A whole-home renovation is priced per room and per scope tier, then adjusted for the things that are not the renovation itself: a permit at $500–$2,500, a contingency of 10–15 percent, and temporary housing at $2,000–$10,000 if you cannot live in it. The contingency is the line most budgets omit and most projects need.
The contingency is not padding
This calculator adds a contingency of 10 to 15 percent, and it is worth understanding why that is a structural part of a renovation budget rather than a hedge against pessimism.
Renovation differs from new construction in one decisive way: you cannot see what you are buying until you open it. A new build is priced against drawings. A renovation is priced against assumptions about what is behind the plaster, under the floor and inside the walls — and those assumptions are tested only after demolition, when the budget is already committed and stopping is expensive.
On a $60,000 renovation the contingency is $6,000 to $9,000. A household that has not set that aside has not budgeted a cheaper renovation; it has budgeted the same renovation and arranged to be short at the worst moment. The honest framing is that the contingency is part of the price, and the only question is whether you find out now or in week three.
What older homes add, and why it is not optional
The module carries a separate set of older-home risks, and they behave differently from the rest of the estimate: they are not upgrades you choose, they are conditions you discover.
The pattern is consistent across trades. Opening a wall in a house of a certain age reveals wiring that no longer meets code, plumbing at the end of its life, or framing that was modified by someone long gone. None of that was in the scope, all of it is now exposed, and much of it cannot legally be closed back up untouched once an inspector has seen it.
There is also a regulatory trigger specific to older housing. Work disturbing painted surfaces in homes built before 1978 falls under the EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting rule, which requires the firm to be EPA-certified and to use certified renovators above a minor-repair threshold of 6 square feet interior or 20 square feet exterior. That is not a line item a homeowner chooses; it changes who can legally do the work.
Where the money goes
A whole-home renovation is a sequence of trades, and their rates differ more than most budgets assume. BLS OEWS figures for May 2025 put plumbers (SOC 47-2152) at a $34.70 mean hourly wage across 465,840 workers and electricians (SOC 47-2111) at $34.37 across 757,220 — both above the $65,360 annual mean across all construction and extraction occupations.
That matters for sequencing as much as for cost. The expensive trades work early, inside the walls, and they are the ones whose work must be inspected before anything can be closed. A schedule that lets finishing trades get ahead of them creates rework, and rework in a renovation is paid for twice.
It is also why the temporary-housing line, at $2,000 to $10,000 here, is not a luxury item. A renovation you are living in runs slower, because crews work around you, and a slower renovation costs more in every other line.
What the estimate excludes
- ·Structural change. Moving or removing load-bearing walls needs engineering, and neither the design nor the steel is priced here.
- ·Additions. This is a renovation model, not an extension one — new footprint is a different project.
- ·Furniture, fittings and appliances. Frequently a five-figure line that is discovered after the build budget is set.
- ·Financing costs. Interest during the works is real and is not in the build number.
- ·Local permit fees beyond the modelled band. These are set locally and vary widely.
Methodology
Room costs by scope tier, the $500–$2,500 permit band, the 10–15 percent contingency, the older-home risk items and the $2,000–$10,000 temporary-housing band are the constants held in this page's own cost dataset and module, applied to the rooms and home size you enter (600–5,000 sq ft, up to six rooms). Wage figures are BLS OEWS May 2025. Structural work, additions, furnishings and financing are not included.
Sources
- US EPA — Renovation, Repair and Painting Program — accessed 2026-09-07
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — OEWS Profile: Plumbers, Pipefitters and Steamfitters (47-2152), May 2025 — accessed 2026-09-07
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — OEWS Profile: Electricians (47-2111), May 2025 — accessed 2026-09-07