Costs
Part of Old-house restoration budget categories ranked by volatility
How to Scope and Compare Old-House Restoration Bids
Restoration costs: cost comparisons work best with shared quantities, written methods, unit prices, allowances and scope differences—not just headline totals.
What to take away
- An estimate is arithmetic on a written scope. Without the scope, it is a guess with a decimal point.
- Ask for unit prices, not just totals, so change orders have an agreed rate before they happen.
- Two bids for the same job usually describe different work. Read the method, then the number.
- Allowances are the most common way an estimate misleads. Convert them to fixed prices wherever possible.
Estimating an old house is not mysterious. It is a scope, a set of quantities, a set of rates, and a reserve. What makes it feel mysterious is that the scope is usually missing.
Start from quantities
Measure and count before you price. Linear feet of gutter, square feet of roof by pitch, number of window sash by size, linear feet of open mortar joint, square feet of plaster to be repaired. These numbers do not change between bidders, so they are what makes bids comparable.
Quantities to measure and count
- Linear feet of gutter
- Square feet of roof by pitch
- Number of window sash by size
- Linear feet of open mortar joint
- Square feet of plaster to be repaired
Write the quantities into the scope document and ask every bidder to price against them. Where a bidder disagrees with a quantity, that disagreement is useful information about how they intend to work. Sash are the clearest case, since a restorer grades each one and prices by condition instead of quoting one figure per window.
Understand why unit prices vary
A homeowner sees repointing as one activity. A written procedure sees a sequence: raking joints to a defined depth without damaging brick edges, cleaning, matching original mortar, filling in layers, and tooling the joint to match. Each of those steps is a scope decision, and the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation are the accepted basis for settling them: mortar composition and strength, joint profile, and tooling.
Repointing as a written sequence
- Rake joints to defined depth
- Protect brick edges while raking
- Clean the joint
- Match original mortar
- Fill in layers
- Tool joint to match
The U.S. General Services Administration publishes that procedure, and its guidance on repointing historic masonry shows how many decisions sit inside one line on a quote. The National Park Service's Preservation Briefs are the other reference a careful bidder will cite; Brief 2 covers repointing mortar joints in historic masonry.
The mortar itself carries the same complexity. A compatible mix is a lime-based one — natural hydraulic lime, supplied in strength grades, or lime putty — not a bag of Portland cement. The companion procedure for preparing lime mortar for repointing explains why a soft mix takes preparation that a bag of premixed cement mortar does not. A cheap repointing quote is almost always a cement quote, and cement on soft brick is a future spalling repair.
Build the estimate
Line / How to price it
- Skilled labor
- Hours by trade, at a stated rate
- Materials
- Quantities plus waste factor, named products
- Access and protection
- Duration-based, priced separately
- Hazard handling
- Priced as a scope item, after testing
- Professional fees
- Fixed fee or percentage, stated
- Permits and reviews
- Actual fees, plus time
- Contingency
- Held separately, released deliberately
Write a contingency line and tie it to the number of conditions nobody has opened; that makes the assumption visible without implying one amount fits every house. Settle the change-order rate at the same time: the estimate states the labor rates and the material markup, and a signed change order applies those stated rates to extra work instead of inviting a fresh price once the wall is open.
Compare bids honestly
Line up bids side by side on your own quantities, not theirs. Flag every line where the scopes differ, and ask each bidder to explain the difference rather than to match the other price. The cheapest bid is often correct about the price and wrong about the work.
Allowances are placeholders reconciled later at an unknown rate. Convert each into a fixed price by deciding now, or accept it knowingly and note it in the contingency.
The wider cost picture for those decisions is in our breakdown of a restoration budget. Questions that expose a soft quote are in what to ask before hiring help with costs.
