How we price

Price book v2026.10 · Prices checked October 2026 · By Darren Kearney, master joiner, Northern Ireland

Every RenoLab price, in the calculator, the cost guides and the Quote Checker, comes from one pricing engine. Nothing is typed in by hand page by page.

How each price is built

1. Room size to quantities. From the length, width and ceiling height we work out floor area, wall area (less doors and windows), skirting run and so on. Quantities include a waste allowance, for example 10% on flooring and 12% on tiles.
2. Quantities to materials. Each item has a budget, mid-range and premium price, including VAT.
3. Labour. Each job has a rate (per m², per metre, per unit or per job). Trade days are worked out from a day rate of £250, and no trade visit is priced at less than half a day.
4. Contingency. We add 10% for surprises. Old houses nearly always hide something.
5. The range. The low and high figures allow for normal variation between suppliers and trades.

Budget, mid-range and premium

• Budget: good-value products from DIY stores and builders' merchants. Does the job.
• Mid-range: what most people choose. Better brands, shaker doors, porcelain tiles and so on.
• Premium: designer paints, quartz, solid oak, wall-hung sanitaryware and similar.

Where the prices come from

• Materials: retail prices checked in October 2026 at Screwfix, Toolstation, B&Q, Wickes, Selco, Victorian Plumbing and appliance retailers, and a real Wren kitchen quote for units, worktops and delivery.
• Labour: Darren's own rates from his joinery work (for example £250 a day and £150 a unit to dry-fit a kitchen, trims included), checked against published 2026 Northern Ireland trade day-rate surveys and UK trade cost guides.

What's not included

• Structural work: knocking through walls, steels, extensions.
• Planning permission, building control and architect fees.
• Moving gas, soil pipes or the boiler, rewiring the whole house, or new windows.
• Fixing hidden problems such as rot, damp or asbestos (that's what the 10% contingency is for, partly).
• Furniture, decoration and appliances you didn't choose in the calculator.

Changelog

• 17 Oct 2026: Kitchens: you can now keep your existing cupboards, either repainted or as they are, and price just new worktops, sink, appliances and a cupboard paint job (suggested by a homeowner).
• 16 Oct 2026: Prices checked against Screwfix, Toolstation, B&Q, Wickes, Selco, Victorian Plumbing, appliance retailers and a Wren quote. Kitchen units, sinks and premium paint went up; sockets, downlights, rubble sacks and walk-in shower enclosures came down.
• 16 Oct 2026: Kitchen skirting now only counts walls without units in front of them. Electrician's test and certificate moved from materials into electrical labour. No trade visit is priced at under half a day.
• 16 Oct 2026: Each room now only offers jobs that belong in it. Kitchens get a kitchen blind instead of curtains; tanking only appears in bathrooms and en-suites.
• 13 Oct 2026: Added protection and making good, finishing touches, radiators, floor preparation, kitchen extras (upstands, splashback, cornice, cooker circuit) and bathroom extras (backer board, boxing in, accessories).

Found a price that's off? Email hello@renolab.co.uk or tap "Too high / Too low" under your price.