Issues Involved in Totally Up the Cost of Water Damage

Water damage can be due to flood because of the weather, a pipe that burst in the house, leaking roof, leaking toilet, or a crack in the foundation. As you can see the possibilities of damage from water to your home are many. But what is the usual cost for water damage restoration? That is a question that needs to be answered only after certain factors have been taken into consideration.

Type of water

Water damage repair cost often depends on the three types of water involved. These include:

  • Clean water that has come from a leaking pipe or from rain. Costs the least to clean up – usually runs about $3.75 per square foot.
  • Gray water that comes from appliances such as washing machine or dishwasher. Costs more to clean with the average cost being around $4.50 per square foot.
  • Blackwater is water that comes from a source that is contaminated; such as sewer pipe. Due to this extreme contamination, this is much more expensive and harder to clean up – usually running about $7 per square foot.

Amount of damage

An important factor in determining the cost of damage due to water is what was damaged. Are you only dealing with moisture – this is not hard to clean up just dry out the area and can be quick and much less expensive than if there were more extensive water damage. If you have drywall that is affected, it will have to be removed and the cost of restoration increases.

Area size

Naturally, the size of the area that is damaged plays a critical part in the cost of restoration. The cost to repair damage from a leak that is small in the bathroom will not cost the same as a basement that has been completely flooded.

Additional work

Then there is additional work to be considered. Does the floor need to be ripped out and replaced? Has mold had time to start growing, so will you need mold remediation? All of these extra problems add to the total cost of damage from water restoration.