Cost estimators
Itemised project estimates built from prices you collect locally. Each tool works out the quantities from your measurements — cubic yards, square feet, linear feet — and multiplies them by your unit prices, line by line, so you can hold a contractor’s bid up against it and see exactly where the two differ.
Driveway costItemised driveway estimate from your local prices: concrete, base, labour, finish and removal.Roof costItemised re-roof estimate from your local prices: squares from footprint and pitch, tear-off, materials, labour, flashing.Deck costItemised deck estimate from your local prices: footings, framing, decking, railing, stairs and labour by height.
Why the prices are inputs
Most cost pages quote a national average that is wrong for your ZIP code the day it is published and stale within a season. Ready-mix, gravel and labour differ by a factor of two across the country. A phone call to your supplier and two itemised bids give you numbers no website can, and these tools do the arithmetic around them. The placeholder rates in each form exist only to show the method.
How to use an estimate with a contractor
- Ask for itemised bids using the same lines the estimator uses. Contractors who will itemise are usually the ones worth hiring.
- Reconcile the material lines first. Concrete, gravel and lumber are easy to verify against a supplier price; if a bid’s material lines do not roughly match yours, ask why before looking at labour.
- Treat a very low bid as a question, not a bargain. It is usually thin on base, thickness or reinforcement — the parts you cannot see later.
These are planning estimates, not quotes or engineering advice. Thickness, base depth and reinforcement are governed by local code and soil conditions — confirm them with your building department.