Before starting a home project, estimate the total cost to avoid surprises.
Estimating the cost of a project is a good way to avoid surprises later when you start adding up all of your expenses. With an estimation, your intention is not to come up with an exact price, but instead to figure out the ballpark price of the project. For this reason, round your pricing and figures to even whole numbers for easy calculations, so that you can find the general range of the cost.
Instructions
1. Go to stores that carry the supplies you will need for your project, such as home improvement stores. Write down the price of the supplies. You might be able to get supplies cheaper somewhere else when you actually go to purchase them, but this gives you a basic idea. You could also research prices online to save yourself the time of traveling to stores.
2. Determine how much material you need for the project. For example, if you are painting a wall, ask the paint specialist at the store how much wall space a gallon of paint will cover. Or if you are building a deck, look at your drawing and count up the amount of board feet in each size of lumber that you will need. You might end up needing more due to defects or errors in cutting, but this gives you a basic amount. Round up in your calculations; you can always take back some items if you do not use them.
3. Multiply the cost of the various supplies by the quantity you have determined that you need. For example, if you found paint for $15 a gallon, and it will cover approximately 40 feet of wall space, you will need two gallons for 80 feet of space. This means your paint cost will be $30.
4. Set an hourly rate or some form of payment for any people that you want to hire to help you. Friends might do it for just a free dinner.
5. Add payment for helpers to the cost of supplies to get a total estimated cost.
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