Home improvement cost estimator

Work out what a renovation should cost before you call anyone. Pick a trade, enter the room size and the finish level you want, and the estimator breaks the job into the four numbers a contractor actually quotes from: materials, consumables, trade labor, and a contingency buffer. Add as many rooms or trades as the project needs and it builds a single multi-line budget you can print or export.

The model is deliberately simple enough to check by hand. Every one of the 16 trade categories carries a material cost per square foot at three quality tiers, a consumables rate, an hourly trade rate, and a labor-hours-per-unit figure. Multiply those by your area and quantity and you have the subtotal; a 10% contingency is added on top, because the thing that blows up renovation budgets is what is found behind the wall, not the tile price. The headline figure is then shown as a range rather than a single number, since no estimate built from typical rates deserves false precision.

These are planning figures based on typical national rates, not a quote. Local labor markets, permit requirements, access, and the condition of what you are working on can all move the real price substantially — read the cost accuracy disclaimer before you rely on a number. Estimates you save stay in your own browser; nothing is uploaded and no account is required.