few key photos that show the damage has been repaired.
Don’t forget the risk shot—a wide shot of the front of the property (with the mailbox, if possible) to give insurers or clients an overall sense of the property’s condition.
Make sure to get before-and-after comparisons. If you took a shot of a wet carpet when you started, take the same shot after it’s dried and cleaned up. This shows clear progress and that the job is done.
When creating reports for clients or insurance, don’t overload them with a ton of photos. Just a few key before-and-after shots are all you need to show the work’s been completed and the problem’s resolved.
Once you have all your photos for the project in magicplan, you can jump into the photo gallery to get a clear view of the progress timeline. You can organize photos by date, rooms, and even subgroup them to create a clean, easy-to-follow story of the job. This makes it a lot simpler to see how the project unfolded from start to finish.
Generating a Photo Report
After you’ve captured all your before, during, and after photos, it’s time to create a photo report. With magicplan, you can set up reports that include clickable images and 360 panoramas. These can be shared as a PDF or a web gallery, making it easy for anyone to view the photos and walkthroughs.
This setup helps you deliver a clear, organized record of the job, giving your client or the insurance company a straightforward way to see the work you’ve done.
Wrapping It Up: Get It Done Right
Taking good before, during, and after photos is about working smart. You document the job, keep your crew on the same page, and show your clients the results.
Next time you’re on-site, take the time to grab the right photos. It’ll make your life easier when it’s time to put the report together.
