Water Damage Cost Calculator

This calculator prices black water (sewage or flood water) extraction at roughly $9.50/sqft versus roughly $3.50/sqft for clean water from a source like a broken supply pipe -- nearly triple the rate -- because contaminated water carries bacterial and biohazard risk that requires more PPE, more aggressive sanitizing, and stricter material disposal protocols during extraction and drying, independent of what type of flooring is affected.

Both matter together -- this calculator looks up a repair rate specific to each floor type AND damage category combination, not either factor alone. Hardwood costs more to repair or replace than carpet at every damage category, but within any single floor type, repair cost still climbs from clean water to gray water to black water, since dirtier water more often forces full replacement rather than restoration.

Wet carpet and padding are usually discarded and replaced outright rather than dried and restored in place, which this calculator reflects with carpet's repair rate (roughly $4-8/sqft across damage categories) sitting well below hardwood's (roughly $10-15/sqft), where sanding and refinishing -- or careful, more expensive replacement -- is often attempted before a full tear-out.

Yes for a fixed damage category and floor type -- extraction cost, drying cost, and repair cost are each affected square footage multiplied by a fixed per-square-foot rate, with no separate fixed base fee in this calculator's model, so doubling the affected area doubles each of the three cost lines and the total.