The Renovation Bid Checklist
A free, printable guide to reading a contractor bid before you sign it, and to asking the questions that are cheap now and expensive later.
Most homeowners get their first real renovation bid, look at the total, and have no framework for judging it. This guide gives you one. It is written from the same editorial work behind our articles, condensed into pages you can print and carry to a bid meeting.
What is inside
- A line item checklist for a complete bid, from demolition and disposal through general conditions, so you can see at a glance what a bid left out.
- The three questions to ask about every allowance, and how to spot the ones sized to make a total look smaller.
- A permit worksheet by project type, plus the eight questions to settle with your contractor before anyone starts.
- Change order contract language, including markup caps, unit pricing for likely unknowns, and allowance reconciliation.
- A contractor verification sheet: license lookup, certificate of insurance, lien waivers, and six reference questions that cannot be answered with "they were great."
- A one page bid comparison worksheet for putting three bids on equal footing.
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The guide is free and there is nothing to buy. Fixer Upper Pros is a free service for homeowners, paid by the contractors and home service companies we refer projects to. See our About page for how that works.