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Home Renovation Cost Calculator
By Jessica Martinez
Enter your project type, area, and finish level to get a working cost range with a contingency buffer already built in.
Enter your project type, area, and finish level to get a working cost range with a contingency buffer already built in.
Planning figure only. Treat this as a starting point for contractor conversations.
The exact per-square-foot rates and contingency wired into the tool above:
| Project tier | Rate per sqft |
|---|---|
| Whole-home refresh | $60 |
| Mid-range full remodel | $110 |
| High-end full remodel | $220 |
Base cost equals the per-square-foot rate multiplied by your renovated area. The optional 15 percent contingency, on by default, is applied on top of that base to produce the estimated project cost.
Leave the defaults in place, a whole-home refresh over 1,200 square feet with the contingency on, and the base cost comes out to $60 times 1,200, or $72,000. The 15 percent contingency adds $10,800 on top, for an estimated project cost of $82,800, which works out to $69 per square foot once the buffer is folded in. Switch the project tier to a mid-range full remodel on the same footprint and the base almost doubles to $132,000 before contingency, since finish level moves the number more than square footage alone.
The contingency line is not padding. Renovations uncover something behind almost every wall, outdated wiring, old plumbing, rot under a window, and the 15 percent buffer is what keeps a project moving instead of stalling for a change order. Homes built before 1980, or any project involving structural or plumbing work, often justify pushing that reserve to 20 percent.
Kitchen, bathroom, roof, or whole-home: free tools for each.
The calculator uses $60 per square foot for a whole-home refresh, $110 for a mid-range full remodel, and $220 for a high-end full remodel, before the contingency is added. On a 1,200 square foot renovation area, those rates alone span $72,000 to $264,000.
Because something is almost always found once walls open, old wiring, failing plumbing, rot behind tile. The 15 percent contingency is on by default, and turning it off shows the base number without that cushion.
No. Permit costs vary by municipality and project type, so they are not built into the per-square-foot rate. Fold an estimate for permits into your contingency line instead of treating them as a later surprise.
No, use it the other way around. This is a starting range built from national averages. A written, itemized bid from a licensed local contractor is always the more accurate number for your specific project.