How to compare three mold remediation quotes
Two companies looked at the same bedroom and the numbers came back five times apart. That is normal in this trade, and it is almost never because one of them is greedy. They quoted different work.
A quote written from readings is a different document from a quote written from a glance.
- 5 itemsWhat a comparable scope has to state. Missing any one of them and you cannot compare the number to anything.
- 2 licensesFlorida separates assessment from remediation. Whoever writes the clearance should not be whoever did the work.
- Ask firstWhat a walkthrough and a written scope cost. Get the number before anyone drives out — from us or from anyone else.
The single most common thing we hear on a first call is that the homeowner has three quotes in front of them, they range from a few hundred dollars to five figures, and none of them explains itself. That spread is real information — it is just not information about price.
This page is how to read them. It is written so it works on our quote too, and you should hold us to it.
Why the numbers are so far apart
Almost always because the three companies are describing three different jobs under the same two-word heading.
One is quoting a fogging service: a technician arrives, sprays an antimicrobial, runs the blower, and leaves. That is a few hundred dollars because it is a few hundred dollars of work. One is quoting source removal with containment, negative air, physical removal of colonized material, and an independent clearance test. One is quoting something in between, or the same work with reconstruction bundled in, or the same work with reconstruction explicitly excluded and not saying so out loud.
Until the scopes are comparable the prices are not. The rest of this page is how to make them comparable.
The five things a scope has to state
If a quote is missing any of these, ask for it in writing before you compare the number to anything.
- 1. What material, and how much of itNamed materials and square footage — “removal of 40 sq ft of colonized drywall and batt insulation, north wall, floor to 4 feet.” Not “affected areas.” Square footage of porous material is the single biggest driver of what this costs, so a quote that will not state it has left itself room to move.
- 2. What is removed versus what is cleanedPorous material comes out. Semi-porous and non-porous material gets cleaned. Which is which on your job is a judgment call that changes the price substantially, and it should be written down rather than decided on the day.
- 3. Containment and equipmentWhether containment is being built, what kind, and how many air scrubbers or negative air machines for how many days. This is the line most commonly missing from a cheap quote, because it is the line the cheap quote is not doing.
- 4. Who performs the clearance test, and what happens if it failsIt should be a third-party licensed assessor, not the remediator. And the quote should say who pays to go back in if it does not pass. If that is unstated, assume it is you.
- 5. What is excludedReconstruction, painting, flooring, plenum fabrication, the plumber or roofer who fixes the actual leak. A quote with no exclusions section is not a cheaper quote — it is a quote with the exclusions still ahead of you.
The questions worth asking on the phone
Four minutes each, and they separate the three quotes faster than anything else you can do. There are five more checks that work on any contractor — ours included — and not one of them needs you to know anything about mold.
- Where is the water coming from? A company that cannot answer this has not finished assessing. Growth is a symptom; the moisture source determines the scope, the cost, and whether the job stays fixed. The answer should be specific — a failed condensate trap, a window sealant failure, a short-cycling oversized system. How to checkIf the answer is “we would have to open it up,” fine. If the answer is a shrug, keep calling.
- What did the moisture meter read, and what was the reference? A reading only means something against unaffected material of the same type in the same building. Someone who took readings will have both numbers and will not mind being asked. How to checkA quote produced without any instrument is a guess, and the revision comes later at your expense.
- Who does the clearance test? The answer you want is the name of an independent assessor, or an offer to refer you to one. Florida licenses assessment and remediation separately and restricts one company from doing both on the same property. How to check a license number takes about a minute. How to checkIf a company offers to test its own work, you have learned everything you need to know about how it operates.
- What happens to the duct board plenum? Only relevant if your system is involved, but in pre-2000 Florida housing it usually is. Colonized fiberglass duct board cannot be cleaned — it is porous and growth extends into the fiber mat. The honest answer is replacement. How to checkIf someone offers to clean and encapsulate a colonized plenum, ask what standard they are working to.
- Is reconstruction in this number or not? Removal leaves holes. Somebody has to close them. Whether that is in the quote, quoted separately, or your problem entirely is the most common reason two apparently similar numbers are not similar at all.
Three quotes that should worry you
A free mold inspection followed by that same company’s remediation quote. In Florida those are two separate licenses and one company is restricted from doing both on the same structure. A free visual walkthrough from a remediation company is a normal sales call and is fine — a free “inspection” presented as an assessment is not the same thing.
A number with no scope. One page, one figure, a sentence of description. There is nothing to hold anyone to, and nothing to compare.
Anything built around spraying. Fogging, sanitizing, ozone, or an antimicrobial treatment offered as the remediation rather than as a step at the end of it. Antimicrobials work on non-porous surfaces you can physically reach. They do not restore porous material, and the porous material is the problem.
What actually drives the number
In rough order: the square footage of porous material that has to come out, whether the HVAC system is involved, how many days of containment and equipment the job needs, whether the affected area is accessible or behind cabinetry and tile, and whether reconstruction is included.
What barely moves it: the species of mold. The remediation protocol for colonized drywall does not change by genus, so a lab result naming something frightening should not change your price. If it does, ask why.
We will not quote a number on this page, and you should be suspicious of any company that quotes one over the phone without readings. What we will do is put all five items above in writing so that you can hand our scope to a competitor and get a genuinely comparable bid. That is the test of whether a scope is real.
What people ask about this
Why is one quote $400 and another $6,000 for the same room?
Because they are not for the same work. The low number is almost always a spray-and-go treatment; the high number is containment, negative air, physical removal of colonized material, drying to a documented standard, and an independent clearance test. Compare the scopes line by line and the price gap usually explains itself in about two minutes.
Should I just take the cheapest quote?
Take the cheapest quote that does the actual work, which is a different question. If two scopes genuinely match on material, square footage, containment, equipment, clearance and exclusions, then price is a fair way to choose between them. If they do not match, you are not comparing prices at all.
Is a free inspection a red flag?
Not by itself. Plenty of remediation companies will come out, look at your ceiling and write you a scope without charging for the visit, and that is a normal sales call rather than a trick. What matters is that this is not the same thing as a licensed mold assessment with sampling, which is a separate license, a separate company, and an independent document. Be careful of anyone blurring those two.
Do I need three quotes?
For anything beyond a small contained job, yes — not mainly for the price, but because the second and third conversations are how you learn what questions to ask. If there is standing water right now, skip this and call somebody, because the window between a water loss and a mold job is about two days in this climate.
Will my insurance decide which company I use?
Usually not — in Florida you generally choose your own contractor, though your carrier may have preferred vendors and may push you toward one. What the carrier does decide is what it will pay, which is a separate question from what the work costs. Document conditions thoroughly from day one either way.
Where people go from here
See every stage of a real remediation → — the page this guide is asking you to hold a contractor to.
Want a scope you can actually hold the other two to?
Our scope states every line this page says a scope has to state, so you can read it against the other two and decide from there. Ask what the visit costs when you call.