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RenolumeStart planning
Planning estimates, not contractor quotes

What does this project actually involve?

Renolume models your home project end to end: a defensible cost range, a phase-by-phase scope list and a realistic timeline — built from published wage, material and permit data rather than a national average headline number, and explained rule by rule so you can hand it to a contractor.

Start planning See the methodology

Built from BLS wage data, published material indices and municipal permit cost records · 7 metro wage samples modelled today.

Most cost tools give you a number. Renolume gives you the reasoning.

Line-item lookups price a square of shingles. Chat assistants improvise a plausible figure. Renolume models the whole job — and shows its work.

  • Every number is explained

    A rule trace shows exactly which conditions your answers triggered — steep pitch, second storey, permit thresholds — and what each one did to the estimate.

  • Honest confidence, stated up front

    Each estimate carries a 0–100 confidence score and a widening range when inputs are thin. We tell you when not to trust the number.

  • Local where it matters

    Metro wage samples where a measured sample exists, state averages otherwise — and the estimate always says which it used.

  • Scope you can hand over

    A phase-by-phase task list with quantities and hours, so you can compare contractor bids line for line instead of guessing.

  • A realistic timeline

    Working days modelled from crew size and task hours, with permit and lead-time waits shown separately from work days.

  • A planning report, not a sales pitch

    No lead resale, no contractor matching, no 'instant quote'. The output is a document you keep.

Why you can trust the number

Trust is not a badge. It is being able to check the work — and being told when the work is thin.

  • Published data only: government wage series, material indices and municipal permit records. Nothing scraped, nothing crowd-sourced.
  • A fixed, documented task library per project — the same tasks, quantities and productivity rates every time.
  • Every conditional rule is visible in the result, with its effect on the total.
  • Estimates without a measured local wage sample are capped at Preliminary confidence.
  • No lead selling, no contractor matching, no incentive to inflate or deflate your number.
Read the full methodology
Inside every estimate
Cost rangeLow / expected / high — never a single headline price.
Rule traceWhich modelled conditions your answers activated, and what each changed.
Scope listPhase-by-phase tasks with quantities and labour hours.
TimelineWorking days, plus permit and lead-time waits shown separately.
Confidence score0–100, with the factors behind it and how to improve it.
DIY guidanceWhich tasks are realistically homeowner-doable and which are not.

How it works

  1. 01

    Pick your project

    Roof replacement, deck build or window replacement — each with its own modelled task library.

  2. 02

    Answer eight short steps

    Size, condition, access, specification tier and location. Nothing that requires a contractor visit.

  3. 03

    See the range and the reasoning

    Low / expected / high cost, the rules that fired, the scope list, the timeline and the confidence score.

  4. 04

    Compare and save

    Put Good, Better and Best side by side, save the scenario and download it as a planning report.

What you can estimate today

Three fully modelled project types. Each one has a complete task library, its own conditional rules and Good / Better / Best specification tiers.

Confidence score

Why we tell you when not to trust us

An estimate built from a full set of answers and a measured local wage sample is a budgeting tool. An estimate built from three answers and a state average is orientation only. Both are useful — but only if you know which one you are looking at.

So every Renolume estimate states a score out of 100, widens its range as certainty falls, lists the factors that produced the score and tells you exactly which answers would raise it.

How the confidence score works

High

Rich inputs and a measured local wage sample. Budget against this range.

Moderate

Enough to budget with, but some conditions are assumed rather than known.

Preliminary

Thin inputs or no local sample. Orientation only — do not commit funds.

Plan your project with a number you can defend

Answer eight short steps and get a cost range, a phase-by-phase scope list, a timeline and a stated confidence score.

Choose a project type