Water damage is the job in this category where the price is not really set by the contractor. The insurer's offer comes out of estimating software built on a median survey, contractors do not use that software, and the two numbers are arrived at on different terms. Restoration runs roughly $2,000 to $6,000 on a typical job. Carpet cleaning averages about $183. Junk removal averages $241.
| Service | Typical |
|---|---|
| Water damage restorationNational range | $2,000 to $6,000 per job, typical |
| Carpet cleaningNational range | $123 to $242 per job |
| Junk removalNational range | $60 to $800 per load |
Ranges last checked September 2026. They come down automatically when they are due to be rechecked.
Every figure above comes from a named source we can link to, with the date we last checked it. We publish ranges rather than single prices because a range is what a provider will actually give you: the same job moves with what is being worked on, the materials, how hard it is to get at and how busy the trade is locally. Treat these as the order of magnitude to expect before you call, not as a quote.
The figures here are national. Where a source publishes figures state by state, the state pages carry that local figure instead of this one. We do not scale a national number by a multiplier of our own invention.
Every range carries a review date. When that date passes the number comes down until it is rechecked, rather than sitting here undated.
Insurance adjusters build settlement offers in Xactimate, an estimating system owned by the Insurance Services Office, part of Verisk. United Policyholders, a consumer nonprofit, describes what that means for a homeowner: pricing is based on a median survey that does not always reflect current market conditions, it is built around tract homes and tends to fall short on custom, historic or high-value property, and contractors and builders generally do not use it.
So the two numbers in front of you are not comparable. The contractor's bid comes from what the work costs them. The insurer's offer comes from a median. Where they differ, the gap is the thing to discuss, and it is a normal conversation rather than an accusation.
Insurers keep networks of pre-screened contractors, and there are real advantages: faster dispatch, and estimates that are automatically approved. What a homeowner should understand is who the contractor answers to. The agreement is with the insurance company, not with you, and you are not required to use one.
That matters most if the work has to be redone. A contractor whose next twenty jobs come from the insurer has a relationship to protect that is not yours. Some states allow right-to-repair clauses that can limit the choice; that is a state question and each state page on this directory is the place for it.
A standard homeowners policy covers water that arrives suddenly and by accident: a burst pipe, an appliance overflow, a roof leak from a covered peril. It generally does not cover flood, which needs separate coverage. It does not cover gradual damage or a slow leak that ran for months, seepage, sewer or drain backup unless that endorsement was bought, or sump pump failure unless the water back-up and sump overflow endorsement was bought. It does not cover the appliance that failed, only the water damage it caused.
The restoration company dries the house either way. Which side of that line the loss falls on is decided after the work has started, which is why the first photographs and the first moisture readings matter more than they look like they do.
Mitigation is extraction, drying equipment, antimicrobial treatment and monitoring until the structure reads dry. Reconstruction is putting back the drywall, flooring and trim that mitigation removed. These are separately quoted and separately invoiced, and a homeowner reading a mitigation estimate as the total cost of the job is reading half of it.
The industry standard is ANSI/IICRC S500, now in its fifth edition, published in 2021. It classifies water by contamination: category one is clean water from a sanitary source; category two contains significant contamination and can cause discomfort or sickness; category three is grossly contaminated and can carry pathogenic or toxigenic agents. Category two escalates toward category three with elapsed time, temperature, contact with building materials and mixing with soils.
This page does not publish a number of hours for that escalation. The commonly repeated figure could not be traced to an authoritative source, and a deadline nobody can cite is not a deadline worth printing.
The EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule requires anyone paid to disturb paint in housing or child-occupied facilities built before 1978 to be certified, and firms may not advertise or perform covered work without firm certification. The thresholds are more than six square feet of interior paint in a room, or twenty square feet outside, and window replacement and demolition are covered whatever the area. A restoration crew tearing out wet drywall in a pre-1978 house is squarely inside that rule.
The FTC's Cooling-Off Rule covers sales of twenty-five dollars or more made at your home, and one hundred and thirty dollars or more made anywhere other than the seller's own place of business. It gives you until midnight of the third business day to cancel, and requires the seller to give both oral notice and a written cancellation form in duplicate at the time of sale. Carpet cleaning, pressure washing and junk removal are routinely sold in a driveway. That is a covered door-to-door sale.
On a water loss, photograph everything before anyone starts, and get the mitigation estimate and the reconstruction estimate as two separate documents. You will need both to see the real total, and you will need the first one if the insurer's software output comes in low.
Ask whether a contractor is on your insurer's preferred network, and treat the answer as information rather than a recommendation either way. Then ask who they will be talking to about scope changes.
On anything involving pre-1978 paint, ask for the firm's EPA lead certification number. It is a legal requirement rather than a credential the firm chose to get, and a firm that cannot produce it should not be doing the work.
On routine cleaning, get the add-ons priced in the quote rather than after. Stain removal, furniture moving, stairs and protector are the four that turn a booked price into a different invoice.
On junk removal, ask what the truck fraction actually means in cubic yards, and name the heavy items before the truck arrives. Refrigerant appliances, mattresses and tires each carry their own fee.
HomeGuide puts a typical job at $2,000 to $6,000, and Angi gives a national average of $3,868. The two guides disagree substantially, and both are published here rather than blended into one figure.
No. Mitigation is extraction, drying and antimicrobial treatment. Reconstruction, meaning the drywall, flooring and trim that mitigation removed, is a separate contract and a separate invoice.
Only if the water was sudden and accidental. Flood, gradual leaks, seepage, sewer backup without the endorsement and sump pump failure without the endorsement are all outside a standard policy. The appliance that failed is not covered either, only the damage it caused.
Adjusters build offers in Xactimate, estimating software priced from a median survey. United Policyholders notes that contractors and builders generally do not use it, and that it tends to fall short on custom, historic or high-value property.
No. A preferred vendor's agreement is with the insurance company rather than with you, and you are not required to use one. Some states allow right-to-repair clauses that limit the choice, so check your own state.
Angi gives a national average of $183, with most homeowners paying $123 to $242, and $40 to $125 a room. Stain removal, furniture moving, stairs and protector are all priced separately.
A national average of $241, from $60 to over $700. Everyone prices by fraction of the truck rather than by the hour. Refrigerant appliances, mattresses, tires and hazardous waste each carry their own fee.
If they disturb paint in a home built before 1978, yes. The EPA lead rule requires firm certification, and a firm may not advertise or perform covered work without it.