What water and fire damage restoration costs

Water

Line	National figure	Who published it
Ordinary restoration job	$1,200 to $5,000; average $3,000	Fixr, Jan 2025
Ordinary restoration job	$1,305 to $5,707; average $3,455	Bob Vila, May 2023
Pulling out standing water, per sq ft	$3.75 to $7.50 per square foot	Fixr
Clean supply-line water, per sq ft	$3.75 to $4.25	Fixr
Gray appliance water, per sq ft	$4.10 to $6.50	Fixr
Black water from sewage or a river, per sq ft	$7 to $7.50	Fixr
Worst case, water soaked into the structure	$20,000 to $100,000	Fixr

Fire and smoke

Line	National figure	Who published it
Fire and smoke job	$2,900 to $38,325; average $20,470	LawnStarter, Jul 2026
By affected square foot	$4.25 to $6.50 per square foot	LawnStarter, Jul 2026

Mold and repair materials

Line	National figure	Who published it
Mold remediation job	$1,500 to $9,000; average $3,500	Fixr, Aug 2025
Mold inspection visit	$450 to $800	Fixr, Jan 2025
New drywall, per sq ft	$1.50 to $3	Fixr
New hardwood, per sq ft	$10 to $15	Fixr
Fixing a roof leak	$350 to $1,500	Fixr, Jan 2026

All national. None of these is a Whatcom County average or a quote from us, and local labor rates can sit above or below them.

Local conditions that raise a bill

• River water. Every Nooksack flood is black water, and Fixr's black water rate is roughly twice its clean rate. Valley homeowners in Sumas and Everson have been through it twice since 2021.
• Days before anyone noticed. A line that splits in a Glacier cabin during a January snap and runs until the owner drives up on the weekend has had days to wick up walls and start mold.
• The crawl space. If the house sits on a crawl space, water that gets down there adds square footage you never walk on, plus wet insulation that usually comes out.
• Smoke through the ducts. If the furnace ran during a fire, expect cleaning in rooms that look untouched.
• Older finishes. Matching original trim or plaster in a Lettered Streets house costs more than patching drywall in a 2010 house in Cordata.

Reading the invoice

Restoration bills are built from units: square feet extracted, each machine per day, square feet removed, cleaning by the room or the hour. So two numbers drive the total more than anything else, the count of machines and the count of days. Ask up front how many days the company expects to dry, and later ask for the readings behind any day past that. Checking a quote line by line.

If an insurer is paying

Adjusters and many restoration companies build estimates in the same software, so the line items on your bill should map to categories the adjuster already uses. That doesn't change your deductible, and it doesn't change the need to read what you sign. Claims in Washington.