# How We Calculate Costs | Our Method | RYH

> The full method behind our cost estimates: federal BLS wage data, current published material pricing, assumptions about labor hours and contractor overhead and profit. Including what we are not sure about.



Our cost ranges are built from federal wage data and current published material pricing. Here is our method, assumptions and limitations.

## The Short Version

The ranges in our [cost calculators](/cost-calculator/index.md) are **calculated**, not collected. We price the materials we assume a job needs, add the labor hours we estimate it takes at the wage that trade actually earns in the United States, and then account for the fact that a contractor has to cover insurance, vehicles, overhead and profit on top of that. That is the method this page documents.

**Be clear about which figures those are.** The eight cost calculators run the model live in your browser and recompute for your metro. The project-type ranges in our guides and city-page tables come from the same model, scaled on city pages for local labor costs. Other figures on the site (the budget, mid-range and premium tiers on our guides, headline ranges, and costs quoted in articles) are **general planning ranges** that this model does not produce. They will not always match the calculator to the dollar, and where they differ the calculator is the one whose arithmetic you can inspect below. Where the model cannot price a job, such as a repair whose cost depends on what a contractor finds, we say so rather than show a figure.

We publish a **range** rather than a single number because the honest answer spans a wide market. The low end reflects a lean independent contractor fitting mid-grade material. The high end reflects a national in-home-sales company fitting premium material. Both are real prices that real homeowners pay for the same nominal project.

**These are planning estimates, not quotes.** No formula can see your house. Get at least three written quotes before you commit to anything.

## The Formula

**Modeled project cost** = (material × quantity × waste allowance)
    + accessories
    + (labor hours × hourly wage × employer cost load)

**Estimated installed price** = modeled project cost × assumed overhead-and-profit multiplier

A contractor does not bill you their cost. They bill you their cost plus everything it takes to run a business that shows up.

## Where Each Number Comes From

Source and confidence for each input in the cost model

| Input | Source | How confident we are |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Hourly wages | US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. We use the specific trade for each job: roofers for roofing, glaziers and carpenters for windows, plumbers for bathrooms, sheet metal workers for gutters. | **High.** A federal survey of actual wages, updated annually, free to anyone. |
| Material prices | Current listed prices from retailers and manufacturers, captured on a stated date. We record the product, the price and the page for every single one. | **High** for the price itself. Note that retail is not contractor pricing. Contractors buy at a trade discount but mark materials up, and the two effects broadly offset. |
| Employer cost load | BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation. Wages are about 67% of what a construction employer actually pays per hour worked; the rest is payroll tax, insurance and benefits. | **High.** Also federal data. |
| Labor hours | Published installation references and trade sources where they exist. Where they do not, we state our own assumption rather than dress it up. | **This is our weakest input.** See below. |
| Overhead & profit | Our own assumption, expressed as a range from lean independent contractor to national in-home-sales company. | **Assumption.** |

## What We Are Not Sure About

Most cost guides do not have a section like this. We think that is a mistake, so here is ours.

**Labor hours are genuinely hard to source.** Trade associations publish detailed standards for *how* to install a product (fastener patterns, flashing details, clearances) but almost none of them publish how many hours it takes or how many people it needs. Where we could not find a published figure, the hours in our model are our own estimate. That is an honest gap, and we are looking at published estimating references to close it.

**We have not identified suitable published prices for two line items.** Subfloor preparation and tearing out an existing floor have project-specific costs. That absence is worth knowing about: if a flooring quote comes in far above the per-square-foot price you saw advertised, this is usually why.

**Some jobs are not in the model yet.** Our model prices full replacement work. Repairs, inspections, refinishing and a few specialty jobs are not in it, so the model does not generate prices for them. We would rather send you to a quote than publish a number we cannot show the arithmetic for.

**Local variation is real.** Labor is the part of a job that varies most by market, and wages differ substantially between metros. Our city pages adjust only the labor share of each estimate, using federal wage data for that metro and that trade. Material prices are not adjusted.

## What We Do Not Do

**We do not build our calculators from licensed cost datasets.** Several well-known cost datasets are licensed products, and their terms do not permit dropping them into a calculator or a database. Building our own model from public wage data, published prices and disclosed assumptions means we can show you the arithmetic.

**We do not quietly change our numbers.** Wages refresh annually when the BLS publishes. Material prices are re-captured on a stated schedule and adjusted between refreshes using the federal producer price index for construction materials.

**We do not pretend a range is a quote.** Every cost figure on this site is a planning estimate. The only number that reflects your actual home is a written quote from a contractor who has seen it.

## Questions About Our Cost Estimates

### Why is your estimate different from the quote I received?

Several reasons, and most of them are legitimate. Scope is the biggest one. A quote may include tear-out, disposal, permits, trim, or repairs to something the installer found once work started, and our estimate covers a standard job with none of those surprises. Material grade is the second: the spread between builder-grade and premium is often larger than the labor cost of the whole job. Third is who is quoting. A national in-home-sales company carries marketing and commission costs in its price that an independent contractor does not. If a quote is far outside our range in either direction, ask for a written scope breakdown.

### Do these prices include labor?

Yes. Our estimates are installed prices: material plus labor plus the contractor's overhead and profit. This matters because many advertised prices are material only, which is why an advertised floor at $2 per square foot can become an $8 per square foot installed job.

### How often are the numbers updated?

Wages update annually with the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics release. Material prices are re-captured on a stated schedule, and adjusted between refreshes using the federal producer price index for construction materials. The review date appears on the cost pages themselves.

### Why do you show such a wide range?

Because the market genuinely is that wide, and narrowing it would mean guessing which end you will land on. The same nominal project (say, replacing ten windows) is a meaningfully different purchase depending on material grade and the type of company you buy from. A single average number would be wrong for almost everyone. A range tells you what to expect and where in it you probably sit.

### Are these numbers specific to my city?

Partly. City pages adjust the labor share of each estimate using federal wage data for that metro and trade, because labor is the component that varies most between markets. Material prices are not adjusted.

### Do you make money from these estimates?

We are a lead-matching service. If you request quotes, we connect you with contractors who pay for that introduction. That is exactly why the method is described here. In our cost calculators you can check the arithmetic rather than take our word for it.

**Method version:** 2026-08-12 ·**Wage data:** BLS OEWS, May 2025 ·**Material pricing captured:** 2026-08-12
Questions about the method, or think an input is wrong? We would rather hear it. Contact us and say which number and why.

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Source: https://remodelyourhome.com/how-we-calculate-costs/