Cost ranges, timelines, and vetting checklists for homeowners planning a project — plus payment and ops guidance for contractors running one.
Before you sign anything, you can confirm a contractor is licensed, insured, and legit in about five minutes. This step-by-step checklist gives you the exact sites to search, the documents to request, and the one detail most homeowners forget to verify.
The final payment is the one that gets stuck, because your leverage disappears the moment the work is done. The fix is to stop treating final payment as a step that happens after completion, and start structuring it so the money is already committed before you finish.
A bathroom remodel runs $8,000 to $35,000 in 2026, with most homeowners landing near $15,000. The gap comes down to whether you're refreshing surfaces or moving plumbing, plus tile choices, fixture grades, and your local labor market.
A full roof replacement runs $8,000 to $30,000 for most homes, but material choice and roof complexity can push it well past that. Here's what actually moves the number and how to avoid overpaying.
Get matched with contractors who accept escrow-protected payments — your money stays protected until the work is done right.