Renovation budget calculator
List the work as line items by room or trade, set a contingency and enter the money you have. The planner totals the plan, shows where the money goes, and tells you what is left over or how far over budget you are.
Renovation budget planner
Example amounts, to replace with yours. The “Kitchen refresh” figures show how the planner works. They are not estimates of what this work costs.
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- $
- $
- $
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Your own setting: money held back for what opening the walls turns up.
Savings, loan or line of credit: what you can spend in all.
Total with contingency
$17,270
- Planned
- $15,700
- Contingency (10%)
- $1,570
- Left over
- $730
- Pass: $730 left over Your $18,000 covers the plan and its contingency.
Where the money goes
- Kitchen$10,50067%
- Flooring$2,50016%
- Plumbing$9006%
- Painting$8005%
- Electrical$7004%
- Permits$3002%
Budget against the plan
- Available$18,000
- Planned$15,700
- Total$17,270
How it adds up
- Planned: the sum of your line items, each with a category (kitchen, bathroom, flooring, painting, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, windows and doors, permits, design or other).
- Contingency: a percentage of the planned total, held back for what you find once the work starts.
- Total: planned plus contingency.
- Left over or over budget: the money available less the total. The planner says whether your money covers the plan with its contingency, covers the plan but not all of the contingency, or falls short of the plan itself.
- By category: the planned amounts grouped and charted, largest first; past eight categories the smallest fold into "Other".
Worked example
The "Kitchen refresh" example has seven lines adding up to $15,700 planned. A 10% contingency adds $1,570, for a total of $17,270. With $18,000 available, $730 is left over. The "Bathroom remodel" example plans $11,300; with its contingency that is $12,430, so $12,000 covers the planned work but falls $430 short of the full contingency, and the planner shows a warning rather than a pass.
| Planned | 5% | 10% | 15% | 20% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10,000 | $10,500 | $11,000 | $11,500 | $12,000 |
| $25,000 | $26,250 | $27,500 | $28,750 | $30,000 |
| $50,000 | $52,500 | $55,000 | $57,500 | $60,000 |
| $100,000 | $105,000 | $110,000 | $115,000 | $120,000 |
Building a line-item budget
- One line per decision. "Countertops" and "sink and faucet" on separate lines show you where a cheaper choice saves money.
- Put the soft costs in. Permits, design or drawings, and any fees are easy to forget and belong on their own lines.
- Use quotes where you can. A written quote for each trade turns a guess into a figure; keep the quote's date beside it.
- Keep the contingency for surprises. Changes you choose to make are new line items, not the contingency.
- Copy the link to save the budget as it stands: the inputs are in the address, so the same link opens the same lines.
Price it from a plan
Flooring, painting and tile scale with area. Draw the rooms in FloorGen and its Schedules and budget panel (in the account menu) works out each room's floor and wall areas and multiplies them by the rates you enter. See materials estimate from a floor plan for a worked example, and the flooring and paint calculators for single rooms.
Questions
How much contingency should I add to a renovation budget?
There is no single published rule. The planner starts at 10% as a setting, not a recommendation; agree a figure with your contractor based on the house and the work.
What should a renovation budget include?
Every trade and material as its own line, plus permits, design or drawings, and any fees, then a contingency on top. Furniture, temporary housing and storage are worth a line too if they apply.
What if my budget is over?
Look at the largest slices first: the chart puts the biggest categories at the top. Cut or defer whole line items rather than shaving the contingency, which exists for problems you cannot see yet.
Are the example amounts what a kitchen or bathroom costs?
No. They are placeholders that show how the planner works, and the page marks them as examples to replace. Prices vary with the house, the region and the finishes; use your own quotes.
Can I save my budget?
Use Copy link: the line items, contingency and money available are stored in the link, so it reopens exactly as you left it. Keep the link somewhere safe; there is no account behind it.