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Project Cost & Budgeting
Setting and defending a renovation budget: contingency sized to how much is hidden behind the walls, the true cost of doing it…
Project Time & Disruption
How long a project really takes and what the disruption costs: the cure, dry and acclimation waits that dominate a schedule, and…
Payback, ROI & Home Value
Whether the work pays for itself: through lower energy bills, through resale value, or through the equity created against what…
Whole-Project Costing
Costing a complete job rather than a single material: area and waste, the removal of what is there now, underlayment and trim…
Most used in home improvement projects & renovation
- Home Renovation Budget CalculatorLine-item cost estimatingThis calculator turns a renovation into the five lines every estimator uses — materials, labour, fixtures and appliances…
- Renovation Contingency CalculatorRisk-based contingency framework (defined on this page)A flat ten per cent contingency treats a 1910 house with plaster walls and knob-and-tube wiring the same as a 2015 house with…
- DIY vs Contractor Cost CalculatorOpportunity-cost comparisonThis calculator answers the only question that matters when you are holding a contractor's quote: does doing it yourself…
- Contractor Quote Comparison CalculatorLike-for-like bid levellingThree contractors quoting the same room rarely quote the same job. One excludes the disposal, another carries a $2,000 tile…
- Demolition Debris & Dumpster Size CalculatorTypical construction and demolition debris densitiesThis calculator turns a demolition scope into two numbers a container is billed on: loose volume in cubic yards and weight in…
- Home Project Duration CalculatorDeterministic scheduling with explicit floatLabour hours tell you how long the work takes. They tell you nothing about how long the project takes, because a renovation…
- Paint Drying & Recoat Schedule CalculatorASTM D1640 reference conditions (23 °C / 50% RH)The recoat time on a paint can is measured in a laboratory at about 23 °C and 50% relative humidity. Your hallway in November…
- Flooring Acclimation Time CalculatorWood Handbook (FPL-GTR-190) EMC equation; NWFA installation guidanceWood flooring does not need a fixed number of days on site — it needs to reach the moisture content the room will hold it at…
- Renovation Downtime Cost CalculatorDisruption cost accountingA renovation quote covers the work. It does not cover the six weeks of takeaways while the kitchen is a shell, the storage unit…
- Home Improvement ROI CalculatorCost-versus-value recoup analysisNo ordinary renovation returns more at resale than it costs. What a good one does is give a large part of the money back, so…
- Energy Upgrade Payback CalculatorDiscounted cash flow; simple and discounted paybackSimple payback — cost divided by annual saving — is the number every contractor quotes and the one that misleads most often. It…
- Attic Insulation Upgrade Payback CalculatorASHRAE degree-day method; IECC ceiling R-valuesHeat leaves a ceiling in direct proportion to area and temperature difference, and in inverse proportion to R-value. That last…