The model, its inputs, and its limits

RestoreMeter's estimates come from a heuristic budgeting model — not an invoice engine, an Xactimate analogue, or an appraisal. The measured inputs (wages, flood claims) are public data; the pricing baselines are our assumptions, published in full below so they can be checked, criticized, and corrected. Where a number is an assumption, we say so.

Measured inputs

The labor index

Each state's index is its blended trade wage divided by the same blend of BLS national mean wages ($27.97/hr — laborers $25.02, plumbers $34.7, hazmat $27.13). Weights: construction laborers 50% (extraction and demo crews), plumbers 25% (source repair), hazmat removal 25% (contamination and PPE work).

Proxy caveats, honestly stated: BLS has no restoration-technician series. Hazmat-removal workers also cover asbestos, lead, and industrial cleanup; plumber wages track source repair that our estimates exclude. These proxies move individual states noticeably — removing the hazmat component would shift some states' indices by up to roughly ±10%. The full-index and laborers-only columns in the table below show the sensitivity; treat the index as a defensible approximation, not a measurement of restoration payrolls.

How an estimate is assembled

Components mirror common invoice categories but remain a six-input heuristic — real scopes use room sketches, linear feet, material assemblies, and local price lists:

• Labor & consumables (scaled by the full labor index): per-sq-ft rate by water category (excludes equipment), times a class labor multiplier, plus daily monitoring visits.
• Equipment, materials & disposal (scaled by a dampened factor, 1 + 0.35 × (index − 1)): air movers sized per room + per wet sq ft, dehumidifiers sized from volume and class pint factors against a 110-pint AHAM rating, drying days by class; Category 3 adds air scrubbers, PPE/containment, and disposal.
• Emergency response: a flat dispatch premium plus a labor-only multiplier — it does not inflate days of equipment rental.
• Job minimum: applied with the dampened factor (a trip charge is not pure wages).

Baseline assumptions (all ours)

These baselines are assumptions pending professional validation. They have not yet been calibrated against a set of real itemized estimates reviewed by credentialed estimators — that validation is planned, and until it ships, treat every range as a budgeting aid, not a market price.

Limitations, honestly

• State-level wage data smooths over metro differences — a Manhattan job prices above the New York state index.
• "Wet floor area" is the model's size input; overhead (Class 3) losses can involve wall and ceiling surface far exceeding floor area. The class settings approximate this, imperfectly.
• NFIP figures describe flood claims (building + contents, paid claims only, capped samples). They contextualize regional water-loss severity and never enter estimates.
• Real quotes reflect access, materials, contents, and how long water sat — a range, not a price, is the honest output.
• Equipment fleets here are worksheet-style approximations of IICRC sizing, not psychrometric calculations.

The RestoreMeter Water Damage Index (with sensitivity)

Cite it as the RestoreMeter Water Damage Index — the full per-state series, with the laborers-only alternate for sensitivity:

Model v2 · built 2026-08-15. Corrections welcome — see about.