Make the house safe, then open the camera
The log is not the first ten minutes. If a pipe is spraying, shut the water off when you can do it without stepping through water near power. If the roof is open, stay off it. If a ceiling is sagging, do not stand under it to frame a better picture. Once people are out of the way and the water is stopped or caught, the photos are the next job, before towels, trash bags, and a well-meaning relative “just clean it up.”
The first-night list is short. For an active leak: shut the main off if it is safe, stay out of standing water near outlets or the panel, and photograph each wet room before you move or throw anything out. For an open roof: stay off the roof, move belongings out from under the opening, catch the drip from inside if you can reach it, and leave wet insulation and ceiling material in place until it is photographed. That list is also on the photo log page, so you are not trying to remember it from this article at midnight.
One room at a time
Name the room before you fill it with pictures. “Hall bath,” “kitchen,” “northeast bedroom,” “garage.” A filename or a note that says IMG_4388 does not help an adjuster, or you, two weeks later. Walk the room in one pass: stand in the doorway for the wide shot, then move in for the damage, then show the materials that are actually wet.
Include rooms that only look slightly affected. Water on a slab travels. A roof leak can stain a ceiling that is not under the missing shingles. If you skip the “almost fine” room, the record implies the loss stopped at the doorway. If a room is truly dry, you do not need to force it into the log. If you are unsure, one wide shot and a note are enough.
- Wide shot: the whole room from the door, so the damage has a place.
- Close shot: the stain, the open roof from inside, the split supply, the swollen seam.
- Wet materials: carpet, pad, drywall, insulation, cabinets, flooring, belongings that are wet, not just the dramatic corner.
What to write next to the pictures
Photos without words still leave arguments. Next to each room, write what got wet and what you had to move. On the cover of the packet, the details that keep showing up in a claim file are simple: your name, the property address, the insurer, the claim number once you have it, and the date of the loss. If you do not have a claim number yet, leave it blank and add it when the insurer gives you one.
For water, write when it started if you know, when it stopped, and whether it was still coming in when you made the log. Write what you moved and why. A short line is better than a paragraph you will not finish. “Moved the rug at 9 p.m. because it was in standing water. Photo taken first.” That is a record. “We cleaned up” is not.
The materials worth naming are the ones that change the scope: drywall, ceiling, insulation, flooring, cabinets, trim, furniture, belongings, roofing. You do not need a price next to each one. You need to show they were wet, or broken, or missing. Prices and coverage are the insurer’s worksheet, not yours to invent on the night of the loss.
Roof, wind, and the water are one log
A storm loss is often two scenes. Outside: the slope you can see from the yard, missing shingles, a limb, dented gutters or caps if hail was part of the weather, and the opening if you can photograph it without climbing. Inside: the ceiling, the insulation if it fell, the floor the water reached. Put both in the same packet. A roof photo with no interior, or a bucket photo with no roof, each tell half of what happened.
Do not get on the roof to improve the picture. If the only safe photos are from the ground and from the attic floor, take those and say so in the note. A crew can add the on-roof photos later. Your pictures still matter because they show the house before a tarp, before debris was moved, and before the ceiling was painted.
If you cover an opening, photograph it first. If you have to throw out something because it is a hazard, photograph it and write why it could not stay. Hold permanent repairs that would hide the damage until an adjuster has seen it, unless leaving it open would make the loss worse or the insurer told you to proceed.
Turn the phone pictures into one packet
A camera roll is a start. A packet is the same photos with room names, notes, and the loss details in one file you can hand someone. The insurance photo log on this site is built for that. You pick an active leak or an open roof for the first-night checklist. Then each room has three slots: a wide shot, a close-up of the damage, and the wet materials. You can add rooms. The cover holds your name, the address, the insurer, the claim number, and the date. The loss notes hold when the water started and stopped, whether it is still coming in, what you moved, and which materials were affected. You can download a PDF.
The log is free. It does not file the claim and it does not estimate what you are owed. It is a way to stop the record from living in twenty text messages. If you later ask us to dry or repair the house, the same kind of photos are part of how we document the work. You can use the log whether or not you hire anyone.
What the log is not
It is not a guarantee of payment. It is not a substitute for reading your policy or for asking the insurer how they want notice given. It is not a reason to delay stopping more water. And it is not legal advice. A public adjuster, if you hire one, is a licensed representative who can negotiate with the insurance company. That is a different role. We are the contractor. We can photograph, tarp, dry, and rebuild. We do not negotiate the claim.
Keep receipts for tarps, dry-out, and reasonable emergency costs, and photograph the temporary work. Many policies talk about limiting further damage. The wording is in your form. Ask if you are unsure. Do not throw the only evidence away because the room feels chaotic. The log is how the chaos gets a sequence.
If you want a crew in the rooms with you
Call (713) 909-0034 when water is still coming in, the roof is open, or you want the drying and the repairs done by the same company that is looking at the photos. The emergency form is there if you cannot call. Elite Restorations is family-owned, at 511 Crestwater Ct, Houston, TX 77082, and has been here since 1993. Bring the log. We will still look at the house ourselves.
Questions
Good to know.
Do I need a special camera?
No. A phone is enough if the photos are sharp, labeled by room, and taken before cleanup. Wide shots and close shots of the same spot are more useful than a dozen nearly identical close-ups.
What if I already moved the wet carpet?
Photograph what is left, and write down what you moved and why. If you still have the carpet, a photo of it next to the room helps. Ask your insurer what they want kept.
Does the log decide what gets paid?
No. The log is your record. Your insurer decides what the policy covers. Elite Restorations is a contractor, not a public adjuster. We do not negotiate the claim.
Where is the free log on this site?
The insurance photo log is a page you can fill out on your phone: a first-night checklist, then rooms with a wide shot, a close shot, and the wet materials, plus the loss details, and a PDF you can download.