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The number a homeowner wants is a published “$999 mold special.” That number is not a takeoff. An 80-square-foot closet with one containment zone and one equipment day is not the same job as an 800-square-foot finished basement with two zones, four dry-out days, 240 square feet of demo, and a clearance. The word “mold job” is the same. The hours are not.
Open the free bid calculatorBasement-waterproofing calculators price wells, a pit, and discharge. Radon-mitigation calculators price suction, membrane, and circuit. Pest-control calculators price bait stations. Drywall calculators price hang-and-finish of new board. A mold job is a contained remediation: the included closet, the extra zone the special never mentions, the demolition, the equipment days, and the clearance. Quoting all of that from a published special is how the first extra zone eats the field margin.
Each extra zone is poly, a zipper, and a negative-air setup that never appears on the brochure. Extra square feet over the included closet are billed as their own hours. Demo, HVAC cleaning, a dumpster, occupied-home access, and a third-party clearance are adders that get forgotten on a closet special. On the sample rates an 800 sq ft finished basement with two zones, four dry-out days, 240 sq ft of demo, HVAC cleaning, a dumpster, occupied access, and a clearance prices about $11,543 ($14.43 per square foot of affected area, 39.0 crew-hours). The same shop’s 80 sq ft closet prices about $1,724 ($21.55 per square foot, 6.3 hours, walk-away $1,207). Matching a $3-per-square-foot internet quote on the basement is how that job becomes a loss of about $5,680.
A 400 sq ft category-3 sewage-backed room with two zones, 200 sq ft of demo, three equipment days, HVAC cleaning, a dumpster, occupied access, and a clearance is not the basement plus 20%. On the sample rates that sewage job prices about $9,333 ($23.33 per square foot, 32.0 crew-hours) — more per square foot than the basement, less as a total, because the extra 400 basement squares and the extra dry-out day do not live in a published sewage adder. A typical 200 sq ft bedroom with 40 sq ft of demo and two dry-out days prices about $2,948 (10.5 hours). Treating either as a blended add-on is how the special that looked fine turns into a loss after the first extra zone.
A $45/h tech loaded at 36% payroll burden is $61.20. Margin is a share of the price you send, not a markup on cost. The walk-away price is total cost — below that the job makes nothing before you take a dollar home. On the sample rates even the brochure closet walk-away is $1,207, which is why a $999 Facebook special is already a loss of about $208 before the first extra zone. Replace every rate with your HEPA invoices before you send either number.
This is not a mold inspection, a health determination, a clearance certificate, a guarantee that any building will test below a spore or moisture threshold, or a recommended market price. It is arithmetic on the numbers you type. Job type, affected area, containment zones, demolition, and whether the house needs a third-party clearance are yours to confirm.
Charge from the included closet, extra square feet over that include, extra containment zones, demolition, HEPA and dehumidifier days, third-party clearance, HVAC cleaning, dumpster, occupied-home access, loaded labor, overhead, and a margin that is a share of price. A default 80 sq ft closet at the sample rates in this calculator prices around $1,724 — about $21.55 per square foot of affected area.
Homeowners count 'a mold job is a mold job.' Extra containment, demolition, equipment days, HVAC cleaning, a dumpster, and a third-party clearance do not live in a $999 special. Matching a cheaper closet quote written for a brochure bath is how a finished basement becomes a loss.
Not in proportion. On the sample rates an 800 sq ft finished basement with two zones, four dry-out days, 240 sq ft of demo, HVAC cleaning, a dumpster, occupied access, and a clearance prices around $11,543 ($14.43 per square foot), while an 80 sq ft closet prices around $1,724 ($21.55 per square foot).