How to use the estimator
Three ways in, one set of numbers, and every line shows its own arithmetic.
1 · Pick how you want to start
All three routes build the same estimate — they differ only in how much is filled in for you.
- 30-second ballpark. Three questions — project, size, finish — and you get a budget band with a bar breakdown by trade. Best on the phone with a client on the line.
- Typical package. Opens pre-filled with a normal scope for that project and size, so you trim what the job does not include rather than building from nothing.
- Line by line. Nothing is priced until you add it. Best when the scope is unusual, or when a client is watching and you want each item to appear as you agree on it.
Moving from the ballpark into the full estimator carries your answers across — it never re-prices the job differently.
2 · Set the project and the market
Six project types, each carrying its own complexity factor and its own set of trades:
| Kitchen remodel | ×1.00 |
| Bathroom remodel | ×1.06 |
| Whole-home renovation | ×0.94 |
| Addition or ADU | ×1.43 |
| RV garage or shop | ×1.02 |
| Exterior & hardscape | ×0.97 |
A bathroom costs more per square foot than a kitchen — small rooms, more fixtures per foot. A whole home costs less per foot because the crew is already on site.
The market sets a cost index and the sales tax rate: Sacramento ×1.00 (8.75% tax), Los Angeles ×1.12 (9.75%), San Diego ×1.08 (7.75%).
3 · Dial in the scope
Work is grouped by trade, each with its drawing-set code — Demolition (D‑01), Concrete & sitework (C‑01), Framing (S‑01), Envelope & roofing (A‑01), Plumbing (P‑01), Electrical (E‑01), Cabinetry (A‑02), Surfaces & tile (A‑03), Paint & finish (F‑01).
- Only the trades that belong to the chosen project appear. A tankless heater shows up on an ADU, never on a kitchen.
- Lines rename themselves to suit the job — the same catalogue item reads Island in a kitchen and Vanity in a bathroom.
- Mark a trade not needed to skip it, or use Clear to zero to empty everything and build from scratch.
- Trailer loads are worked out for you — one per 225 sq ft of demo area — and keep updating until you type a number yourself, after which yours stands.
4 · Choose the finish level
Standard ×1.00 · Premium ×1.28 · Signature ×1.62
This is the setting people misread most often. It multiplies materials and fabrication only — cabinetry, counters, tile, flooring, fixtures, lighting, paint. It does not touch demolition, framing, or sitework, because tearing out a wall costs the same whatever goes back in.
5 · Add-ons, contingency and tax
- Flat add-ons: design & renderings, permits & plan check, structural engineering, temporary kitchen, smart home, solar-ready prep. These scale with the market index.
- Percentage add-ons: accelerated schedule +8% and the 5-year workmanship warranty +3%, both calculated on the base work.
- Contingency starts at 10%. Use 15% on anything pre-1980 — the tool says so on screen, because what is behind the walls is the thing that moves a price after signing.
- Sales tax applies to the material portion only, taken as 45% of the subtotal, at the rate for the market you chose.
Add-ons never price on an empty scope — a percentage of nothing is nothing, so it cannot invent a total.
6 · Read the estimate out loud
Every priced line opens with the › arrow to show exactly how it got there: quantity × unit rate × project factor × market index × finish level. Nothing in the total is a figure you cannot account for in front of a client.
Under the total sits a likely range, 90% to 115% of the figure. Quote the range, not the number. The estimate is a budget, and the range is the honest version of it.
7 · Financing and sending it on
The financing panel models a monthly payment against the Hearth program — up to $250,000, unsecured, with a 0% promotional option held to 24 months so it never quotes a product that does not exist. Whatever rate you set is printed beside the payment. It is an illustration, not an offer of credit.
Request quote sends the estimate to the office. Copy puts a plain-text version on the clipboard for an email or a text message.
8 · Tuning the rates
Add #/rates to the estimator's address to open the rate tuner and adjust any unit rate live. Changes are held in your browser only — they never rewrite the shipped rates, and a banner keeps you from showing a client a tuned number without realising. Clearing your browser's site data puts everything back.
Before you send anything to a client
Estimates from this tool are preliminary and non-binding. The kitchen scope is the one priced line by line and reviewed; the other five project types calculate correctly but their rates have not had the same scrutiny — treat them as a starting point. A firm price still needs a site visit and verified measurements.