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20 tools for anyone with a house

Real 2026 builder rates, the actual rules, and plain English. Built by people who price this work for a living rather than by a marketing department. Nothing here asks for your email address.

Updated July 2026 · used by buyers, owners and the occasional surveyor

What will the work cost?

Builder-priced ranges for the jobs buyers and owners ask about most. Every calculator uses 2026 UK labour and material rates, adjusted for where you are.

Extension cost calculatorSingle or double storey, by floor area, spec level and region.Loft conversion cost calculatorRooflight, dormer, hip-to-gable or mansard — with staircase and en-suite.Kitchen renovation cost calculatorUnits, worktops, appliances, moving services and knocking through.Bathroom renovation cost calculatorRefit or full strip-out, tanking, tiling and relocating the soil pipe.Whole house renovation calculatorCosmetic refresh through to full back-to-brick, priced per square metre.Rewiring cost calculatorFull rewire, partial rewire or just a consumer unit — plus making good.Roof replacement cost calculatorRe-roofing, patch repairs, flat roofs, and what the scaffold really costs.Boiler replacement cost calculatorLike-for-like swap, system conversion, or moving the boiler entirely.

What will buying cost?

The money side of a purchase — tax, fees and the repair bill you inherit on completion day.

Stamp duty calculatorEngland, Wales, Scotland and NI — with first-time buyer and second home rates.True cost of buying calculatorEvery pound you need on day one — deposit, tax, legals, survey, moving, repairs.Survey repair cost calculatorTick what your survey flagged, get a repair bill and a renegotiation position.

Understanding a property

Turn survey language, damp patches and wall cracks into something you can actually act on.

Survey jargon decoderSearch 90+ surveyor phrases for what they mean, how urgent, and what they cost.Damp diagnosis toolAnswer six questions about the patch and find out which damp you are dealing with.Crack severity checkerGrade a wall crack against the BRE scale surveyors and engineers actually use.Property viewing checklist60 things a builder checks in 20 minutes. Tick them off on your phone at the viewing.

Permissions and rules

Whether your project needs planning permission, building regulations approval or a party wall notice.

Planning permission checkerDoes your project fall under permitted development, or do you need to apply?Building regulations checkerWhich parts of the Building Regulations your job triggers, and who signs it off.Party wall notice checkerDo you need to serve notice on the neighbours — and how long before you start?

Living in it

Hiring trades, checking quotes and keeping on top of the building you own.

Builder quote checkerScore a quote against 18 red flags before you sign anything or pay a deposit.Home maintenance calendarWhat to check each season, tailored to your property age and type.

Why we built these

Every one of these tools exists because the same questions kept arriving. What will this extension cost? Is this crack serious? What does "further investigation is recommended" actually mean? Do I need planning permission for a garden room? Should I pay this deposit?

There are plenty of calculators on the internet already. Most of them are lead-generation forms with a number attached, built by companies who want to sell you the work. Ours are built from the rates we price jobs at, they give you ranges rather than false precision, and they will happily tell you that you do not need to spend anything.

What a calculator cannot do is look at your building. If you want that — a builder reading your survey, your photos or the listing and telling you what is actually going on — that is the one thing we charge for, and it is £59.

Get a builder’s property review — £59

Related guides

Viewing a property or putting in an offer?

Get a builder’s eyes on it first. We review listings, photos, surveys and reports so you know exactly what you’re walking into.

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