How much does a 1-800 WATER DAMAGE franchise make?

The average 1-800 WATER DAMAGE unit reported $770,375 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $481,891. The filing discloses revenue and not profit, so what an owner keeps depends on the cost structure set out below. Fees come off the top first, at about 13% of sales across royalty, brand fund and the rest of the stack. Revenue is not income. Rent, wages, cost of goods and the franchise fees all come out before an owner is paid,

Breakdown

1-800 WATER DAMAGE franchise unit economics

1-800 WATER DAMAGE franchisees restore water, fire and mold damage from a small facility, working insurance and homeowner claims across territories of roughly 350,000 people. Among 78 reporting franchisees a single-territory owner bills $512,051 while a two-territory owner bills $312,375 per territory, more ground, less from each acre.

By Scott Engler · Averan Advisors · Source: 1-800 WATER DAMAGE International, LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) · Updated 22 September 2026

Where these figures come from

Primary source: 1-800 WATER DAMAGE International, LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
Items read: Items 5 and 6 for fees; Item 7 for cost to open; Item 19 for sales and any profit figure; Item 20 for the location count
Population: 78 of 160 locations
Our calculations: Marked on the page with an asterisk. Method
Last reviewed: 26 September 2026

Disclosure-based. Not a forecast, not an offer to sell a franchise, and not advice.

Key idea

A franchisee holding one territory bills $512,051. One holding two bills $312,375 per territory. The second piece of ground produces 61% of what the first does, which makes buying it a decision.

Owners reporting78 across 148 territories

Average gross sales$770,375

Median gross sales$481,891

Total investment$142,903–$312,398

Single-territory owners bill $512,051 a territory; two-territory owners bill $312,375.64% more from one piece of ground *. Three or more lands between them at $377,274.
The top quartile averages $1,949,638 against $133,479 in the bottom.14.6 times, and one reporting franchisee billed $0.00 while operating all year.
Brand cost runs 22.3% of revenue at the bottom quartile and 10.1% at the top franchisee.$13,788 of fixed monthly fees is why *.
Reconstruction royalty drops from 10% to 3% once remediation sales pass $500,000.Seven points off the rebuild half of a job, at a threshold two thirds of the system clears.
The system went from 178 outlets to 160 in two years.25 terminations in 2025 against 10 openings, with 20 new outlets projected for 2026.

Top performers

What separates the top 1-800 WATER DAMAGE performers

1-800 WATER DAMAGE splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $1,949,638 a year. The worst averaged $133,479. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $481,891. The average was $770,375. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.

Decided before you open

Trade area and site.A 14.6× gap between bands is not an operating gap. Catchment, daytime population and what sits next door set the ceiling before the first customer arrives.
Capacity, fixed at build.capacity is None vans multiplied by hours multiplied by how full they run. What you can sell is set by the build, and the build does not change after opening.
Territory, and how much of it is real.This model sells from a territory rather than a building, quoted at 350,000 people. Two owners with the same brand and different ground are running different businesses, and density decides how much driving sits between jobs.
What you spend to open.Opening costs $142,903 to $312,398, a 2.2× range inside one brand. The high end usually buys more capacity, so the cheapest build is not always the cheapest route to the top band.

Live operating levers

Claims, the operating driver.This model bills on claims. The work is done first and the carrier pays later, so the owner funds wages and materials in between and the speed of collection matters as much as the volume won. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
Fees, and where the minimum bites.Fees run about 13.0% of sales. A minimum sits underneath the percentage, so the low-volume location pays the higher effective rate. The brand charges the weakest locations the most. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum and know which side of it you are on, because the answer changes what an extra dollar of sales is worth.

Context you underwrite around

The reporting screen.78 of 160 locations are behind these figures. Locations open less than the full year, brand-owned, or not meeting the reporting criteria are excluded, so the numbers describe locations that cleared that screen, not the system as a whole.
What the disclosure leaves out.Item 19 publishes no profit or cost data for franchised locations. Anything below the sales line has to come from the franchisor or from owners you call.

Top performers

How far apart the locations are

Top 25%

This filing does not split its locations into performance bands, so the gap between the highest and lowest 1-800 WATER DAMAGE location is not disclosed. What it does publish is on the Model and Finance tabs.

One territory or three

The second territory earns less.

2025 gross sales by number of territories owned, as the brand reported it
Territories owned	Owners	Territories	Average per owner	Median per owner	Average per territory	Highest	Lowest
One	46	46	$512,051	$353,607	$512,051	$2,186,265	$0
Two	15	30	$624,749	$469,803	$312,375	$1,581,910	$295,782
Three or more	17	72	$1,597,864	$1,392,921	$377,274	$4,408,411	$164,289
All 78	78	148	$770,375	$481,891	$406,008 *	$4,408,411	$0

As the brand reported it, except the all-78 revenue per territory, which is marked *.

One territory produces $512,051; a territory inside a two-territory business produces $312,375. 64% more from the same amount of ground *. A second territory raises an owner's total sales by 22% ($512,051 to $624,749) while doubling the ground they are responsible for.

Three or more territories recovers some of it, at $377,274 a territory. Still 26% below the single-territory figure. The seventeen owners in that group hold 72 territories between them, 4.2 each, and bill $1,597,864, so scale works for total sales and works against intensity.

The median two-territory owner bills $469,803, below the average single-territory owner. $512,051. Half the two-territory owners produce less in total than a typical one-territory owner, on twice the ground. Fill what you hold first.

Revenue per territory across the whole system is $406,008. *, from $60,089,253 of reported sales across 148 territories. Against a territory of roughly 350,000 people, that is $1.16 a head a year, the planning number to multiply any territory quote by.

Best to worst, by sales

Fourteen times, top to bottom.

Top 25%

$1,949,638

Top 50%

$1,299,281

Top 75%

$989,994

Bottom 75%

$390,612

Bottom 50%

$241,470

Bottom 25%

$133,479

2025 gross sales by performance group, as the brand reported it
Group	Franchisees	Average gross sales	Median	Highest	Lowest	Exceeding the group average
Top 25%	19	$1,949,638	$1,506,017	$4,408,411	$944,433	6 (32%)
Top 50%	39	$1,299,281	$912,982	$4,408,411	$490,871	14 (36%)
Top 75%	58	$989,994	$707,128	$4,408,411	$257,242	18 (31%)
All 78	78	$770,375	$481,891	$4,408,411	$0	25 (32%)
Bottom 75%	59	$390,612	$354,431	$912,982	$0	26 (44%)
Bottom 50%	39	$241,470	$249,108	$472,912	$0	22 (56%)
Bottom 25%	20	$133,479	$145,840	$249,108	$0	11 (55%)

As the brand reported it.

The top 25% averages $1,949,638 and the bottom 25% averages $133,479. 14.6 times *. Restoration work arrives with an event: a storm, a burst pipe, a claim. The difference between businesses is which ones sit inside the referral and insurance networks that send the work.

The median is $481,891 against an average of $770,375. A gap of $288,484, and only 25 of 78 reach the average. The bottom half averages $241,470, which is below what a single territory produces on average. So half the system is running under one territory's worth of work whatever ground they hold.

Attainment inverts across the distribution: 32% at the top and 55% at the bottom. Which is the signature of a long right tail. The top 25% is stretched from $944,433 to $4,408,411, while the bottom 25% runs from $0 to $249,108, a tighter group with less room to fall.

One franchisee operated all year and reported $0.00. The franchisor states this remains under review. It sits inside every bottom-group average on this page. An owner reading the bottom 25% figure of $133,479 should know one of those twenty entries is a zero.

What the fees come to

Ten points down to seven, plus a fixed $13,788.

Annual brand cost at points across the reported range *Averan calculation
Franchisee	Gross sales	Royalty	Effective royalty rate	Brand marketing fund	Technology and software	Total	Share
Highest reporting	$4,408,411	$343,589	7.79%	$88,168	$13,788	$445,545	10.1%
Top 25% average	$1,949,638	$170,971	8.77%	$38,993	$13,788	$223,752	11.5%
System average	$770,375	$74,334	9.65%	$15,408	$13,788	$103,529	13.4%
System median	$481,891	$48,189	10.00%	$9,638	$13,788	$71,615	14.9%
Bottom 75% average	$390,612	$39,061	10.00%	$7,812	$13,788	$60,661	15.5%
Bottom 25% average	$133,479	$13,348	10.00%	$2,670	$13,788	$29,805	22.3%

Ours, built from the published rates applied to filed revenue.

Franchise fees cost 22.3% at the bottom quartile and 10.1% at the largest franchisee. *. $13,788 of fixed technology and software is 10.3% of the bottom quarter's revenue and 0.3% of the top franchisee's, a 33-fold difference in weight on an identical charge.

Reconstruction drops to 3% once remediation sales pass $500,000. From 10%. On a job where mitigation is followed by a rebuild, that is seven points off the larger half of the work. The threshold is on remediation sales alone. The system median of $481,891 sits just below.

The effective royalty falls from 10.00% to 7.79% across the range. Crossing $500,000 of annual sales takes the marginal rate to 9%, $1,000,000 takes it to 8% and $2,000,000 to 7%. Since the median franchisee bills $481,891, most of this system pays the full 10% on every dollar.

Technology and software cost what the supplier charges, plus an administration fee of up to 15%. $750 and $399 a month today. They rise with what suppliers charge, plus that administration fee. For a franchisee at the bottom quarter's $133,479, those two lines alone are more than the royalty.

The network and what it costs to open

178 to 160 in two years.

Franchised outlets, 2023 to 2025, as the brand reported it, Item 20 of the 2026 FDD
Year	Start	Opened	Terminations	Ceased, other	End
2023	167	n/a	n/a	n/a	178
2024	178	17	19	1	175
2025	175	10	25	0	160

As the brand reported it; the 2024 and 2025 rows reconcile exactly.

25 terminations in 2025 against 10 openings. The steepest single-year loss in the three shown, taking the system from 175 to 160. Departures rose from 20 to 25 while openings fell from 17 to 10, which is why the count turned decisively.

20 new outlets are projected for 2026 against 4 signed and waiting. Double the openings achieved in 2025 and twice the pipeline in hand. An existing owner should read that as ambition.

Zero company-owned outlets across three years. Every figure here comes from independent owners, which is cleaner than most brands in this library, and it leaves zero profit and loss to work from.

Buying a territory.

Estimated initial investment for a standard franchise, as the brand reported it, Item 7 of the 2026 FDD
Item	Low	High
Vehicle with upfitting	$6,000	$115,000
Initial franchise fee per territory	$59,000	$64,950
Initial package, marketing, operations and equipment fee	$51,000	$51,000
Additional funds, three months	$10,000	$30,000
Full-time service technician	$6,336	$16,896
Rent	$3,000	$15,000
Insurance	$4,500	$8,750
Security and utility deposits	$1,000	$3,000
Computer system	$0	$2,875
Food and lodging while training	$1,800	$2,500
Building work	$0	$1,200
Licenses and permits	$0	$600
Internet, anti-virus and email	$267	$477
Business telephone	$0	$150
Total	$142,903	$312,398

As the brand reported it, reordered here by size.

The vehicle line runs from $6,000 to $115,000. Nineteen times, and the widest single line in the table. A restoration business runs on trucks carrying drying and extraction equipment. So how an owner finances that fleet moves the entry price more than any other decision.

$110,000 to $115,950 of the build goes to the franchisor. The $59,000 to $64,950 territory fee plus the $51,000 package, 77% of a $142,903 low build *. The package covers marketing, operations and equipment and is payable on the first franchise alone.

The territory costs about 17 cents a head. $59,000 for 350,000 people and $170 for each further thousand *. Against an average territory billing $406,008, the fee is about 53 days of revenue.

Cash to run the business day to day of $10,000 to $30,000 covers three months. Against fixed technology and software of $1,149 a month and a technician on wages from the start. For a claim-driven business where the first storm may be months away, the upper end of that range is the prudent read.

Questions we get asked

Questions owners ask.

What should a 1-800 WATER DAMAGE business be billing?

The 78 franchisees operating 148 territories for the whole of 2025 averaged $770,375 of gross sales with a median of $481,891, from $0 to $4,408,411. 25 of the 78, 32%, reached the average. The top 25% averaged $1,949,638 and the bottom 25% $133,479. By territory count, 46 single-territory owners averaged $512,051, 15 two-territory owners averaged $624,749, and 17 owners with three or more averaged $1,597,864 across 72 territories. That works out at $512,051, $312,375 and $377,274 per territory, and $406,008 across the whole system.

Is a second territory worth it?

On these figures, a second territory adds 22% to an owner's total sales while doubling the ground: $512,051 for one against $624,749 for two. Per territory that is $512,051 against $312,375, and the median two-territory owner bills $469,803, less than the average single-territory owner. Owners with three or more recover to $377,274 a territory across an average of 4.2 territories each. The initial package fee of $51,000 applies to the first franchise only, so an additional territory costs the franchise fee alone.

What does the brand take?

The royalty on remediation work is 10% of sales up to $499,999.99 a year, 9% above $500,000, 8% above $1,000,000 and 7% above $2,000,000. A minimum of $500 a month from the thirteenth month. Rebuilding work is charged at 10% until remediation sales pass $500,000, then 3%. A brand marketing fund takes 2% of gross sales. Technology costs $750 a month and software $399 a month, both able to rise with third-party costs plus an administration fee of up to 15%. Selling the business costs 25% of the initial franchise fee, and never less than $10,000. A referral fee of roughly 0% to 10% of the invoice applies to work the franchisor sends.

What is left out?

All of it below the revenue line. The figures leave out royalty, technology, software, local advertising, brand marketing, rent, stock, wages, payroll taxes, the owner's own payensation, healthcare, benefits, uniforms, office supplies, postage, travel, utilities, late fees, training fees, tax liabilities, professional fees, interest, depreciation and amortization. With zero company-owned outlets there is zero franchisor-operated profit and loss to compare against. Any figure for what is left has to come from your own model or from talking to existing owners.

Who does bookkeeping for a 1-800 WATER DAMAGE franchise?

Three things make the close consequential here. Remediation and rebuilding are charged at different royalty rates. The rebuilding rate depends on whether remediation sales have passed $500,000 in the year, so revenue has to be split by service type in the ledger. The rate applied to the rebuild half of a job changes partway through the year. Second, the remediation scale steps down at $500,000, $1,000,000 and $2,000,000 of annual gross sales. So the accrual rate moves through the year and the median franchisee at $481,891 sits within one job of a step. Third, restoration is insurance-funded work with long collection cycles, so revenue recognition and cash collection diverge by months, and the royalty is charged on gross sales. The document reports no costs at all, so costing each job is the only reliable way to know what is left. Averan provides bookkeeping, controller, and fractional CFO support for franchise owners and has Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors on the team.

What this filing does not disclose

No profit figure. The filing reports sales and not earnings, so what an owner keeps is not disclosed.
No cost lines. Wages, rent and cost of goods are not broken out, so margin cannot be rebuilt from the document.

Questions worth putting to 1-800 WATER DAMAGE

The filing answers what it answers. These are the gaps an owner or a buyer should close directly.

What do locations at the median spend on wages and rent as a share of sales? The filing reports sales only.
What separates the highest-selling locations from the lowest: trade area, years open, size, or the owner?
How long does a new location take to reach the average you publish, and what does the build-up look like month by month?
At what level of sales do the minimum charges stop applying and the percentage take over?
How many 1-800 WATER DAMAGE locations closed, were sold, or changed hands last year, and why?

Part of our Home & Commercial Services Franchise Finance guide and the Restoration Franchise Finance guide · Āveran Franchise Resource Center

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Where these figures come from.

Every figure here comes from 1-800 WATER DAMAGE International. LLC’s 2026 FDD and is unaudited by us. We are unaffiliated with the brand. Calculations of our own are labeled where they appear, the figures describe past performance at other businesses and are not a projection of yours. This page is an educational summary. It is not an offer to sell a franchise, and it is not financial, legal or tax advice. 1-800 WATER DAMAGE® is a registered trademark of its owner. How Averan reads a Franchise Disclosure Document.

Where this sits

the franchise library, all 243 brands · how franchise unit economics work · running the books across several locations · what Averan does for franchise owners

The same business, other brands

1-800 WATER DAMAGE reads against the rest of the restoration group: DRYmedic · Paul Davis · PuroClean · Rainbow Restoration · Restoration 1 · ServiceMaster Restore. The restoration guide compares all of them on the same figures.

Questions owners ask next

The figures above raise these, and each one is answered on its own page.

At what level of sales does a minimum fee stop costing me more than the percentage?How royalty, ad fund and minimums actually work on a monthly statement.
How much cash do I fund before a new location covers its own costs?A 13-week forecast for the months before break-even.
My payroll percentage keeps climbing. Is that a payroll problem?Usually it is a revenue problem wearing a payroll costume.
Do I need a bookkeeper, a controller, or a CFO?What each one owns, and the point at which the next one pays for itself.
Revenue was the highest it has been. Why did profit not move?Where the extra revenue went, line by line.

Where to next

Compare brands, every brand in the library on one screen
Item 19, how to read Item 19 of an FDD
What Items 5 and 6 must disclose
Checking the franchisor’s own finances
Fractional CFO, for the forecast behind a second location and the cash plan that carries it
Bookkeeping for franchise owners, what this looks like when someone else keeps the books
Āveran Franchise Resource Center, every breakdown in the library
Bookkeeping, monthly close built around the way your brand reports
Controller, when the numbers need someone reading them as well as recording them

Scott Engler

Founder & Principal, Averan Advisors

Averan provides bookkeeping, controller, and fractional CFO support for franchise owners and has Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors on the team. More about the team →

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What happens next

Everything above came out of a filing. Doing it on your own numbers means the books have to produce the same lines: sales, wages, occupancy, fees and what is left, by location, every month. That is the work.

The call, twenty minutesYou describe the business and where the numbers are letting you down. We tell you honestly whether we can help, and what we would start with. No pitch deck.
We look at the fileYou give us read access to the books as they are. We come back with what is wrong, what it will take to fix, and whether the answer is bookkeeping, controller work, or something else.
A written scope and a priceWhat we do each month, what you get, the date it lands, and the fee. Agreed before anything starts, and it does not move without you agreeing it.
Transition, then the first closeAccess, systems, and the opening balances. The first close lands on the date in the scope, and every one after it does too.

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