What actually happens after you ask for an estimate.
Four stages, in this order: a typical cost range for your area, a short set of questions about the project, the local firms you would be matched with — named on screen before you submit — and a range narrowed to what you told us. It is free for homeowners; the contractors pay to receive matched projects.
The four stages
Every questionnaire on this site runs the same four, whichever trade you pick.
You see a range before you answer anything
Pick a trade and the first screen already carries a typical range for your area — pulled from our cost tables the moment the page loads. You have not been asked a question, given a name, or typed a phone number at that point.
It is a range for the trade, not yet for your project. Narrowing it is what the questions are for.
You answer a few questions about the project
Scope, materials, timeline, and whether you own the home. They are short, mostly one tap, and you can go back and change any answer without losing the others. Not everyone sees the same set: a question appears only when an earlier answer makes it relevant, so you are asked what kind of damage you have only if damage is what is driving the project.
Nothing is shared with any company while you are answering. Your answers are ours to price the project with, and they go no further at this stage.
You see who you would be matched with, then decide
The next screen names the firms your project would go to — on screen, above the button, before you submit. The exact consent wording sits underneath, in full, and clicking the button is the act of agreeing to it. If no firm is named there, none is matched to your area: nothing is shared with anybody, and you still get your range.
The step asks for your name and the project address. The only thing it requires is an email address or a phone number — one of the two is enough.
Your range narrows, and the firms take it from there
The last screen recomputes the range against the answers you gave and prints those answers beside it, so you can see exactly what the figure was based on. The matched firms receive the project and get in touch with you directly.
We do not set the appointment and we do not sit in the middle of the conversation. What you agree with a contractor is between you and that firm.
Where the number comes from
Every range on this site is built the same way: a baseline cost for one unit of work — a window, a roofing square, a bath at a given tier — multiplied by a regional factor for your metro. Both come from published industry cost data, and each figure is stored with the source it came from and the date we captured it.
That is also why it is a range rather than a price. Nobody has seen your house. A bid that lands outside the range is not evidence that anything is wrong — it is a reason to ask the contractor what is in it.
What we do not do
The parts a page selling this service would leave out. They are here because you would otherwise find them out later.
- We do not quote
- A range is a range. What you finally pay depends on your home, the scope you agree, and the bids you get. A bid outside the range is not evidence that anything is wrong.
- We do not rank firms, or vouch for their work
- They are independent businesses, listed by name. We do not employ them, do not warrant anyone's workmanship, and any contract for work is between you and that firm.
- We do not book the appointment
- There is no calendar on this site. The matched firms reach out and you arrange the visit with them directly.
- We do not promise when anyone will call
- We do not control which of the matched firms picks up the phone, or how quickly. Anyone who tells you otherwise is guessing on a contractor's behalf.
- We do not sell your details on
- Your request goes to the firms named on the consent screen before you submit. We do not resell contact information to unrelated lead buyers.
Free for you. The contractors pay.
You never pay us. There is no fee to see a range, no fee to be matched, and no obligation to hire anyone once you have been. The money comes from the other side of the marketplace: contractors pay to receive a matched project.
That is worth knowing before you read anything else here, which is why it is written down rather than implied.
How we make money · What contractors pay · The firms we work with
Questions people ask before they start
Do I have to give a phone number to see a range?
Not for the first one. A typical range for your area is on the opening screen, before you answer anything. The narrowed range, keyed to your own answers, comes after the contact step — and there you need either an email address or a phone number, not both.
Can I see which contractors get my project?
Yes, and before you submit rather than afterward: they are named on screen above the button, and those names are stored alongside the wording you agreed to.
What if no firms are named on that screen?
Then none is matched to your area. Your request is not shared with any company, and you still get your range.
Is the range a quote?
No. It is a typical cost range built from published industry data and adjusted for your metro. A quote comes from a contractor who has seen your home — the range exists so you can judge the quotes you get. How the ranges are built.
Do you book the appointment for me?
No. There is no calendar on this site. The matched firms get in touch and you arrange the visit with them directly.
How do I stop the calls?
Tell any caller directly, or write to the address published in our privacy notice. The withdrawal is recorded with the date it was made and it covers all contact, not only the request you had in mind. We cannot undo contact that has already happened.
Start with the range, not with a form.
Pick a project. The first screen is a number, and nothing is asked of you to see it.
Free · no obligation · you see the matched firms by name before anything is shared