Cost Home Book is written and edited by the Cost Home Book editorial team. The team builds the site's cost models from publicly available US wage statistics, supplier price lists and permit data, and updates each guide as those sources change. It has no affiliation with any contractor, manufacturer or lead-generation service. Figures on this site are estimates for reading a quote, not quotes.
How the figures are built
Every cost band starts as a national figure with a date on it. Where a guide is priced from published data, the labor leg follows the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the trade that does the work, and the materials leg follows a Producer Price Index series for what it is made of. Once a guide's sources section is published, both are named and linked at its foot, with the release they were read from.
The one number no dataset supplies is how much of a job is labor and how much is materials. That split is a judgement, it is stated on the page, and it is the difference between a roof price that moves with roofers' wages and one that moves with asphalt. How we calculate costs sets out the arithmetic, and the editorial policy is explicit about which figures are derived and which are estimates.
Independence
We have no affiliation with any contractor, manufacturer, marketplace or lead-generation service. The site is funded by display advertising and nothing else — no referral fees, no commissions, no paid placements. No advertiser sees a figure before a reader does. How the site is funded.
Corrections and contact
If a figure here does not match what you were quoted, that is worth knowing and we would rather hear it. Send the page, the figure and what you were actually quoted to corrections@costhomebook.com, or see the corrections policy for what happens next. Anything else: hello@costhomebook.com.
Guides by the Cost Home Book editorial team
240 in total, page 12 of 24.
How long does siding last$500 to $1,000per squareVinyl lasts 30 to 40 years, fiber cement 40 to 60, brick a century. Siding rarely fails all at once: it goes at the details first, at the trim, the caulk and the missing flashing.
Curb appeal improvements cost$700 to $12,000per projectThe changes that most affect what a house looks like from the street cost between $50 and $4,000, and the ones at the bottom of that range do more than the ones at the top.
Kitchen remodel cost by state$20,000 to $40,000per projectThe same midrange kitchen costs $23,900 in Arkansas and $31,500 in Illinois. A 32% spread, narrower than you might expect, because cabinets and appliances cost roughly the same everywhere.
Kitchen cabinet refacing cost$75 to $250per linear ftRefacing costs $75 to $250 a linear foot against $100 to $650 to replace, so it saves roughly half. It is right in one situation: the boxes are sound and the layout works.
Kitchen cabinet painting cost$40 to $120per linear ftPainting cabinets costs $40 to $120 a linear foot, putting a 25 foot kitchen at $1,000 to $3,000. It is the cheapest way to change a kitchen, and the preparation is the entire job.
Kitchen island cost$1,500 to $12,000per projectA kitchen island costs $1,500 to $12,000, typically $4,500. Before pricing one, measure the clearances. An island that leaves too little room around it makes a kitchen worse.
Kitchen backsplash cost$15 to $60per sq ftA backsplash costs $15 to $60 a square foot installed, putting most kitchens between $600 and $1,800. It is the cheapest visible change in a kitchen.
Kitchen flooring cost$4 to $20per sq ftKitchen flooring costs $4 to $20 a square foot installed, putting a 200 square foot kitchen at $800 to $4,000. The kitchen is the hardest floor in the house and some materials are a poor choice here.
Kitchen sink installation cost$300 to $1,500eachInstalling a kitchen sink costs $300 to $1,500 including the sink, typically $650. The mounting style and whether the countertop has to be cut is what moves it.
Appliance installation cost$100 to $600eachInstalling a kitchen appliance costs $100 to $600, typically $250. Retailers include basic installation and exclude exactly the things that cost money, which the delivery crew discovers on the day.