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For restoration owners, ops managers and estimators stocking a shop or building a vendor list: the tools, suppliers, and partners behind a restoration operation, from the jobsite to the back office, in one curated place.

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What commercial and large-loss jobs typically require (vs. residential)

Before you shop the directory below, know the gear, technology, and supplies that commercial and large-loss work demands and a residential job often does not. The difference is scale, the building itself, and the documentation a commercial decision maker and a large-loss adjuster expect. You don't need to own all of it to start. Much of it can be rented for surge capacity, but knowing the tier tells you what to rent, what to buy, and when to do each.

• Drying and air, at scale. Residential runs a few low-grain refrigerant (LGR) dehumidifiers and air movers. Commercial and large-loss add desiccant dehumidifiers for big, cold, or low-humidity spaces, higher-capacity LGR units, air movers and HEPA scrubbers in fleet quantities, and truck-mount or high-volume extraction.
• Specialized drying for commercial assemblies. Injection and wall-cavity systems, mat and sub-floor drying, and the desiccant capacity to dry masonry, concrete, and post-tension slabs that hold water differently than residential framing.
• Power and access. Generators, distribution, cord ramps, and temporary lighting, plus lifts or scaffolding to reach the height and span a house rarely needs.
• Containment and protection for occupied buildings. Hard-wall and zipper containment, negative-air machines, and floor, lobby, and elevator protection sized to keep tenants safe and adjacent space open, far beyond a residential containment.
• Documentation and capture technology. Commercial decision makers and large-loss adjusters expect proof: 3D capture (Matterport, DocuSketch), moisture mapping and thermal imaging, and field-documentation software, not a phone full of loose photos.
• Estimating and billing tools. Xactimate or Cotality Claims Workspace, the old Symbility line, for unit pricing, plus disciplined time-and-materials (T&M) tracking for large-loss; a residential shop may get by on less.
• Supplies and consumables, in volume. Antimicrobials and disinfectants, 6-mil poly sheeting, zipper doors, tape, heavy-duty bags, drying and deodorization chemicals, and PPE (suits, gloves, respirator cartridges, eye protection), all consumed at commercial scale and tracked to the job for T&M billing.
• Safety and credential-driven gear. The PPE and monitoring an occupied, healthcare, or regulated job requires and a residential job may not: Level C PPE, air monitoring, and containment built to an infection control risk assessment (ICRA).

For the deployment-pack version of this, see the CAT Deployment Gear and Equipment Checklist; for the drying nuances, see Commercial Drying Is a Different Animal.

Drying, dehumidification, and air movers

• Legend Brands / Dri-Eaz (legendbrands.com): dehumidifiers, air movers, air scrubbers, and specialty drying systems.
• Phoenix Restoration Equipment (usephoenix.com): dehumidifiers, air movers, HEPA scrubbers, and extraction.
• AlorAir (alorair.com): commercial dehumidifiers, air movers, and air scrubbers.
• XPOWER (xpower.com): air movers, axial fans, and air scrubbers.