Fast Help: Water Restoration Field App
Hassan Qureshi
Verified
Every water job's photos, paperwork and payments. One app the crew carries all day.
A St. Louis water and fire restoration company now runs every job from one custom app, from the first photo to the signed authorization to the invoice. It was built and live in 21 days.
Key numbers
E-sign On the tech's phone or by text, with a signed PDF emailed
16,536 Photos moved across, each checked against its original
21 days From approved design to finished app.
Client
Fast Help, a water and fire restoration company in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Owner Sean Collins runs a team of about 10 people across admin, office and field crew. Their jobs are burst pipes, leaks, sewage clean-ups, mold and dry-outs in homes around St. Louis.
Problem
Restoration work is proof-heavy. Every job needs photos, a signed work authorization, drying logs, insurance details and an invoice. Insurers want all of it.
By October 2026 the business had 223 jobs and 16,536 photos sitting in an earlier app. Sean had already chosen a custom app over off-the-shelf photo tools. In his words: "I want the ability to customize things I want, not rely on what others [think] want."
Signatures had to reach the client. Every job needs a signed work authorization, and the client isn't always standing next to the tech.
Paperwork was spread out. Signatures, drying logs, insurance claims, letters and invoices each needed their own step, and insurers want all of it.
Clients needed one place to go. Homeowners had to review and sign documents, see their invoice and get anything shared with them.
Photos were the heaviest part. One job alone had 385 photos (738 MB). Big photo reports were too large to email.
Costs were climbing. Keeping the photos where they were would have cost about $89 to $99 a month, against $25 a month now. (estimated)
What we built
We understood the problem, then picked the platform that fits. We built a custom field app the business owns, moved every old record across, and put it on their own web address. It installs on the phone home screen and works just as well on a computer in the office.
Signatures on the spot or by text. The client signs on the tech's phone, or gets a secure link by text or email that works for 72 hours. A signed PDF copy is emailed automatically.
Documents made inside the app. Invoices with drying logs, work authorizations and letters on the company's letterhead all come out as finished PDFs. Letters are written in a built-in editor.
A portal for clients. Homeowners sign in with their email to review and sign, see their invoice and shared documents.
Photo reports in one tap. The report builds itself and lands in the office inbox, split into parts small enough to email, even for 385-photo jobs.
Photos that never get lost. The crew takes photos on site. They upload in the background, retry on bad signal, and carry on after the phone goes offline. "Before" and "After" photos stay apart.
Everything about a job in one place. Contacts, insurance claims, drying logs, documents, letters and invoices, each on its own tab.
Money at a glance. Open balances, outstanding totals and unsigned authorizations sit on the home screen. Invoices go to their accounting software.
Before: Jobs, photos and paperwork lived in an earlier app the business had outgrown, with photo reports too big to send and costs rising.
After: The crew photographs, logs and gets signatures from their phone, and the office sees every job, document and balance in one place.
Results
Authorizations signed from anywhere. On the tech's phone or by a secure link, with unsigned ones flagged on the home screen.
Paperwork comes out of the app. Invoices, authorizations, drying logs and letters are generated as PDFs from the job.
Clients have their own portal. They sign in with their email to sign, see invoices and get shared documents.
Large photo reports now send themselves. A 385-photo job arrives by email, built in the background so the crew can close the app.
Every record moved across. 223 jobs, 16,536 photos, 2,422 invoice lines, 607 drying log entries and 103 insurance claims. Every photo was checked against its original.
Lower running cost. Photo storage on a $25 monthly plan instead of an estimated $89 to $99. (estimated)
Daily use. Sean says he uses his custom app "20 times a day".
Timeline & scope
21 days, live with all the real data. Delivered: jobs, photo reports, work authorizations with e-signature, drying logs, insurance claims, invoices and payments, letters, client portal, admin and staff roles, job backups, all old records moved across, and phone and desktop layouts.
In their words
"Every time I use the app I am happy that I pulled the trigger and actually got it made." — Sean Collins, Owner, Fast Help
Like this project
Posted Nov 4, 2026
One app for a water restoration crew: e-signatures, PDF invoices and letters, a client portal and photo reports. Built and live in 21 days.
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Timeline
Oct 1, 2026 - Ongoing
