Kustom Modernizes Property Restoration with Matterport as its Single Source of Truth

Overview

Founded in 1968, Kustom is a national recovery platform specializing in property restoration following catastrophic events such as water damage, mold, fire, and severe weather. With 26 locations across the United States and licensing in 48 states, Kustom delivers mitigation and repair services at scale for residential and commercial insurance claims. The company operates with a strong values-based culture centered on speed, excellence, and compassion, and is driven by a broader mission to restore pride in skilled trades.

This digital transformation effort is led in part by Seth Harrison, Chief Transformation Officer at Kustom. Harrison joined the company in July 2025 to lead centralized estimating and modernize internal workflows. Harrison brings more than a decade of experience applying Matterport technology within the property insurance and restoration industry, making him a key driver of Kustom’s enterprise-wide adoption.

Challenges

Before Matterport, Kustom relied heavily on traditional photo-based documentation to support insurance claims. While photos had long been the industry norm, they created persistent challenges around visibility, organization, and trust. “Photos made it very difficult to capture, store, organize, and communicate,” shared Seth. Images were difficult to manage at scale, often misfiled or inaccessible, and rarely provided the full context needed to clearly document pre-loss conditions.

These limitations resulted in frequent disputes with homeowners and carriers, including costly disagreements over pre-existing damage. In one example shared by Kustom leadership, a single regional office was replacing up to 13 refrigerators per month due to an inability to prove whether damage existed prior to mitigation. More broadly, the lack of a consistent source of truth led to inefficiencies across estimating, communication breakdowns between teams, and unnecessary operational risk. As Kustom expanded through acquisition, these issues were compounded by fragmented processes and inconsistent tooling across locations.

Solution: Matterport as the Source of Truth

Matterport became the foundation of Kustom’s modernized workflow. Today, 100% of Kustom projects are documented with Matterport scans, replacing photos entirely as the primary method of site capture. Each job is scanned at key stages, including pre-mitigation and post-mitigation, ensuring a complete and visual record of conditions throughout the project lifecycle.

“Matterport allows every job to be grounded with the scans that are performed on it. That source of truth changes everything.” - Seth Harrison

Matterport models are shared across field teams, centralized estimators, adjusters, subcontractors, and customers, creating a single, grounded environment where all stakeholders can reference the same information. Kustom’s centralized estimating team uses Matterport scans to remotely write estimates, communicate scope, and negotiate claims without needing to visit job sites. This remote estimating model, which would not exist without Matterport, allows Kustom to deploy its best talent across every location nationwide.

To further streamline operations, Kustom integrated Matterport into its internal systems using API-driven automation. Newly uploaded scans are automatically set to “unlisted,” eliminating access issues that previously delayed work. When a job is closed in Kustom’s job management system, the corresponding Matterport model is automatically archived. These automations removed common points of failure and reduced administrative overhead at scale.

Kustom also leverages advanced Matterport capabilities such as precise measurements and deep links, which allow estimators to direct adjusters and customers to exact locations within a model. This transforms Matterport from a documentation tool into a powerful communication and justification platform.

Results

By fully embedding Matterport into its operations, Kustom fundamentally changed how work gets done.

The company eliminated costly disputes tied to unclear pre-existing conditions, including completely removing recurring appliance replacement expenses in some regions. Matterport models now serve as both a dispute resolution and dispute prevention tool, reducing friction before issues escalate.

“Customers don’t call us accusing us of damage anymore. They go back to their own pre-mitigation scan and realize it was already there. If used correctly, Matterport becomes a dispute prevention tool, not just a dispute resolution tool.” - Seth Harrison

Kustom’s remote estimating function enabled the company to do more with less by centralizing expertise, reducing travel and windshield time, and delivering more consistent estimating outputs across all 26 locations. “The ability to get our best people everywhere, every day, without being on site is an ROI that’s almost immeasurable,” shared Seth.

Beyond efficiency, Matterport strengthened Kustom’s brand credibility. The ability to clearly tell the story of a loss, backed by immersive spatial data, differentiated Kustom in a traditionally change-averse industry. This differentiation supports both client trust and talent acquisition, reinforcing Kustom’s position as a forward-thinking leader in property restoration.

Key Outcomes

• 100% of jobs are now scanned, replacing photo-based documentation entirely

• Full visibility and dispute prevention, reducing avoidable claims (such as appliance replacements) to zero

• Creation of a remote estimating department, enabling Kustom’s best talent to support all 26 offices

• Significant reduction in windshield time, allowing estimators to work faster and more efficiently

• Brand differentiation in a traditionally stagnant industry

• Improved training, as new hires learn standardized scanning and documentation workflows

As Seth put it: “We wouldn’t be able to do what we’re doing today without Matterport.”

Conclusion

Kustom’s partnership with Matterport showcases how innovative technology paired with a commitment to excellence can transform workflows, prevent disputes, streamline collaboration, and elevate an entire industry. In a world where speed and accuracy matter more than ever, Matterport helps Kustom deliver on its values—and its promise to restore what matters most.