Free tool · Remodeling

Remodeling Cost Calculator for Contractors

By Moni Mindich, founder, 20 years in home improvement

Updated October 22, 2026

This remodeling cost calculator is for the contractor writing the bid, not the homeowner guessing a budget. Enter your labor, materials and fixtures, subcontractors, permits, disposal and the weeks of supervision, pick a project type to set a contingency, then your overhead and profit as a share of the price. You get the bid, the gross profit in dollars, the deposit and the break-even below which the job loses money.

Quick answer: Direct cost = labor + materials + subs + permits + disposal + supervision weeks × weekly cost. Add contingency for the project type. Bid = (direct cost + contingency) ÷ (1 − overhead % − profit %). Break-even = (direct cost + contingency) ÷ (1 − overhead %).

Your numbers

Project

Project type (sets contingency)

Job length (weeks)

Direct costs

Your crew labor ($)Wages plus payroll taxes and workers' comp, for the whole job.

Materials, fixtures and cabinets ($)Your cost, delivered.

Subcontractors ($)Electrical, plumbing, HVAC, drywall, countertops, tile.

Permits and inspections ($)

Dumpster and disposal ($)

Supervision and project management per week ($)Site visits, ordering, scheduling subs. Your time costs money.

Your price

Overhead (% of price)Office, insurance, vehicles, sales and design time, warranty.

Profit (% of price)

Deposit (% of price)

Deposit cap ($, 0 for none)Some states cap deposits. California: the lesser of $1,000 or 10%.

Your remodeling bid

–

Bid price

–

Profit in dollars

–

Deposit

–

Break-even

covers costs and overhead, no profit

An estimate from the numbers you entered, not a market price. Put in your own costs for a number you can stand behind.

You just spent 10 minutes on one remodel. Unmanually turns that into a 10-second voice note.

Home service businesses answer only about half their calls (Invoca, July 2026), and owners spend about 11 to 16 hours/week on admin. Pricing is the easy part; the money leaks out in the calls you can't take, the quotes nobody chases and the invoices that sit unpaid. Unmanually is a 24/7 AI Office Manager for remodeling contractors that you run by voice from your phone:

Answers your business line 24/7, quotes from your price list and books the remodel on the live call, so the customer doesn't ring the next company on Google.
Sends the quote, follows up until they say yes, then sends the invoice and chases it until it's paid.
Texts confirmations and reminders, keeps your calendar and remembers every price and promise.
Plus a free website for your business, set up for you. On a plan, every form fill gets a call back from your AI Office Manager in about a minute.

Hear it on my phone in 1 minute Get my free website

Sources: Invoca, July 2026 (52% of home-service calls answered by a person, 60M+ calls); admin hours: Time etc / Censuswide 2023 and Amex SME Barometer 2026.

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How to use this remodeling cost calculator for contractors

Pick the project type. It sets a starting contingency: kitchens and baths 10%, basements 12%, additions 15%, older homes 20%. These are starting points, not rules.
Enter your direct costs. Your crew's labor with burden, materials and fixtures delivered, every sub quote, permits and disposal.
Count your own time. Weeks on the job times what a week of supervision and project management costs you. Owner time is a cost even when nobody sends you a bill for it.
Set overhead and profit as shares of the price. The table shows the markup that equals, so you can compare with how you used to price.
Set the deposit. Enter a cap if your state limits deposits on home improvement contracts.

The formula

direct cost = labor + materials + subs + permits + disposal + weeks × supervision per week
contingency = direct cost × project contingency %
bid price = (direct cost + contingency) ÷ (1 − overhead % − profit %)
break-even = (direct cost + contingency) ÷ (1 − overhead %)
profit = bid price − break-even
deposit = bid price × deposit %, capped where your state requires

Worked example

These are assumptions for illustration, not market figures. Swap in your own.

A 6-week kitchen remodel: $18,000 of crew labor with burden, $22,000 of cabinets, fixtures and materials, $9,000 of subs, $1,200 of permits, $800 disposal, $400/week of supervision, 10% kitchen contingency, 12% overhead and 12% profit, 10% deposit.

Direct cost is $18,000 + $22,000 + $9,000 + $1,200 + $800 + 6 × $400 = $53,400. Contingency adds $5,340, so cost is $58,740. Break-even with overhead covered is $58,740 ÷ 0.88 = $66,750. The bid is $58,740 ÷ 0.76 = $77,289.47, with $10,539.47 of profit, the same as a 31.6% markup on cost. The deposit is $7,728.95.

Pick older home instead and the 20% contingency raises the bid to $84,315.79. A smaller bathroom job ($9,000 labor, $8,000 materials, $5,000 subs, 3 weeks) comes to $36,473.68, and with a $1,000 deposit cap the deposit is $1,000.

How to price a remodel

Overhead and profit are not the same line

Overhead is what it costs to run the company: the office, insurance, vehicles, design and sales time, the bids you don't win and warranty visits. Profit is what is left after that. When both are set as a share of the price and the bid is direct cost divided by what remains, the numbers add up. Adding a single markup to cost usually leaves less than owners think, because a markup on cost is always a smaller share of the price.

Contingency for what's behind the walls

Kitchens and baths open up rot, old wiring and plumbing that doesn't meet code. Older homes hide more. A contingency line, set by the type of project, keeps those surprises from coming out of your profit. Some contractors show it to the customer as an allowance; others keep it inside the price and use change orders for anything beyond it. Decide which before you write the bid.

Allowances and selections

Cabinets, tile, fixtures and countertops vary hugely in price. Use allowances for anything the customer hasn't picked, state them clearly and explain how overages are billed. Most remodel disputes start with a selection that cost more than the allowance.

Deposits and payment schedules

Tie payments to milestones you can see: demo done, rough-in passed, cabinets set, final. Some states limit deposits on home improvement contracts. In California, for example, the Contractors State License Board says the down payment cannot be more than $1,000 or 10 percent of the contract price, whichever is less (CSLB). Check your own state's rules; this calculator lets you enter a cap.

Your time is a line item

Ordering, scheduling subs, meeting inspectors and answering the homeowner's questions take hours every week. Price supervision by the week so a job that runs long shows up in the numbers.

Quote calls come in while you're on a job

Homeowners planning a remodel call contractors for weeks and remember the one who answered and showed up. Unmanually is an AI Office Manager that works 24/7 and that you run by voice: the AI Office Manager answers, asks the room, scope, budget range and timing, books the walkthrough and texts the confirmation, then sends the progress invoices on your milestones and chases them. See what Unmanually does for remodeling contractors, or get a free website that calls every new lead back in about a minute.

FAQ

Common questions

How do contractors calculate a remodeling bid?

Add up direct costs (labor, materials, subs, permits, disposal, supervision), add a contingency, then divide by one minus overhead and profit as shares of the price. The calculator shows each step and the break-even.

What is a normal overhead and profit for a remodeling contractor?

It depends on your company's size and costs. Work out your own overhead from last year's books as a share of revenue, then choose the profit you need. The calculator starts at 12% each as assumptions.

How much contingency should a remodel have?

This calculator uses 10% for kitchens and baths, 12% for basements, 15% for additions and 20% for older homes as starting points. Adjust to what your past jobs show.

What is the difference between markup and margin in remodeling?

Margin is a share of the price; markup is a share of the cost. With 24% overhead and profit as shares of price, the markup on cost is about 31.6%. The calculator shows both.

How much deposit can a contractor take on a remodel?

It depends on the state. California caps the down payment on home improvement contracts at $1,000 or 10% of the price, whichever is less, according to the CSLB. Check your state's rules and enter a cap in the calculator.