31 calculators
Home Projects
Materials, labor, and the real all-in cost of the project.
Where real cost data exists, we use it. Where it does not, we show our model instead of inventing a number.
Exterior 11
A plain broom-finish slab is cheap per foot. Stamped, colored concrete can cost two or three times as much, before the site prep.
Concrete patio cost calculator→
The famous average is not a deck.
How much does it cost to build a deck?→
Half of contractor-hired driveway and walkway jobs cost less than $4,349, and only 21% top $10,000.
How much does a new driveway cost?→
The paint is the cheap part. Prep, scraping, and the ladders for a two-story house are what a real exterior job costs.
Exterior house painting cost calculator→
Two state transportation departments publish what they actually pay for six-foot chain link, and they are TWICE APART.
How much does fence installation cost?→
There is no such thing as a foundation repair contractor, and that is not a figure of speech.
How much does foundation repair cost?→
The government files gutter contractors and siding contractors in the same class, and that tells you who to call.
How much does it cost to install gutters?→
Roofing carries the second-widest markup of any building trade, and the Census measures it.
How much does a roof replacement cost?→
The "average siding cost" you have read is not a whole-house re-side, and that is why it always feels low.
How much does siding cost?→
Sod is a crop, and the government counts crops.
How much does it cost to sod a lawn?→
Most people do not replace every window, and the ones who do are outliers.
How much does window replacement cost?→
Interior 9
Insulation is the one home upgrade that really does pay for itself. Whether YOURS does depends almost entirely on what is already up there.
How much does attic insulation cost?→
The square footage sets the base. The bathroom and the egress window are where a finished basement's budget really goes.
Basement finishing cost calculator→
The "average bathroom remodel" is a mean, and a mean is not a typical job.
How much does a bathroom remodel cost?→
Carpet comes in rolls twelve feet wide, so you do not buy your floor. You buy the roll.
How much does carpet installation cost?→
Flooring contractors bill 4.45 times the wage they pay their own installers. That is the widest markup of the 19 specialty building trades, and the Census measures it.
How much does flooring installation cost?→
An addition is a small house grafted onto yours. It needs a foundation, a roof, and its own systems, which is why it costs more per foot than the house did.
Home addition cost calculator→
The paint is the cheap part, and it is not close.
How much does it cost to paint a room?→
Half of American kitchen remodels done by a contractor cost less than $14,135.
How much does a kitchen remodel cost?→
The EPA draws a line, and almost nobody in this industry will tell you where it is.
How much does mold remediation cost?→
Systems 8
A capacitor is a cheap fix; a compressor is nearly a new unit. Which part failed decides whether you repair or replace.
Air conditioner repair cost calculator→
The furnace is half the bill. The install labor, the permit, and the ductwork the old one hid are the other half.
Furnace replacement cost calculator→
A spring change is an hour or two. That is $110 to $220 of labor.
How much does garage door spring replacement cost?→
A typical new heat pump is cheaper to run than a modern gas furnace in only 4 of the 43 states for which the government has published a 2025 gas price.
How much does a heat pump cost to install and run?→
The $2,000 federal heat pump tax credit no longer exists.
How much does HVAC replacement cost?→
The 30% federal solar tax credit is gone.
How much do solar panels cost?→
The cheapest water heater to buy is the most expensive one to own.
How much does a water heater cost?→
A standby generator is insurance, not an investment, and the honest way to price insurance is against how often you claim on it.
How much does a whole-house generator cost?→
A metal building is priced by the square foot, but a single number hides two rates: the erected steel shell is one, the concrete slab under it another, and the finish work you add decides the all-in price per foot.
Metal building cost per square foot calculator→
The "average cost to build a house" you have read everywhere is the wrong average.
How much does it cost to build a house?→
The dealer quotes a home. The land, the haul, the crane set, the foundation, the hookups and the permits are quoted by other people, and together they can run to about the size of the home itself.
How much does a double wide cost?→
Nothing in this chapter rests on that source.