1-800 Water Damage
Bottom line
- Total investment $71K – $312K including a $59K franchise fee, 10.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $770K/year (median $482K).
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 51/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 45 loans (below the industry average).
- System contracting at -10.1% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Yale framework · single-unit ROIC
Returns Analysis
Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.
The model · Yale framework
What would one 1-800 WATER DAMAGE unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
25%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Overview
About
1-800 WATER DAMAGE franchisees operate emergency water damage mitigation and restoration services, responding to residential and commercial clients experiencing flooding, burst pipes, and water emergencies. Daily operations include emergency dispatch coordination, water extraction, drying, mold remediation, and customer billing management, often with referrals from insurance companies and property managers.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 17 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Declining franchise system with regulatory baggage, no profit transparency, and recent litigation despite solid gross revenue—presents elevated risk for new franchisees entering a contracting network.
Score breakdown · what drove the 51 / 100 rating
- 01MINORDeclining unit count (-8.6% YoY) suggests system contraction and franchisee attrition
- 02MINORNo Item 19 (Average Net Income) disclosure limits transparency on actual profitability despite $770k avg revenue
- 03MINORRegulatory history: LLB Group settled with CA and NY regulators for unregistered sales and failure to disclose prior lawsuits, indicating compliance and disclosure failures
- 04HIGHRecent litigation against franchisee Restoration Rx LLC (settled Dec 2025) signals franchisor-franchisee disputes
- 05MEDHigh initial investment ($59k franchise fee + $71-312k total) relative to undisclosed net income creates ROI uncertainty
- 06MINOR10% royalty on first tier is aggressive for a service business with thin margins; reconstruction at 3% suggests potential royalty disputes or tiered performance issues
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
Item 20
Franchisee Contacts
Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.
Franchisee contacts
21 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
1-800 WATER DAMAGE · FDD (2026) PDF