Water Damage Restoration & Mold Remediation Cost in Texas (2026)

Water Damage Restoration & Mold Remediation Cost in Texas

Water damage restoration in Texas runs $2 to $3.50 per square foot for clean water, $4 to $7 for gray water, and $6 to $11 for sewage or floodwater. A small contained event costs $1,900 to $3,200; a slab leak with restoration runs $4,500 to $15,000. Mold remediation averages $1,500 to $6,000, or roughly $15 to $30 per square foot.

More important than any of those numbers: Texas is one of the few states that licenses mold work and legally separates the company that tests from the company that removes. If one outfit offers to inspect your mold and then remediate it, that is not a convenient package deal. In Texas it is prohibited. That single rule is the most valuable thing on this page.

The Short Version

• Water restoration: $2–$3.50/sq ft clean, $4–$7 gray, $6–$11 black water
• Small contained damage, under 100 sq ft: $1,900–$3,200
• Multi-room, 100–300 sq ft: $3,200–$9,350
• Slab leak plus restoration: $4,500–$15,000
• Whole-house major event, 800+ sq ft: $15,000–$40,000
• Mold remediation: $1,500–$6,000 typical, $15–$30 per sq ft; whole house $15,000–$30,000
• Mold inspection: $300–$650
• Texas licenses mold assessors and remediators, and the same company cannot do both

Water Damage Cost by Category

The restoration industry classifies water by how contaminated it is, and that classification drives the price more than the volume does.

Category	What it is	Cost per sq ft
Category 1 — clean	Supply line, water heater, tub overflow, ice maker	$2–$3.50
Category 2 — gray	Washing machine, dishwasher, toilet overflow without solids	$4–$7
Category 3 — black	Sewage backup, floodwater, any water that sat long enough to grow	$6–$11

Clean water becomes gray water in about 48 hours and gray becomes black not long after. This is why restoration companies push so hard on response time — it is not only a sales tactic. A leak found on day one is a $2,000 dry-out. The same leak found on day five is a $7,000 tear-out.

Typical Project Costs

Scenario	Cost range
Small contained damage, under 100 sq ft	$1,900–$3,200
Multi-room damage, 100–300 sq ft	$3,200–$9,350
Slab leak repair plus restoration	$4,500–$15,000
Hail-driven roof leak with interior damage	$3,500–$15,000
Whole-house major event, 800+ sq ft	$15,000–$40,000

A slab leak breaks down roughly as leak detection $300–$500, cutting and repairing the slab $2,000–$5,000, water restoration $2,000–$8,000, and concrete patch plus flooring $2,000–$3,500. Slab leaks are common in Texas for the same reason foundations move — expansive clay stresses the pipes cast into and under the slab. If you are dealing with one, our plumbing repipe cost guide covers when it makes sense to reroute rather than repair.

Texas Mold Law: The Rule That Protects You

Texas regulates mold work under the Texas Mold Assessment and Remediation Rules, administered by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation under Chapter 1958 of the Occupations Code. Three provisions matter to a homeowner.

1. Licensing kicks in at 25 contiguous square feet. Below that, unlicensed cleanup is allowed. At or above 25 contiguous square feet, work performed by anyone other than the property owner requires a licensed Mold Remediation Contractor to do the work and a licensed Mold Assessment Consultant to write the protocol and verify clearance. Note what counts toward the 25 feet: the entire area that has to be cleaned, removed or treated — not just the visible spots.

2. The assessor cannot be the remediator. This is the cornerstone of the statute. A Mold Assessment Consultant or Technician cannot also serve as the Mold Remediation Contractor on the same project. The reason is obvious once stated: the person who tells you how much mold you have should not be the person paid by how much mold you have. If a company offers to test and then remove, on the same project, they are either unlicensed or operating outside the rules. Walk.

3. You are entitled to a Certificate of Mold Damage Remediation. Issued under Occupations Code §1958.154 by an assessment consultant who did not perform the remediation, this certificate documents that the mold and its underlying cause were addressed.

That certificate is worth real money later. Under Texas Insurance Code §544.303, an insurer is prohibited from making certain underwriting decisions based on previous mold damage or a previous mold claim when the property has been remediated and you hold that certificate establishing with reasonable certainty that the underlying cause was fixed. In plain terms: without the paperwork, a mold claim can follow your address around and make the house harder to insure. With it, that is not supposed to happen. Get the certificate, and keep it with your closing documents.

Mold Remediation Cost

Location	Cost
Bathroom	$500–$2,000
Crawl space	$1,500–$4,000
Attic, partial	$1,500–$6,000
Attic, full	$6,000–$15,000
HVAC system and air ducts	$2,000–$10,000
Whole house	$15,000–$30,000

Typical projects land between $1,500 and $6,000, or about $15 to $30 per square foot. Inspection and testing runs $300 to $650 for an average home and up to about $1,000 for a large property with a widespread problem — and remember that this is a separate company from the one doing the removal.

Be skeptical of “black mold” pricing. The term gets used to justify $2,000 to $10,000 quotes, but species identification rarely changes the remediation method: find the water, stop the water, remove the affected material, dry the cavity, verify. A consultant who leads with the scary species name rather than the moisture source is selling fear.

What to Do in the First 24 Hours

What you do on day one has more effect on the final bill than which company you hire.

• Stop the water. Know where your main shutoff is before you need it. For a water heater or supply line, the local valve is faster
• Kill power to affected areas at the breaker if water is near outlets or the panel
• Photograph everything before you move anything — wide shots and close-ups, with the date. This is the single most useful thing for the claim
• Get standing water out and start air moving. Fans and a dehumidifier in the first hours genuinely change the outcome
• Pull up wet rugs and lift furniture off wet carpet so stain and rust transfer does not add to the loss
• Call your insurer before authorizing large work, and ask what they need
• Do not tear out drywall yet unless water is trapped behind it. Wait for documentation

Texas is a fast-mold climate. Warm and humid means visible growth can start within 24 to 48 hours in wet material, so drying speed is not a formality.

Will Insurance Cover It?

Texas homeowners policies generally cover water damage that is sudden and accidental — a burst supply line, a failed water heater, a storm-driven roof leak. They generally do not cover gradual damage: the slow drip under the sink you did not notice, seepage, or long-term deterioration. That distinction is where most disputes live, and it is why documenting the date of discovery matters.

Flood is never covered by a standard homeowners policy. Rising water from outside requires separate flood insurance, which matters enormously in Texas.

Mold coverage is usually limited. Since the Texas mold litigation wave of the early 2000s, mold remediation is typically capped or offered as an optional endorsement rather than included without limit. Check your declarations page for a mold sublimit before you assume a $12,000 remediation is covered.

One practical piece of arithmetic: for damage under about $5,000, paying out of pocket is often the better decision. Texas premium increases after a claim commonly run 10 to 20 percent over the following three to five years, and a claim stays on your loss history. Do the math before you file, not after.

If the water came from a storm, the wind and hail deductible applies — in Texas usually a percentage of your dwelling coverage limit, not of the loss. Our roof replacement cost guide walks through how that works.

Where Texas Homes Leak

The causes are predictable enough that most of them can be headed off.

• Slab leaks — supply lines under or in the slab, stressed by the same clay movement that cracks foundations. Signs: a hot spot on the floor, running water you can hear with everything off, an unexplained spike in the water bill
• Water heater failure — the single most common indoor flood. Texas hard water shortens tank life to 8–12 years. See our water heater guide
• AC condensate — an overflowing drain pan in an attic air handler drips straight through a ceiling. The condensate line clears in ten minutes and this is the most preventable item on the list
• Roof leaks after hail, which often show up weeks later as a ceiling stain
• Supply lines to toilets, sinks and washing machines — braided stainless lines cost a few dollars and should be replaced every 5 to 10 years
• Frozen and burst pipes — Texas homes have shallow, poorly insulated exterior plumbing, and the last several winters have proved it. Winterizing is a one-hour job

What the Quote Usually Leaves Out

• Contents handling — moving, storing and cleaning furniture and belongings
• Reconstruction, which is separate from mitigation. Drying the house and rebuilding it are two different invoices
• Flooring replacement, especially where a discontinued product forces a larger area
• Post-remediation clearance testing by the independent assessor
• Equipment rental days, often billed per air mover and per dehumidifier per day
• After-hours or emergency call-out premiums
• Antimicrobial application and HEPA cleaning
• Repairing the actual source — restoration companies dry and rebuild; the plumber, roofer or HVAC tech who fixes the cause is usually a separate bill

Questions to Ask

• Are you a TDLR-licensed Mold Remediation Contractor? What is the license number?
• Who is writing the protocol and doing clearance testing — and can you confirm they are an independent licensed consultant?
• Will I receive a Certificate of Mold Damage Remediation at the end?
• Is this quote mitigation only, or does it include reconstruction?
• How many days of drying equipment are you estimating, and how is that billed?
• How are you documenting moisture readings before and after?
• Are you billing my insurer directly, and will I see the estimate before work starts?
• What have you found as the source, and who is fixing it?

Be careful about signing a broad “direction to pay” or assignment of benefits at the door during an emergency. It hands your claim to the contractor and can leave you out of the negotiation with your own insurer. Read it, or have your adjuster read it, before signing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I clean up mold myself in Texas?

Yes. Texas law includes a residential property owner exemption — a homeowner may remediate mold in their own home regardless of square footage. The 25-contiguous-square-foot licensing threshold applies to people you hire, not to you. That said, above a small area the work requires containment, negative air, and personal protective equipment to avoid spreading spores through the house, and if you plan to file an insurance claim or sell the home, professional documentation is worth having.

How long does drying take?

Three to five days for a typical contained event, longer where water got into wall cavities, under cabinets or beneath flooring. A competent restoration company takes moisture readings daily and shows you the numbers rather than pulling equipment on a schedule.

Do I need mold testing?

Not always. If you can see it and you know where the water came from, testing mainly documents what you already know. Testing earns its cost when the source is unknown, when you smell mold but cannot find it, when someone in the house has symptoms, in a real estate transaction, or when an insurance claim depends on it. When you do test, it must be an independent licensed consultant, not the remediation company.

Does homeowners insurance cover mold in Texas?

Usually only in a limited way. Most Texas policies cap mold remediation or make it an optional endorsement, and coverage generally follows a covered water loss — mold from a burst pipe may be covered within the sublimit; mold from a long-standing leak or humidity generally is not. Read your declarations page.

Will a mold claim make my house harder to insure?

It can, which is exactly why the Certificate of Mold Damage Remediation matters. Texas Insurance Code §544.303 restricts insurers from basing certain underwriting decisions on prior mold damage or claims where the property was remediated and you hold that certificate showing the underlying cause was addressed. Keep it.

The Bottom Line

Move fast and the numbers stay small. Clean water dried in the first day or two is $2 to $3.50 a square foot; the same water left to sit becomes a category 3 job at $6 to $11 and brings mold with it. Photograph everything, stop the source, start air moving, and call your insurer before you authorize major work.

And on the mold side, know the Texas rule that most homeowners do not: the company that tests cannot be the company that removes, licensing starts at 25 contiguous square feet, and you are entitled to a Certificate of Mold Damage Remediation at the end. Insist on all three. They are your protection against the two most common outcomes in this trade — paying for remediation you did not need, and finding out years later that a mold claim made your home difficult to insure.