How we rank water damage restoration companies
Every list on this site uses one published score, the Compare Score, out of 100. This page states who gets on a list, what each point measures, and where the data comes from. Updated 2026-11-02.
Who appears on a list
A company appears on a town's water damage list if any of these is true:
- its office is in that town;
- its Google Maps pin is within 10 miles of the town center, or 15 or 20 miles where fewer than 15 companies are that close;
- its own website names that town as a place it serves; or
- Google Maps shows it for the search "water damage restoration {town} MI". We record that search, with its date, for every town we publish.
A county list includes every company that qualifies for a town in that county, or whose website names the county. A company must also offer water damage service: its own website says so, or Google Maps shows it for the water damage search. A company with an office outside the United States is not listed. A list page exists only when at least 3 companies qualify.
The Compare Score, out of 100
The score reads what customers say about water jobs. Ratings, review text, review dates and owner replies for every company on a list come from its public Google Business Profile, pulled the same day. The bars for full points sit where only about 1 Michigan company in 50 reaches them, so a high score is hard to earn.
| Part | Points | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Water-job proof | 14 | How many reviews describe a water job (flood, leak, burst pipe, sewer backup), on a log scale. 130 or more earns full points. |
| Adjusted rating | 22 | Star rating, pulled toward the Michigan average (4.699) as if it had 30 extra reviews. 4.55 or less earns 0 and 4.96 or more earns 22. |
| Recent work | 25 | Reviews in the last 6 months on a log scale (110 or more earns 20), plus their average rating (4.0 earns 0, 5.0 earns 5). |
| Owner replies | 6 | Share of reviews the owner answered. |
| Ready at night | 6 | 24/7 emergency service (4) and IICRC certification (2), as stated on the company website. |
| Distance | 15 | Miles from the company's nearest office to the town center: its Google Maps pin or an office address published on its own website. 3 miles or less earns 15, 20 miles or more earns 0. |
| Five-star bonus | 7 | 100 or more five-star reviews earns 7. Fewer earns 0. |
| Badge on your website | 5 | The company shows its Compare badge on its own website, with the link back to its profile here. We check every company website the same day. |
Adjusted rating. adjusted = (v / (v + m)) × R + (m / (v + m)) × C, where R is the star rating, v the number of reviews, C = 4.699 (the average rating of every rated company in our Michigan data) and m = 30.
Five-star bonus. When we pulled every one of a company's reviews, we count its five-star reviews directly. Otherwise we use the star breakdown on its Google Maps listing. A company needs 100 or more for the bonus.
Ready at night. We read the company's own homepage. "Not stated" means we did not find it there, not that the company lacks it.
Distance. Each town list measures from the town center. A county list measures to the nearest town in the county. A company page measures to the company's own town.
Floor. A company with no rating, or a rating under 3.5, is not ranked. Ties go to the company with more reviews.
Nothing else counts. Claiming a profile, membership, badges and payment add no points. No part is granted by hand.
Michigan licenses
We check every company against the State of Michigan license lookup (LARA) for an active Residential Builder or Maintenance and Alteration license. A card says "License verified" only when the license is active and the match is solid: the company posts the number on its own website, or the business name and city match the state record. Many companies hold a license under a different legal name, so a missing line never means a company is unlicensed. Check the state lookup yourself before you hire. A license adds no points to the Compare Score.
Claimed profiles
Any listed company can claim its profile for free, to correct its details. We confirm the person works there by calling the phone number on the company's Google listing, or by an email from the company's own website domain. A confirmed profile shows "Owner verified". That mark means only that the owner confirmed the profile. It is not a license or quality check, and it adds no points. We answer every claim within 24 hours, in the order received.
Badges: free, and worth 5 points
Every company on a ranked list gets a free badge for the year. It shows your best placement, so you can show customers where you stand.
- Top Rated goes to the top 3 on a list, with a rating of 4.5 or more from 20 or more ratings.
- Top 10 goes to places 4 to 10.
- Ranked goes to every other company on a list.
Put the badge on your website and you earn 5 points in the Compare Score, the same for every company. The badge links to your profile here, so customers can check your reviews and your score. Copy the code from your profile page ("Get your free badge"). We check every company website on the same day, and the points show up on the next refresh. Badges never cost money and are never sold. Tiers are recomputed each year.
Reviews we quote
Company pages quote the three most recent written reviews, whatever their rating, shortened, with the reviewer's name and date. We do not choose which reviews appear. Counts of jobs customers mention come from reading every review we pulled.
Money
No company can pay to appear on a list or to move up.
Town facts
Each town page has facts about local rivers, floods, sewers and housing. Every fact links its source and the date we read it. We leave out anything we could not confirm from a public record, news report or official page.
Questions or a correction? Contact us.