How to Choose a Restoration Company for a Sink Leak

What should I ask a restoration company about a sink leak before I hire them?

A sink leak is small and contained, which makes it easy for a company to under-scope the job on purpose or by accident. The leak sits inside a closed cabinet, so nobody but the technician sees how far the water traveled. Ask these on the first call, before a truck is on the way:

• Will you take a moisture reading of the cabinet floor, the subfloor underneath it, and the ceiling below, before you write the scope?
• What water category are you expecting, and does that change based on whether the leak came from the supply line, the drain, or the disposal?
• Will the cabinet floor and any flooring come out, or are you drying in place? What tells you which one applies?
• Is the estimate itemized by area, or is it one lump number?
• Do you handle the plumbing repair yourself, or is that a separate call to a plumber or appliance tech?

A company that answers all five without hesitation has done this job enough times to know the pattern. A company that gives you a single number before anyone has opened the cabinet door is pricing blind.

Why does a sink leak need different questions than a burst pipe or a flooded basement?

Most water losses are visible fast. A burst pipe floods a room. A sink leak is the opposite. The cabinet door stays closed, and a slow drip from a P-trap joint or a worn faucet gasket can run for weeks before a soft spot under your thumb or a musty smell gives it away. The company's first job is finding out how long the leak ran and how far the water got, not drying on autopilot, and your questions need to test whether they actually do that.

The material at the center of this loss behaves differently too. Most sink cabinet floors are particleboard, a pressed wood product with no grain to resist water. It absorbs moisture unevenly from the underside and the cut edges, swells, and does not regain its strength once it dries. A company that treats every cabinet floor like a surface to wipe down and dry with a fan is not accounting for what the material actually does.

What does a good estimate look like for a sink leak?

A good estimate names the areas separately instead of folding everything into one number. Expect the cabinet floor and base listed on its own, the subfloor listed with a note on whether it is being dried or replaced, and, if a basement or lower room sits under the sink, the ceiling and joist bay in that room called out as its own line, not bundled into "drywall repair" with no location given.

Ask to see the moisture readings, not just the conclusion. A reading at the cabinet floor, compared against a dry reading from an unaffected spot in the same room, is the evidence behind any decision to dry a material or remove it. A company that shows you the numbers is working from data.

Ask what triggers tear-out versus drying in place. Particleboard that has swollen and gone soft generally gets replaced, because it does not regain its strength once saturated. Plywood or solid-wood cabinet bases more often survive drying. If an estimate calls for full cabinet replacement without explaining the material and why it failed, ask that question before you approve it.

What red flags point to a company under-scoping or over-scoping a sink leak?

The small size of this loss creates two opposite risks. Under-scoping looks like a flat price quoted over the phone before anyone has opened the cabinet, a plan to dry with the door shut and a fan outside it, and no mention of checking the room below even when one exists. A sealed cabinet does not dry properly with the door closed, no matter how long equipment runs outside it.

Over-scoping looks like a company that wants to tear out a full run of cabinets or the whole kitchen floor without first showing a moisture reading that supports that scope. A single cabinet leak caught within its first couple of weeks is usually a contained job: the affected cabinet, the subfloor under it, and sometimes a ceiling patch below. A much larger proposal than that, with no readings behind it, is worth a second opinion.

How do I compare two estimates for the same sink leak that come in very different?

Line the two estimates up by area rather than by total price. Check whether both list the cabinet floor, the subfloor, and the ceiling below separately, or whether one folded several areas into a single number that is harder to check against the other.

Check what each company calls the water category and why. A leak from a supply line is generally treated as clean, Category 1 water, which gives the widest window to dry and keep materials. A leak from the drain side or a disposal connection carries soap, food, or waste residue and is more often treated as Category 2, which pushes more material toward removal. If one estimate treats the same leak as Category 1 and the other as Category 2, ask both to explain the source they identified and their reasoning.

Check whether either estimate explains how long the leak is believed to have run, and what evidence supports that. A fresh, sudden leak and a slow leak running for weeks leave different marks on the same cabinet material, a distinction that can matter if a claim is filed. The carrier decides what a policy covers, but a company that documents the timeline with photos and readings gives you a record either way.

Does it matter whether the company repairs the plumbing itself or sends me to a separate plumber?

It is common, and not a red flag by itself, for a restoration company to dry and rebuild the structure while a separate plumber or appliance technician fixes the supply line, the trap, or the disposal seal. What matters is that the company is upfront about which side of the job is theirs. Get that split in writing so you know who is responsible if something is still leaking after the first visit.

What should I ask about licensing and documentation for a job this size?

A sink leak is small, but the same licensing rules apply as any other restoration work. Rebuilding the cabinet base, the subfloor, or a ceiling generally requires a Michigan Residential Builder or Maintenance and Alteration Contractor license from LARA. Check that license number yourself on LARA's public lookup rather than taking a card at face value. See licensed vs. unlicensed restoration work in Michigan for what the license does and does not cover.

Ask what documentation the company provides before any material comes out: dated photos of the cabinet floor, the supply line or trap, and any stain on a ceiling below, plus the moisture readings themselves. That record is what supports a claim if one is filed, and a company that documents before removing anything is protecting your position, not just its own.

Where do I find vetted companies near me for this kind of job?

This directory's local lists carry named companies with real review counts and a published scoring method, which gives you a starting point before you start calling. See the ranked lists for Macomb County, Oakland County, Sterling Heights, and Rochester Hills, among others.

For the questions that apply to any restoration hire, not just a sink leak, see questions to ask a restoration contractor before you hire and red flags when hiring after a disaster.

FAQ

How urgent is a sink leak compared to a burst pipe?

A sink leak is rarely an emergency the way a burst pipe is, because the water volume is smaller and often limited to drips. It is still worth acting on quickly, because the cabinet floor keeps absorbing water the longer the source runs, and a slow leak you can live with for a day is not one you should live with for a month.

Should I call a plumber or a restoration company first?

Either call works, since the two jobs are separate. Shutting off the supply valves yourself stops the leak immediately, and from there a restoration company can assess the water damage while a plumber or appliance tech schedules the repair. Ask the restoration company whether they coordinate with a plumber or expect you to arrange that separately.

Can I just dry it myself with a fan and skip hiring anyone?

For a leak caught within hours, airing out the cabinet with the door open and a fan nearby can be enough, especially if the cabinet floor is plywood rather than particleboard. Once the floor feels soft, smells musty, or the leak has clearly been running for days, a fan will not reach moisture that has already worked into the subfloor or traveled along floor joists into the room below.

What is the difference between Category 1, 2, and 3 water for a sink leak?

The IICRC's S500 standard sorts water into three categories by contamination level. Category 1 is clean water, typical of a supply line or faucet base leak. Category 2 is gray water carrying some contaminant, typical of drain-side or garbage disposal water. Category 3 is grossly contaminated water, not typical of a sink leak unless sewage backup is involved. Water left standing more than 48 hours is generally treated as having degraded a category regardless of source.

Will my homeowners insurance cover a sink leak?

A homeowners policy commonly covers sudden and accidental water damage, and commonly excludes damage from long-term seepage or repeated leakage. The carrier decides based on the facts of your specific loss and your policy language. A restoration company that documents the cabinet floor, the timeline, and the moisture readings before removing anything gives you the record a carrier will want to see, but no company and no guide can tell you in advance what your specific policy will pay.

Does a leaking garbage disposal need a different kind of restoration company?

No. A garbage disposal leak at the mounting gasket, the drain connection, or the internal seal is a plumbing or appliance repair, not a restoration job on its own. The restoration side only covers what the water did to the cabinet floor and subfloor underneath, and the same vetting questions here apply whether the leak started at a supply line, a trap, or a disposal.

How many estimates should I get for a job this size?

Two estimates is usually enough to tell whether one company is scoping the job accurately. If they differ by more than the cost of a line item or two, ask both companies to walk you through their moisture readings rather than just comparing bottom-line numbers.

What happens if the company finds more damage once it opens the cabinet?

A reputable company documents what it finds with photos and readings before changing the scope, and explains the change in writing rather than simply billing a higher total. A cabinet floor that turns out more deteriorated than the initial look suggested is consistent with how particleboard fails, often from the underside first, where nobody checks until the floor is opened up. Ask for the updated readings before approving any change to the original estimate.