Stars and Bars RestorationEvery restoration company's website has a row of badges near the footer — licensed, insured, certified, sometimes a flag icon for veteran-owned. It's easy to scroll past all of it. We know, because we put those same badges on our own site. But when a customer asks us what they actually mean, we'd rather give a real answer than a marketing one. So here's the honest version of what "veteran-owned" and "IICRC certified" change about how your job actually gets handled.
Robert's Story, Briefly
Robert Hewett founded Stars and Bars Restoration after his time in the Marine Corps, right here in Colorado City. The connection between military service and restoration work isn't just a nice story for the About page — it shows up in how the company actually operates. Restoration jobs, especially emergency ones, reward exactly the habits the Marine Corps drills into you: show up when you say you will, assess the situation clearly before you act, follow a checklist so nothing gets missed under pressure, and be straight with people about what's actually going on instead of what sounds better.
If you've ever dealt with a contractor who overpromised a timeline or got vague when you asked direct questions about cost, you know why that matters. We try hard not to be that company, and being a small, veteran-owned operation based in Colorado City rather than a national franchise dispatching whoever's available is a big part of how we keep that promise.
What IICRC Certification Actually Requires
The IICRC — the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification — is the industry's recognized standard-setting body for water damage restoration, mold remediation, fire and smoke restoration, and related trades. Getting certified isn't a one-time class you take and forget. Technicians have to complete specific coursework for each discipline (water damage restoration and applied structural drying are separate certifications from mold remediation, which is separate again from fire and smoke restoration), pass exams on the material, and stay current as standards get updated.
That matters practically, not just as a credential, because restoration science genuinely does change. The IICRC's S500 standard for water damage restoration, for example, reflects decades of accumulated knowledge about things like how fast mold can start growing in Colorado's dry climate (still just 24-48 hours, dry air or not), which materials can be dried in place versus which need to be removed, and how to sequence drying so a job doesn't get "close enough" dried and come back as a mold problem six weeks later.
An uncertified crew can still do fine work — plenty of handy, well-intentioned people can extract water and run a fan. What certification actually buys you is a technician who's been tested on the parts of the job that aren't visible: moisture readings inside wall cavities, correct drying equipment placement and airflow calculations, and knowing when a structure needs demolition versus when it can be saved. Those are exactly the calls that determine whether your claim gets settled cleanly or turns into a dispute later.
Why This Combination Matters When You're Choosing Who to Call
Search "water damage restoration Southern Colorado" and you'll find a mix of genuinely local companies, multi-state franchises, and lead-generation sites that aren't restoration companies at all — they just sell your contact information to whoever bids highest. We wrote a longer breakdown of how to tell the difference in our guide on how to choose a water damage restoration company in Southern Colorado, but the short version is: ask who's actually showing up, and ask what certifications that specific technician holds, not just what the company claims on its homepage.
Being veteran-owned and IICRC certified doesn't mean we're the only option worth considering — there are other solid local companies in this region. It does mean two specific things you can verify and hold us to: Robert built this company on military-grade standards for accountability, and our crew includes technicians holding current IICRC certifications in water damage restoration, applied structural drying, and applied microbial (mold) remediation — credentials you can verify by name and certification number, not just a logo on a homepage.
What It Looks Like on an Actual Job
In practice, this shows up in small ways that matter more than they sound like they should:
- We tell you the real timeline, including the parts you don't want to hear. If a drying job needs five days instead of two because of how deep moisture got into the subfloor, we say that up front instead of letting you assume it's almost done.
- We document everything for your insurance claim, because certified technicians know exactly what adjusters need to see — moisture maps, drying logs, and photos at each stage — not just a before-and-after shot.
- We don't cut corners on drying time to move to the next job faster. A structure that "looks dry" and a structure that's actually dry by moisture meter readings are different things, and the gap between them is where mold problems come from six weeks later.
- We're straightforward about cost, including telling a customer honestly when a job is small enough to handle themselves, even though that means we don't get the work.
A Standard We Hold Ourselves To Across Southern Colorado
Whether you're in Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Trinidad, Walsenburg, Cañon City, or one of the smaller communities we cover out toward the eastern plains and up into the mountain towns, the same veteran-owned, IICRC-certified standard applies to every job we take. It's not a badge we put up for a certain zip code and skip for another.
If you're comparing restoration companies for a water, mold, fire, or storm damage job anywhere in Southern Colorado, ask us directly about our certifications and Robert's background — we're glad to talk through it. And if you need help right now, that conversation can happen on the way to your address. Call Stars and Bars Restoration at (719) 676-2456 any time, day or night, and we'll get a crew moving with certified expertise behind the job. Call (719) 676-2456 today.