Renovation Estimator
A tool that gives UK homeowners realistic budget ranges for projects before they start requesting quotes.
Inspiration
Starting a home renovation project can feel overwhelming, especially for first-time homeowners trying to understand what's realistic within their budget.
Most people struggle to know where to begin, which specialists they'll need, what actually drives the cost, and whether their ideas are financially realistic before they've spoken to a single builder. Getting genuinely comparable quotes usually means weeks of back-and-forth first.
Reno was built to close that gap: a credible starting point people can reach in minutes, not an attempt to replace a professional quote.
Core Purpose
Users pick a project from a range of categories - kitchen, loft conversion, boiler, etc - answer a short adaptive questionnaire, and get back:
- A cost range, adjusted for their region and an idea of what's driving the estimate
- A full cost breakdown across labour, materials, waste, fees, and contingency
- The specialists they'll likely need - architect, structural engineer, etc
Every figure carries its source on the results page. Estimates are seeded from a versioned, cited dataset of UK market data, with regional premiums layered on top and inflation applied via a live feed that reads the latest release from the ONS Construction Output Price Indices.
The Design Challenge
The challenge was creating a simple experience for a complex problem.
Renovation costs vary significantly depending on factors such as:
- Property size and location
- Materials and finishes
- Project complexity
- Labour requirements
- Existing property condition
The underlying estimate engine is a configurable rules system supporting two pricing models - additive (base cost plus per-answer impacts) and area-based (£/m² × finish) - with conditional questions and per-answer confidence tracking.
The platform needed to balance simplicity for users whilst being transparent about how estimates are generated.
Current & Future Development
The estimate engine currently runs entirely client-side. Next phases include allowing users to:
- save and revisit estimates
- compare projects
- get matched with relevant specialists