Ten years ago, a phenomena occurred within the restoration industry - Chuck Dewald III, an expert in structural drying, founded Chuck Dewald’s Structure Drying School. Currently called the American Drying Institute (ADI), the purpose of this school was to question the common drying practices of the day and to bring about uniformity to water loss mitigation via efficient and scientific methods.

Prior to ADI, the restoration field utilized inconsistent loss evaluation and estimating systems and out-dated drying equipment. Often, restoration contractors had limited knowledge of how to efficiently and effectively manage water losses. Under Dewald’s leadership, ADI became known as the foremost drying institute throughout the United States, changing the way water losses were evaluated and dried, taking the restoration industry to a higher level.

Dewald developed new drying techniques and equipment through research and testing, playing an integral part in equipment design, technology utilization and drying system improvement. By means of numerous testing trials, repeatable scientific drying processes were made available to restoration contractors; in fact, the data developed at ADI is the foundation for current drying practices throughout the country.

ADI offers an educational opportunity to restoration contractors on how to properly dry water damaged residences and commercial sites. ADI was the site of the first “flood house”, a 900 square foot field study of hands-on water loss evaluation. The flood house has been soaked and dried hundreds of times. Learning efficient drying methods and practices gives the restoration contractor the ability to complete the job faster and correctly, reducing excessive demolition and reconstruction.

The comprehensive training available at ADI has prompted two major insurance carriers to make use of the American Drying Institute as their exclusive training center for their insurance adjusters. Property adjusters often had the same complaints – inconsistent pricing, too much or too little equipment, projects not dried properly resulting in excessive demolition and reconstruction. The adjusters who take part in this training program become more knowledgeable in evaluating drying need and controlling project cost.

Insurance professionals and restoration companies know they can rely upon the integrity of Chuck Dewald’s American Drying Institute to continue to push the limits of drying knowledge and technology to bring science and common sense to the art of effective and efficient structure drying.