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How to handle water, fire, or mold damage

Water, fire, and mold jobs are won or lost in the first 24 hours. The right firm is on-site fast, documents everything for your carrier, and dries the structure to measurable targets — not whenever the equipment "looks dry".

IICRC-certified technicians — Crews carry IICRC WRT (Water Restoration), ASD (Applied Structural Drying), and AMRT (Mold Remediation) certifications and work to S500 / S520 standards.
24/7 emergency response — On-site within 1-2 hours for active losses in RI and southeastern MA — Cat 3 black-water and active fire scenes prioritized.
Insurance-documented drying logs — Daily moisture readings, psychrometric data, and equipment logs delivered to your adjuster — the difference between an approved claim and a denial.
No-AOB policy — We never ask homeowners to sign an Assignment of Benefits at the door. You stay in control of your claim and your payment.
Get a quoteWhat it usually costs
$500–1,500per emergency response

That covers initial dispatch, extraction, and same-day containment for a typical residential water loss. Drying-out a single room runs $1,500–4,000 over 3–5 days; full-home losses scale to $7,500–20,000+. Mold remediation runs $10–30 per sqft of affected surface. Fire restoration ranges from $1,000 for limited smoke cleanup to $20,000+ for structural rebuild scope.

Water category (clean vs. gray vs. black), how long the water sat before extraction, square footage of saturated material, and whether HVAC ductwork or insulation was contaminated — those four variables drive 80% of the cost.

See what drives price

How we price it

These are the factors that move a quote up or down. Knowing them helps you share the right context upfront so we can quote your specific situation accurately — and so you can compare bids on apples-to-apples scope.

Water category (1 / 2 / 3)
Primary driver

IICRC S500 classifies water by contamination level. Category 1 (clean water from a supply line) can often be dried in place. Category 2 (gray water — dishwasher, washing machine, aquarium) requires antimicrobial treatment and porous-material removal. Category 3 (black water — sewage, flood water, toilet overflow past the trap) requires PPE, controlled demolition, and disposal of all porous materials it touched. Same square footage, very different jobs. The category is set by the contaminated source, not how dirty the water looks.

Benchmark:Cat 1 dry-in-place: $3–6 per sqft · Cat 2 with selective demo: $7–12 per sqft · Cat 3 with full porous removal: $12–25+ per sqft
Worth asking about: A firm that calls a sewage backup "Cat 1 because it ran for 10 minutes" is either undertrained or trying to fit your loss into a cheaper line item. Toilet overflow past the trap and any sewer backup is Cat 3, period.
Time-to-extraction
Primary driver

Drying cost climbs almost linearly with hours of saturation. At 0–24 hours you are extracting and drying. At 24–48 hours you start losing drywall bottom plates, baseboards, and engineered flooring. Past 72 hours, mold is colonizing and you have shifted from drying into remediation — typically a 2-3x cost jump. This is why every reputable firm answers the phone 24/7 and dispatches inside two hours.

Benchmark:Extraction $500–1,500 per response · Each 24h of delay adds roughly $500–2,000 to overall scope
Drying equipment days
Primary driver

Drying-out is billed by equipment-day. A typical room takes 2–4 air movers and 1 LGR dehumidifier running 3–5 days. The pro should set drying targets at the first reading (moisture content of wood at 12–15%, gypsum below 1%) and pull equipment when the structure hits target — not on a fixed schedule. Ask whether daily moisture logs will be shared with you and the carrier.

Benchmark:Air mover: $25–35 per day each · LGR dehumidifier: $75–120 per day · HEPA negative air machine: $90–150 per day
Materials removed vs. dried in place
Secondary

Carpet pad, MDF baseboards, particleboard cabinets, and saturated batt insulation almost always come out — they hold water and grow mold whether you dry them or not. Solid wood, plaster, and tile usually dry in place. Cat 2/3 water expands the removal list. Ask for a written scope identifying what is being removed and why, so there are no surprises when the dumpster shows up.

Benchmark:Selective demo (4 ft flood-cut, base trim, carpet & pad): $4–8 per linear foot of wall affected
Mold remediation scope
Secondary

Mold work prices per sqft of contaminated surface, not floor area. A 4x6 ft drywall bloom is different from black mold colonizing 200 sqft of attic sheathing. Scope includes containment (poly + zipper doors), HEPA negative air, controlled removal, HEPA vacuuming, antimicrobial treatment, and post-remediation verification (PRV) testing. Skip any step and the spore counts rebound.

Benchmark:Localized (< 10 sqft): $500–1,500 total · Mid (10–100 sqft): $10–20 per sqft · Large (> 100 sqft): $20–30 per sqft + containment
Fire / smoke severity
Secondary

Three distinct fire scenarios. Light smoke (e.g. kitchen grease fire contained quickly): cleaning, deodorization, HVAC purge — $1,000–4,000. Moderate (single-room fire with smoke through the home): structural cleaning, sealing, partial drywall replacement, contents pack-out — $5,000–25,000. Major structural fire: full demo and rebuild, often $50,000+. Wet smoke from low-heat plastic fires is harder to clean than dry smoke from a wood fire.

Benchmark:Soot HEPA cleaning $1.50–3.50 per sqft · Thermal fogging deodorization $0.50–1.25 per sqft · Sealing with shellac primer $1–2 per sqft
Contents pack-out and storage
Situational

For larger losses, contents are inventoried, packed out to a climate-controlled warehouse, cleaned (ultrasonic for hard goods, ozone or hydroxyl for soft goods), and stored until the home is ready. Priced by labor + monthly storage. Most carriers cover this under ALE/contents coverage — confirm in writing before pack-out begins.

Benchmark:Pack-out labor $75–125 per hour, 2–3 person crew · Storage $200–600 per month depending on volume

What else might come up

Most projects touch more than one trade. Here's where this one usually overlaps with others — so you can plan ahead instead of scrambling.

Plumbing
— When the loss was caused by a supply line, drain, or fixture failure.

The leak source must be repaired before drying begins, or the structure rewets. Most restoration firms partner with plumbers but do not employ them — confirm who is making the repair and who is paying for it (carrier usually covers the resulting damage but not the failed plumbing component).

Roofing
— After storm damage, ice dam, or fire that compromised the roof envelope.

Tarp-and-dry is the temporary fix; the roof itself needs a permanent repair before reconstruction. Coordinate timing — drying equipment can run under a tarped roof, but reconstruction waits on roof close-up.

HVAC
— Whenever water enters the duct system or after any significant fire.

Contaminated ducts will redistribute mold spores or soot through the home forever if not cleaned. NADCA-certified HVAC cleaning is the standard. For fires, the air handler coils and blower wheel often need replacement, not just cleaning.

Electrician
— Any submerged outlets, panel, or wiring after a water loss; any fire-affected wiring.

Submerged Romex wiring is rated for replacement, not drying. Outlets, switches, and any fire-affected runs must be evaluated and typically replaced. Required before final inspection signs off the reconstruction.

General contractor
— After mitigation, when reconstruction scope exceeds drywall, paint, and flooring.

Structural rebuild (framing, kitchen cabinetry, custom millwork) is often outside a restoration firm's core competency. A GC handles the rebuild while the restoration firm hands off documentation. Coordinate the handoff with your adjuster so the rebuild estimate ties to the mitigation scope.

What to send when you reach out
Send us:
  • Photos of the affected area — wide shot for context, close-ups of standing water, stains, or visible mold
  • When the loss started (date and approximate time) and when you discovered it
  • What kind of water — clean supply line, dishwasher/washer discharge, toilet/sewer, storm/flood
  • Whether the source has been stopped (water shut off, fire out) or is still active
  • Insurance carrier name and whether you have already filed a claim
Helps a lot if you know it:
  • Age and construction type of the home (slab vs. crawlspace vs. full basement)
  • Flooring types in affected areas (hardwood, LVP, carpet, tile)
  • HVAC type and whether the air handler is in the affected area
  • Any prior water or mold history at the property
  • Whether the home is currently occupied and if anyone has health sensitivities (asthma, immunocompromised)
Worth flagging if you see any of these — they shape the diagnosis:
  • Sewage smell or visible black water — Cat 3 protocol applies
  • Visible mold growth on walls, ceilings, or behind baseboards — separate remediation scope
  • Soot or smoke odor in unaffected rooms — indicates HVAC contamination
  • Drywall that is bulging, sagging, or stained more than 24 hours after the leak — saturated and likely needs removal
  • Pets or family members coughing, headaches, or eye irritation after the loss — IAQ concern, may need testing
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Cities we serve

Providence
RI
Warwick
RI
Cranston
RI
Newport
RI
Boston
MA
Cambridge
MA
Quincy
MA
New Bedford
MA
Fall River
MA
Attleboro
MA

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