During my reconstruction, the kitchen cabinetry became a specific, defined dispute with my insurer. The insurance estimate put the cabinetry replacement at approximately $10,000. My contractor's bid came in over $17,000. That $7,000 gap for a single line item is not unusual — it's a specific type of claim dispute that plays out regularly in major property claims. Here's how it unfolded and what it illustrates about how these disputes work.
How the insurer arrived at $10,000
The insurer's Xactimate estimate used a standard stock-cabinet line item: mass-market cabinets at a per-linear-foot rate that reflected the lowest cabinet tier in the software's pricing database. The quantity (linear feet of cabinetry) was roughly right. The price per unit was what drove the gap.
The logic behind this is that the insurer is obligated to restore your home to "like kind and quality" — not to upgrade it, but also not to downgrade it. The relevant question was what the pre-loss kitchen actually had. And the answer was that it had semi-custom cabinets — a step above stock, with dovetail construction, full-extension hardware, and solid wood face frames — that were installed during a kitchen renovation several years before the fire.
The insurer's estimate priced stock cabinets. The pre-loss kitchen had semi-custom. That grade difference is the entire source of the $7,000 gap.
How the dispute was documented
Documentation of the pre-loss cabinet quality came from several sources:
- Photos. I had before-fire photos of the kitchen — from a home listing years earlier and from personal photos — that showed the cabinet style and hardware. The photos were timestamped and clearly showed non-stock construction.
- Contractor assessment. My contractor documented the cabinet construction in the damaged kitchen before demolition — dovetail joints, the hardware specifications, the face frame material — and provided a professional statement that the pre-loss cabinets were semi-custom grade.
- Comparable pricing. My public adjuster built a supplemental Xactimate estimate using the semi-custom cabinet line item rather than stock, with the same square footage, and submitted it with the documentation.
How the dispute resolved
The cabinet supplement negotiation took several months. My insurer's initial response was to hold at the stock cabinet pricing, arguing that the documentation wasn't sufficient to establish semi-custom grade. The PA responded with additional documentation — a detailed written statement from the contractor specifying construction features visible in the photos, and a comparison of specific Xactimate line items that differentiated stock from semi-custom construction.
The final resolution landed between the two positions — closer to semi-custom pricing than to stock, but not at the full contractor bid amount. The outcome was several thousand dollars more than the initial estimate would have produced.
The lesson from this specific dispute is generalizable: material grade disputes in insurance claims are winnable, but they require documentation of the pre-loss condition. Memories and assertions aren't enough. Photos, contractor assessments, and purchase records create the record that supports the argument.
Where these disputes most commonly appear
Cabinet grade disputes are common. So are similar disputes involving:
- Flooring grade. Engineered hardwood vs. luxury vinyl plank vs. standard LVP. The grade difference can be $5–15 per square foot.
- Roofing material. Architectural vs. 3-tab shingles. Architectural costs more per square; if your pre-loss roof was architectural, you should be getting architectural pricing.
- Countertops. Granite vs. laminate vs. quartz. These carry large unit price differences.
- Trim and millwork. Custom vs. standard trim profiles, particularly in older homes with original millwork that isn't replicable with stock profiles.
In every case, the approach is the same: document pre-loss quality, get a contractor assessment that specifies grade, and build the supplement with line items that reflect actual grade — not the insurer's default pricing.
For help with grade disputes in a fire damage claim or other major property claim in Georgia, Resurgens Public Adjusting handles supplemental negotiations through the full claims process.
Related: Why Fire Reconstruction Can Cost More Than the Insurance Estimate — the cabinet dispute in context — one of many gaps in a $130,000+ claim.