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
233 in total, page 9 of 24.
Under cabinet lighting cost$80 to $600eachUnder-cabinet lighting costs $200 to $900 installed. It is the highest-value lighting change in a kitchen, because it puts light on the worktop rather than behind the person standing at it.
Smoke detector installation cost$80 to $350eachSmoke detectors cost $80 to $200 per unit hardwired, or $15 to $60 for a battery unit you fit yourself. They also expire after ten years, whether or not they have ever detected anything.
Hot tub electrical hookup cost$700 to $2,500per projectWiring a hot tub costs $700 to $2,500, typically $1,300. The requirements are strict and inspected, because it is a large amount of water sitting on top of a 240 volt appliance.
Chandelier installation cost$200 to $900eachInstalling a chandelier costs $200 to $900, typically $400. A two-story foyer fixture reaches $1,500 to $3,000 in labor alone. The weight and the box decide whether it is a simple job.
Solar panel cost$20,000 to $32,000per projectA residential solar system costs $2.50 to $4.00 a watt before incentives, so a typical 8 kW system is $20,000 to $32,000, or $14,000 to $22,400 after the 30% federal credit.
Portable generator hookup cost$600 to $2,000per projectHooking up a portable generator properly costs $600 to $2,000, typically $1,100. It is a fraction of a standby generator and it is the answer for most households that lose power a few times a year.
How long does electrical wiring last$8,000 to $30,000per projectModern copper wiring lasts 50 to 70 years and often longer. What ages out first is the panel, the devices, and the fact that a house wired in 1968 has a fraction of the circuits a household now needs.
Siding replacement cost by state$500 to $1,000per squareVinyl siding costs $625 a square in Arkansas and $875 in Illinois. On a 2,000 square foot house that is $12,500 against $17,500 for identical work.
Wood siding cost$700 to $2,500per squareWood siding costs $700 to $2,500 a square installed. It is the most beautiful cladding and the most demanding: everything about the price follows from needing refinishing every five to ten years, forever.
Stucco cost$8 to $20per sq ftStucco costs $8 to $20 a square foot installed. It is excellent in a dry climate and unforgiving in a wet one, and where it fails it fails behind the surface.