Home Improvement Cost Calculators
Some jobs are bought as a finished installation rather than as a pile of materials, and the first question is what the whole thing should cost. These calculators build an itemized estimate from several published national price guides, so you can sanity-check a contractor’s quote before you sign: a new roof by material, size and pitch, new gutters by length, material and guards, a kitchen remodel by size and scope, a concrete driveway by finish, thickness and tear-out, replacement windows by frame material and style, new doors by type, sealing and dehumidifying a crawl space, and sizing a water softener and pricing its installation.
- Crawl Space Encapsulation Cost CalculatorWhat does crawl space encapsulation cost? Get an itemized pro estimate, liner square footage and rolls, seam tape and dehumidifier size for your crawl space.Open calculator
- Water Softener Size & Cost CalculatorWhat size water softener do you need? Get grains per day, the softener capacity, salt per year and an installed cost range from household size and water hardness.Open calculator
- Window Replacement Cost CalculatorHow much does window replacement cost? Estimate installed prices by frame material, bay and bow windows, storm windows and repairs, with a per-window range.Open calculator
- Door Installation Cost CalculatorHow much does it cost to install a door? Price entry doors by material, interior, patio, French and storm doors, plus framing, locks and painting, in one estimate.Open calculator
- Roof Replacement Cost CalculatorHow much does a new roof cost? Estimate roof replacement by material, roof size and pitch, with tear-off, decking, gutters, skylights and permits itemized.Open calculator
- Kitchen Remodel Cost CalculatorHow much does a kitchen remodel cost? Estimate by kitchen size and scope, add an island, wall removal or gas line, and see where the budget usually goes.Open calculator
- Concrete Driveway Cost CalculatorHow much does a concrete driveway cost? Estimate by size, finish and thickness, add tear-out, rebar, sealing and permits, and compare six price guides.Open calculator
- Gutter Installation Cost CalculatorWhat do new gutters cost? Price seamless aluminum, vinyl, steel or copper gutters per foot, add guards and removal, and size downspouts and slope.Open calculator
How these cost estimates work
Each calculator here lists the parts of the job as separate lines, multiplies each by a low and a high price, and adds them up. Where several guides price the same item, the headline uses the median of their figures; where only one does, it uses the middle of that guide’s range. The full breakdown sits underneath so you can compare it line by line with a written quote. Every price comes from a published national cost guide, such as HomeGuide or Angi, or from the Journal of Light Construction’s Cost vs Value report, and each page lists its sources with dates. These are national ranges. Labor rates, permit fees and the condition of your house can move the real number well outside them, so treat the result as a sanity check, not a bid.
Typical installed costs at a glance
| Job | Priced by | Typical published figure | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roof replacement | Square foot of roof surface | $3–$6 asphalt shingles (HomeGuide) | 2,000 sq ft of architectural shingles: $8,000–$12,000 |
| Gutters | Linear foot | $14 seamless aluminum (median of four guides) | 150 ft with old gutters removed: about $2,225 |
| Concrete driveway | Square foot of slab | $9.25 broom finish (median of six guides) | 24 × 24 ft at 4 in: about $5,330 |
| Replacement windows | Window | About $615 vinyl (median of four guides) | 10 standard vinyl windows: about $6,150 |
| Doors | Door | $155–$688 pre-hung interior (HomeGuide) | Steel entry door: $300–$2,700 |
| Kitchen remodel | Square foot of kitchen | $150–$250 full remodel, same layout (HomeGuide) | 10 × 10 ft kitchen: $15,000–$25,000 |
| Crawl space encapsulation | Square foot of floor | $3–$10 (HomeGuide) | 1,000 sq ft: $3,000–$10,000 |
| Water softener | Unit plus labor | $1,200–$3,800 salt-based, installed (HomeGuide) | Labor alone: $150–$1,000 (Angi) |
The figures come from each calculator’s own source table and are re-checked along with those pages. They are national. Use the unit in the second column to compare bids: a gutter quote divided by its footage or a roof quote divided by its squares tells you more than the total does.
What an installation estimate should include
An installation estimate is only useful if you can see what it covers. Homewyse’s unit-cost method, which This Old House uses for its gutter figures, splits a job into the product, the basic labor to install it, job supplies such as fasteners and sealant, removal of what is there now, and debris disposal, and it leaves out permits and general contractor overhead, which it puts at 13 to 22% when a contractor supervises. Ask for a written estimate that lists each of those lines, the quantity it is based on and what happens if the crew finds rot, wiring or plumbing that has to be fixed. Then enter the same quantity in the matching calculator here and compare line by line.
Gutters: length, material, guards
Gutters are bought by the linear foot, and a quick estimate of the length is the house’s floor area divided by 10. Seamless aluminum, the common choice, runs about $14 per foot installed at the median of HomeGuide, Angi, Fixr and Homewyse. The gutter installation cost calculator adds a second story, 6 in gutters, removal, fascia repair and either installer-grade or branded guards, which differ about fourfold in price, and works out how many downspouts the roof needs and the slope of each run.
Windows: count, material, style
Replacement windows are priced per opening. HomeGuide puts installed vinyl windows at about $200 to $1,500 each and wood at $800 to $3,800, with bay and bow windows priced as small projects of their own. The window replacement cost calculator adds standard and specialty windows, storm windows, permits and siding repair. It also points out the bedroom escape-opening rule to check when an insert window shrinks the clear opening.
Doors: type, material, extras
A pre-hung interior door is a few hours of work; a new front door with sidelights is a day and a much bigger bill. The door installation cost calculator prices entry doors by material, along with interior, patio, French, storm, fire-rated and bulkhead doors. It adds new frames, deadbolts, painting and the cost of cutting a new opening, including the permit and engineer when the wall is load-bearing.
Crawl spaces: liner, vents, humidity
Encapsulating a crawl space means covering the ground with a sealed vapor retarder, closing the vents and controlling humidity. HomeGuide puts the job at $3 to $10 per square foot. The crawl space encapsulation cost calculator itemizes the professional price and works out the liner, seam tape and dehumidifier size using the overlap and pints-per-day rules in IRC section R408.3.
Water softeners: size first, then price
A softener’s price depends on its capacity, so the size comes first. Multiply people by daily water use and by hardness in grains per gallon, add an allowance for iron, and multiply by the days between regenerations. The water softener calculator follows that method from Penn State and other extension services. It picks a standard size and prices the unit and installation, then estimates the salt, regeneration water and sodium added each year.
Roofs: area, material, tear-off
Roofers quote by the square, 100 sq ft of roof surface, so the first step is turning the footprint into roof area with the pitch: at 6/12 the roof is 1.118 times the footprint. HomeGuide puts installed asphalt shingles at $3 to $6 per square foot and standing seam metal at $9 to $16, while Angi reports a 2026 national average of $9,610. The roof replacement cost calculator prices fifteen roofing materials and adds extra tear-off layers, decking, drip edge, gutters, skylights, vents and the permit as separate lines.
Concrete driveways: area, finish, thickness
Driveways are priced per square foot of slab, and the finish sets the rate. Across six price guides the median for a plain broom-finished 4 in slab is $9.25 per square foot, about $5,300 for a 24 × 24 ft two-car driveway; stamped concrete runs about $18. The concrete driveway cost calculator adds the extra concrete for a 5, 6 or 8 in slab, tearing out an old driveway, a rebar grid, sealer and a permit, and lists what each guide says next to your total.
Kitchens: size times scope
Kitchen remodels are usually priced per square foot of kitchen, and the scope sets the rate: HomeGuide gives $60 to $150 for a basic refresh, $150 to $250 for a full remodel in the same layout and $250 to $350 for high-end work that moves things around. Angi’s 2026 average is $26,990. The kitchen remodel cost calculator adds an island, wall removal with the engineer, a moved gas line and a contingency, and shows how a typical budget splits between cabinets, labor, appliances and the rest.
Getting a better quote
- Get at least three written quotes for the same scope, and ask each contractor to list materials, labor, disposal and permits separately.
- Compare like with like. A vinyl insert window and a full-frame wood replacement are different jobs, and so are a 6 mil and a 20 mil crawl space liner.
- Ask about hidden work. Rot around a window or door frame, standing water in a crawl space and missing electrical outlets are common surprises. Ask how they will be priced if found.
- Check licensing and lead rules. Paid work that disturbs paint in a home built before 1978 must be done by an EPA lead-safe certified firm.
Materials calculators for the same jobs
Doing part of the work yourself? The spray foam calculator sizes crawl space wall insulation, the paint calculator covers new trim around windows and doors, and the drywall calculator handles patching around a new doorway. For framing a new opening, the lumber size calculator gives actual dimensions of headers and studs.
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