Remodeling Estimate Template

This template is for a remodel that runs across several trades and one or more rooms: a kitchen and the rooms around it, a basement finish, or a whole-floor or whole-house renovation. It prices the job in the order the work happens, phase by phase, so the client can see what each stage costs and you can tie inspections and payments to the same stages.

For a single bathroom, the bathroom remodeling estimate is a closer fit: it is priced by trade inside one room and records the bathroom's size, layout change and fixtures. For a list of small fixes around a house, use the home repair estimate. If you are only pricing the strip-out, the demolition estimate covers it.

The template comes as three files. The PDF is a blank two-page form to print and fill in. The Word (.docx) and Excel (.xlsx) files have the same layout, filled with sample values for a kitchen remodel that opens the wall to the family room; overwrite them with your own. In the Excel file, line amounts, phase subtotals and totals are formulas, and "Contingency" and "Sales tax, if applicable" read from rate cells you can change (10% and 0% in the sample). To leave either line out, set its rate to 0% instead of deleting the row, because the totals refer to it. Each section ends with a blank row; if you need more lines, insert them above that row so the formulas pick them up.

The sample sets sales tax to 0%. Whether tax applies to materials, labor or both depends on where you work and how the contract is set up, so check your state and local tax rules before you enter a rate.

An allowance is a budget figure for something the client has not chosen yet, such as cabinets, countertops, flooring, tile or light fixtures. It lets you give a complete total now without guessing at a product. The template keeps allowances in their own section, "Allowances (owner selections)". The sample has cabinets, countertops (fabricated and installed), flooring material priced per square foot, light fixtures, and the sink, faucet and plumbing fixtures. Installing the cabinets and flooring is priced separately in Phase 4, so for those items the allowance covers material only. The printed note says the final cost is adjusted up or down against the amounts shown.

For each allowance, state:

• what it covers: material only, or material and installation;
• the amount: a lump sum, or a unit price for a quantity (for example, flooring per square foot);
• what happens if the selection costs more or less: the difference is added or credited by written change order, and any markup on overages is stated;
• when the selection is needed, so a late choice does not hold up the schedule.

Once the client chooses, replace the allowance with a firm line. Use allowances for undecided selections, not for work you have not scoped.

The template prints a "Proposed payment schedule" as notes, not as calculated lines. The sample has a deposit on signing (left as "[amount agreed; check the rules where you work]"), then 25% of the estimated total after demolition and the beam are complete, 25% after the rough plumbing, electrical and HVAC pass inspection, 25% after cabinets and countertops are installed, and the remainder on completion and final walkthrough. The percentages are sample values. Because the schedule is text, nothing in the Excel file recalculates it, so recheck the amounts if the total changes.

Tie each payment to a stage the client can see is finished, such as demolition complete or rough-in inspection passed, rather than to calendar dates alone. A schedule on an estimate is a proposal; the payments themselves are requested later with an invoice at each stage.

Deposit and payment rules for home improvement work depend on where you are. In California, for example, the Contractors State License Board tells homeowners that a down payment should be no more than 10% of the contract price or $1,000, whichever is less, and that where there is a schedule of payments they should pay only as work is completed (CSLB homeowner checklist). Elsewhere, check the rules where you work before you set a deposit or write your payment terms.

Whether a remodel needs permits, which ones and which inspections follow depends on the scope and on the rules where the job is. Check with the local building department before you price. On the estimate, say who applies for each permit, whether the fees are included (the sample lists permit fees under exclusions, passed through at cost), and where inspections fall in the phases. The sample's payment schedule ties one payment to the rough plumbing, electrical and HVAC passing inspection.

The template has an "Exclusions" list. The sample excludes permit fees (passed through at cost), appliances (owner supplied), testing for or removing hazardous materials, and work outside the kitchen and family room.

Be specific. "Excludes structural work" invites an argument; "Excludes replacement of floor joists or bearing walls; any such work will be priced by change order" does not. Other items worth stating where they apply:

• repairs to concealed damage beyond the contingency;
• design fees, or engineering you have not priced;
• who is responsible for items the client supplies, such as the appliances in the sample;
• patching and painting in rooms next to the work area;
• moving furniture and belongings.