Worked examples
Two worked examples, run through the calculator engine itself
Every derived number on this page — the cabinet linear feet, the box count, the trade hours, the tier, the subtotal — comes from the same whole-project formula the homepage calculator uses, run against two different, complete input sets. No derived quantity below is typed in as a literal. The unit prices that feed those quantities ARE typed in, on purpose: they are illustrative example prices, not sourced market data, chosen to be different between the two examples the same way two real bids would differ — see the callout below.
Example A — a same-footprint replacement in a 1990s suburban kitchen
An L-shaped kitchen, roughly 12 by 10 feet, with two runs of cabinets that stay exactly where they are. One new circuit, no fixture moves, no walls opening. This is the least disruptive real scope this site models, and the tier below falls out of that automatically.
Derived subtotal, before contingency
$17,473
Scope tier: Same-footprint replacement.
Range from published wage spread $16,486 to $18,883
Cabinets and counters are replaced where they stand. Nothing moves, no inspection sits on the critical path, and the finish level is genuinely the main variable.
| Material line | Quantity | Unit price | Line total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cabinetry | 18 linear ft (7 boxes) | $260 | $4,680 |
| Cabinet hardware | 7 boxes | $14 | $98 |
| Countertops | 23.4 sq ft, 11 ft of exposed edge | $55 | $1,287 |
| Appliance package | as specified | $4,200 | $4,200 |
| Sink, faucet and disposal | 1 set | $550 | $550 |
| Lighting fixtures | as specified | $320 | $320 |
| Backsplash material | 24.8 sq ft | $14 | $347 |
| Flooring material | 120 sq ft | $6 | $720 |
| Trade | Hours | Billed at median wage (burdened) |
|---|---|---|
| Carpenters (SOC 47-2031) | 32.9 | $2,108 |
| Tile and Stone Setters (SOC 47-2044) | 21.8 | $1,286 |
| Electricians (SOC 47-2111) | 11.4 | $759 |
| Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters (SOC 47-2152) | 4.0 | $270 |
| Painters, Construction and Maintenance (SOC 47-2141) | 4.0 | $211 |
That "billed" column is not the published median wage itself — it is hours times the published median wage times this site's own 2.2x wage-to-billed multiplier (an assumed figure, disclosed on the methodology page, not something BLS publishes).
| The four pieces that add up to the subtotal above | Amount |
|---|---|
| Materials subtotal (table above) | $12,202 |
| Direct labour, burdened (trade table above, summed) | $4,634 |
| General conditions (an assumed fraction of direct labour) | $417 |
| Permits (the illustrative example permit fee) | $220 |
| Total — matches the derived subtotal above | $17,473 |
Not in this subtotal
- Anything behind a wall that nobody has looked behind yet
- Structural repair discovered during demolition
- Asbestos or lead testing, abatement and clearance
- Bringing unpermitted earlier work into compliance
- Appliance delivery, installation and haul-away of the old units, unless your appliance quote says otherwise
- Window, door and exterior repairs triggered by a new vent termination
- Temporary kitchen setup and the cost of eating out
- Sales tax, financing cost and any contractor deposit that is non-refundable
Example B — a gut-and-relocate in a 1930s bungalow, with an island added
A larger room with an island, custom cabinetry, two fixtures relocating and the walls opening to the studs to run six new circuits. Every trade this site models shows up here, and several of them show up twice — once in rough-in, once in trim-out.
Derived subtotal, before contingency
$54,691
Scope tier: Gut and relocate.
Range from published wage spread $52,226 to $58,205
Walls are opening and services are moving, so every trade rough-ins and returns to trim, with inspections between. This is the tier where the schedule, not the finish level, sets the cost.
| Material line | Quantity | Unit price | Line total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cabinetry | 37.7 linear ft (11 boxes) | $480 | $18,096 |
| Cabinet hardware | 11 boxes | $32 | $352 |
| Countertops | 57.7 sq ft, 35.3 ft of exposed edge | $92 | $5,308 |
| Appliance package | as specified | $11,800 | $11,800 |
| Sink, faucet and disposal | 1 set | $1,350 | $1,350 |
| Lighting fixtures | as specified | $1,450 | $1,450 |
| Backsplash material | 29 sq ft | $26 | $754 |
| Flooring material | 208 sq ft | $11 | $2,288 |
| Trade | Hours | Billed at median wage (burdened) |
|---|---|---|
| Carpenters (SOC 47-2031) | 73.3 | $4,693 |
| Tile and Stone Setters (SOC 47-2044) | 36.1 | $2,129 |
| Electricians (SOC 47-2111) | 29.7 | $1,987 |
| Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters (SOC 47-2152) | 19.0 | $1,282 |
| Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers (SOC 47-2081) | 15.8 | $985 |
| Painters, Construction and Maintenance (SOC 47-2141) | 5.5 | $285 |
That "billed" column is not the published median wage itself — it is hours times the published median wage times this site's own 2.2x wage-to-billed multiplier (an assumed figure, disclosed on the methodology page, not something BLS publishes).
| The four pieces that add up to the subtotal above | Amount |
|---|---|
| Materials subtotal (table above) | $41,398 |
| Direct labour, burdened (trade table above, summed) | $11,361 |
| General conditions (an assumed fraction of direct labour) | $1,022 |
| Permits (the illustrative example permit fee) | $910 |
| Total — matches the derived subtotal above | $54,691 |
Not in this subtotal
- Anything behind a wall that nobody has looked behind yet
- Structural repair discovered during demolition
- Asbestos or lead testing, abatement and clearance
- Bringing unpermitted earlier work into compliance
- Appliance delivery, installation and haul-away of the old units, unless your appliance quote says otherwise
- Window, door and exterior repairs triggered by a new vent termination
- Temporary kitchen setup and the cost of eating out
- Sales tax, financing cost and any contractor deposit that is non-refundable
What actually changed between the two, and why
| Example A | Example B | |
|---|---|---|
| Tier | Same-footprint replacement | Gut and relocate |
| Subtotal (mid) | $17,473 | $54,691 |
| Labour share of subtotal | 29% | 23% |
| Trade hours | 74.1 | 179.4 |
| Cost per cabinet linear foot | $971 | $1,451 |
The subtotal moved by more than a factor of three, but the labour SHARE of the subtotal actually fell in the bigger job, because Example B’s materials — custom cabinetry, a larger island, a bigger appliance package — grew faster than the trade hours did. That is the opposite of the intuition most people bring to "a bigger job means labour matters more," and it is exactly the kind of thing a formula shows that a rule of thumb hides.
Both examples price every trade hour from the same six national wage rows this site sources from the Bureau of Labor Statistics — the median carpenter wage behind both is $29.12/hr — so the labour side of both totals traces to the same source data, not a different assumption per example. The materials side does not hold the price constant on purpose: Example B pairs larger derived quantities with higher illustrative unit prices, the way a custom-grade, larger-island scope plausibly would, though neither set of prices is a sourced market figure. Read the subtotal gap as "a bigger job at a higher illustrative grade," not as a clean test of quantity with price held fixed — if you want that cleaner comparison, run both scopes through the whole-project calculator with the SAME unit prices entered for each.
Run your own numbers
The whole-project calculator starts from a third, different kitchen by default. Change the room, the runs, the scope switches and your own local unit prices, and the same formula that produced both examples above will produce yours.