Whole-home renovation: what to check before you hire

What a complete quote should cover

Check that every quote you get prices each of these — or says clearly that it's excluded.

• A room-by-room scope of work
• Allowances for finishes and fixtures, each as a dollar amount
• Structural work and engineering, if walls are moving
• Plumbing, electrical, and heating/cooling — what's replaced vs. kept
• Lead and asbestos testing in older homes, and abatement if found
• Insulation, drywall, flooring, and paint
• Protection of the areas you're still living in
• Permits, inspections, and final cleanup
• A written schedule with milestones

Questions to ask every contractor

1. How much contingency do you recommend, and what does it cover?
2. Will you test for lead or asbestos before demolition?
3. Can we live in the house during the work, and which phases would require moving out?
4. Is this a fixed price, or an estimate that can change?
5. Which items are allowances, and what dollar amount is each one?
6. What's the payment schedule, and what work is finished at each payment?
7. Who pulls the permits, and are permit fees included?
8. Who runs the job day to day, and which work goes to subcontractors?
9. How are change orders priced and approved?
10. What's the start date, how long will it take, and what happens if it runs late?
11. What warranty do you give on your workmanship?

Before you sign, check the contractor's license, bond, and workers' comp on the CSLB website. In California, a down payment should never be more than 10% of the contract price or $1,000, whichever is less.

Copy an email that asks every contractor for these answers →

The usual order of work

Every job is different, but a schedule that skips or reorders these steps is worth asking about.

1. Scope, budget, and contingency
2. Testing for lead and asbestos in older homes
3. Design, and finish selections made before work starts
4. Permits
5. Demolition
6. Structural work
7. Rough plumbing, electrical, and heating/cooling, then inspections
8. Insulation and drywall
9. Finishes, room by room
10. Final inspection and a punch list

Often left out of whole-home renovation quotes

If one quote is much lower than the others, start here.

• Permits and inspections
• Allowances for finishes and fixtures, in dollars
• Lead or asbestos testing in older homes
• Contingency for what's found behind walls
• Cleanup and haul-off

What does it cost?

It depends heavily on your house, your finishes, and your city, so we don't publish averages. Instead, we compare your actual quote against real project records and tell you which prices look high, which look low, and what's missing.