Answer formats

Wave is forgiving about how you answer. Talk to it the way you'd talk to a senior tech. This page is a reference for the shapes of input Wave handles.

Room measurements

Wave asks for room dimensions as length × width × height (in that order). It uses those three numbers to compute wall perimeter, volume, and equipment sizing — PPD for dehumidifiers, CFM for air movers — per IICRC drying standards.

The format isn't strict. Any of these are fine:

• "8 by 10 by 8"
• "8x10x8"
• "Eight feet by ten feet, eight-foot ceiling"
• "About 10 by 12, 8-foot ceiling"

Wave does not ask for square footage. It always asks for all three dimensions. If you only give two (length and width), Wave will follow up for the height — assume a standard 8-foot ceiling if you genuinely don't know, but the three-number answer is what unblocks the math.

Ranges and approximations

If you're not sure of an exact number, give a range:

• "Somewhere between 8 and 10 feet"
• "Two or three air movers"
• "Maybe 20 to 25 linear feet of baseboard"

Wave picks a reasonable middle and flags the assumption in the estimate so you can refine it later.

Math expressions in line-item quantities

When you're editing the QTY field on a line item directly (double-click the line item), Wave accepts math expressions:

• 8*3 (live preview shows = 24.0)
• 120 + 40
• 12.5 * 2

Useful when the quantity is "4 walls × 8 feet" or "two rooms × the same baseboard count." Confirm with ✓ to commit, ✗ to cancel.

"I don't know"

Always safe. Wave will either ask a more answerable question or pick a default and tell you it did. You can come back later to fix it.

Loss-specific terms

Wave recognizes the standard restoration vocabulary:

• Categories — Cat 1, Cat 2, Cat 3
• Equipment — air mover, dehu / dehumidifier, HEPA, scrubber, negative air
• Treatments — antimicrobial, anti-mold, sealer
• Operations — bagging, demo, containment, PRV

You don't need to spell them out. "Cat 2 in the hall bath, hep up an air scrubber" parses fine.

Multi-edit commands

You can chain edit commands in one message. Wave handles them in sequence:

• "Delete the floor protection in the hallway, bump the dehu count to 2, and add a note to the antimicrobial that says 'product on file with the carrier.'"

For the full list of chat verbs, see Chat commands cheat sheet.

Room-specification rule

When you edit a line item that lives inside a specific room (anything that's not in the General section), you have to name the room in the command — otherwise Wave doesn't know which room's line item to target.

• ✅ "Delete the cover register from the hall bathroom"
• ❌ "Delete the cover register" (ambiguous if multiple rooms have one)

The General section is the exception — see the gotcha in Edit a line item via chat.

Related

• Chat commands cheat sheet — the verbs and the syntax
• The chat questionnaire — how questions are chosen
• Edit a line item via chat — putting the rules to work