Waterproofing profit margin benchmarks
The IRS reports what one-owner businesses filing Schedule C earn, by sector. Waterproofing falls under Specialty trade contractors. For tax year 2023, 2,521,516 returns reported $257.8 billion in receipts, $80.4 billion in cost of sales and $40.5 billion in net income less deficit (the table gives thousands of dollars):
| Benchmark | Value |
|---|---|
| Gross margin | 68.8% |
| Net margin, owner pay included | 15.7% |
| Average receipts per return | $102,220 |
| Average net income per return | $16,054 |
The owner's own draw is not an expense on a Schedule C, so that net margin is mostly the owner's wage, not profit on top of it.
Where the money goes in waterproofing
Waterproofing is labor heavy, with concrete cutting, digging and haul away, plus pumps and drainage materials.
For a worked example, our basement waterproofing cost calculator puts interior drain tile at $50 to $100 a foot, typical $80, and treats about 60% of that as labor. On the typical price, that is about $48 of labor and $32 of materials, equipment and everything else, before your overhead and profit.
Where waterproofing margin leaks, and how to win it back
- Concrete thickness surprises
- Haul away of spoils
- Warranty callbacks
- Pumps priced at cost
- Permits
Ways waterproofing companies raise margin: inspect before quoting; price haul away of broken concrete; mark up pumps and parts; spell out the warranty terms.
Check your waterproofing prices against the costs
The typical national prices from our sourced calculators are a check on whether your prices leave room for margin:
| Service | Typical | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Interior drain tile | $80 | $50 to $100 a foot |
| Sump pump, installed | $1,550 | $600 to $2,500 a pump |
| French drain, interior | $70 | $40 to $100 a foot |
| Regrading and drainage | $1,750 | $500 to $3,000 a job |
| Crack injection | $588 | $275 to $900 a crack |
| Interior wall sealant | $4.50 | $2.00 to $8.00 a sq ft of wall |
Work out the margin on each line of your menu, not just the big jobs. The usual waterproofing menu: interior drain tile; sump pump, installed; french drain, interior; regrading and drainage; crack injection; interior wall sealant; foundation crack repair; foundation pier; dehumidifier, installed; mold remediation; crawlspace encapsulation.
Overhead comes out of the margin before profit. In waterproofing it includes general liability insurance, which Insureon's customers who are contractors as a group pay an average of $83 a month for; commercial auto at $270 a month on the same figures.
Work out your own margin
Put one recent waterproofing job into the calculator above, or switch it to "My margin for the year" to set your year next to the IRS benchmark. A 50% markup is a 33% margin; the markup calculator shows the rest.
Sources
- IRS Statistics of Income: Nonfarm sole proprietorships, Table 2, income statements by industrial sector, tax year 2023, checked October 9, 2026
- IRS: SOI tax stats, nonfarm sole proprietorship statistics, checked October 9, 2026
- Insureon: Insurance cost for contractors as a group, checked October 9, 2026
- Fixr, basement waterproofing cost, checked October 8, 2026
- Thumbtack, basement waterproofing cost, checked October 8, 2026
- This Old House, basement waterproofing cost, checked October 8, 2026
- Modernize, basement waterproofing cost, checked October 8, 2026
- UseCalcPro, basement waterproofing cost 2026, checked October 8, 2026
- LatestCost, waterproofing cost per linear foot, checked October 8, 2026
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (state and national files), checked October 8, 2026
- US Census Bureau, 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Area to county relationship file, checked October 8, 2026
- Fixr, French drain installation cost, checked October 8, 2026
- HomeAdvisor, French drain cost, checked October 8, 2026
- Bob Vila, French drain cost, checked October 8, 2026
- LawnStarter, French drain cost, checked October 8, 2026
- Lawn Love, French drain cost, checked October 8, 2026
Last checked October 9, 2026. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and differ by state and city, so confirm with the agency named before you act.