How much does it cost to remodel a whole house?

HomeGuide’s whole-house band is $15 to $60 per square foot (retrieved August 23, 2026). Multiply by your floor area, then add the kitchen and bathrooms from their own bids. HyreRemodel publishes no national average of its own.

Why are the kitchen and bathrooms separate?

They cost more per square foot than the rest of the house: HomeGuide’s page puts them at $100 to $250. Adding them as their own lines keeps them from being counted twice or too low.

What should I fix first in a whole-house remodel?

The systems behind the walls: electrical service and wiring, plumbing, heating and cooling, and insulation. They have to be done before the walls close.

How much contingency should I hold?

That is your call, and the box starts at 0. A contingency is money you hold outside the contract for what opening the walls finds.

Does a pre-1978 house change the budget?

It can. Paid work that disturbs more than 6 sq ft of paint per room needs an EPA Lead-Safe Certified firm, and older materials can need asbestos testing before demolition.

Can I live in the house during a whole-home remodel?

Ask each bidder how long you will be without water, a kitchen or a bathroom. If you move out, add the rent to your budget.

HyreRemodel tools

Whole house remodel cost calculator

Type the floor area, then the kitchen and bathroom figures from their own bids. The systems behind the walls come before any finish.

$15–$60 per square foot, whole-house renovation HomeGuide, “How Much Does It Cost to Remodel a House?”, retrieved August 23, 2026. Kitchen or bathroom remodeling on the same page runs $100 to $250 per square foot, which is why those rooms are separate lines here.

Whole house remodel cost = floor area × a price per square foot for the house, plus the kitchen and bathrooms as their own lines, plus any contingency. 2,000 sq ft at HomeGuide’s whole-house band of $15 to $60 per square foot is $30,000 to $120,000 before the kitchen and bathrooms.

Work out your house

Arithmetic on your figures. Nothing is stored or emailed.

— Budget on your figures

— The house, per sq ft

— Kitchen and bathrooms

— Contingency

What this assumed —

A check on bids, not a quote. What the walls hide can push a real price up.

Settle these before the house is opened up

Built before 1978? Paid work that disturbs more than 6 sq ft of paint per room inside, or 20 sq ft outside, or replaces any window, needs an EPA Lead-Safe Certified firm (40 CFR Part 745, Subpart E).

Asbestos. Old flooring, ceiling texture, pipe and duct insulation can contain it. Test before demolition; removal is specialist work.

Old wiring. Knob-and-tube or cloth-insulated wiring is a question for a licensed electrician before the walls are closed.

Walls and floors. Opening up a floor plan or cutting joists is structural work: a sized beam and a permit first.

Worked examples

One house run through the calculator

The house on the survey band

2,000 sq ft at HomeGuide’s whole-house band of $15 to $60 per square foot: $30,000 to $120,000 before the kitchen and bathrooms.

With the wet rooms and a cushion

Add $20,000 for the kitchen and $10,000 for the bathrooms from bids, plus 10% contingency: $66,000 to $165,000.

Budget = (area × $/sq ft + kitchen + bathrooms) × (1 + contingency). The band is HomeGuide’s, retrieved August 23, 2026. The room figures are examples; type your bids.

Systems first, finishes second

The work behind the walls has to be done before the walls close. Price it before you choose a single finish.

Electrical. Whether the service and panel can carry the house you plan, and how much wiring is replaced.

Plumbing. What the supply and drain pipes are made of, and whether they are replaced while the walls are open.

Heating and cooling. Whether the equipment and ducts suit the house after the work. Ask for a load calculation, not a rule of thumb.

Insulation and air sealing. Open walls are the moment to do it.

What a whole-home bid should break out

A single lump sum hides where the money goes. Ask for each line.

Line	What it should say
Electrical	Service size, panel, and how much wiring is replaced
Plumbing	Supply and drain material, and what is replaced
Heating and cooling	Equipment, ducts and the load calculation behind them
Insulation	Where, what material and to what level
Kitchen and bathrooms	Each as its own scope, with allowances in dollars
Lead and asbestos	Testing, abatement and lead-safe certification for a pre-1978 house
Permits and inspections	Who pulls them and how many inspections
Finishes	Flooring, trim, paint and doors, with allowances

HyreRemodel’s checklist, not prices. We hold no dataset of whole-home bids.

Before you set the budget

Get the systems inspected first
Electrical, plumbing and HVAC, by licensed trades, before design is final.
Price the kitchen and bathrooms on their own
With the kitchen and bathroom calculators, then bids.
Decide where you will live during the work
Rent or a stay elsewhere is a real line in the budget.
Hold a contingency outside the contract
For what opening the walls finds. The box starts at 0: pick your own figure.
Check deposit rules before you sign
See deposit limits by state.

What the calculator leaves out

Your house. HomeGuide’s band is wide because houses differ. What the walls hide moves your figure within it, or past it.

Additions and ADUs. New square footage is a different project: see home additions.

Whether to move instead. Put this figure into the remodel vs move calculator.

Questions this calculator answers

How much does it cost to remodel a whole house?: HomeGuide’s whole-house band is $15 to $60 per square foot (retrieved August 23, 2026). Multiply by your floor area, then add the kitchen and bathrooms from their own bids. HyreRemodel publishes no national average of its own.
Why are the kitchen and bathrooms separate?: They cost more per square foot than the rest of the house: HomeGuide’s page puts them at $100 to $250. Adding them as their own lines keeps them from being counted twice or too low.
What should I fix first in a whole-house remodel?: The systems behind the walls: electrical service and wiring, plumbing, heating and cooling, and insulation. They have to be done before the walls close.
How much contingency should I hold?: That is your call, and the box starts at 0. A contingency is money you hold outside the contract for what opening the walls finds.
Does a pre-1978 house change the budget?: It can. Paid work that disturbs more than 6 sq ft of paint per room needs an EPA Lead-Safe Certified firm, and older materials can need asbestos testing before demolition.
Can I live in the house during a whole-home remodel?: Ask each bidder how long you will be without water, a kitchen or a bathroom. If you move out, add the rent to your budget.

Sources and methodology

Figures dated August 23, 2026. Last reviewed August 16, 2026.

How Much Does It Cost to Remodel a House? (HomeGuide, retrieved August 23, 2026). Whole-house $15 to $60 per square foot; kitchen or bathroom $100 to $250. Member-reported quotes.
Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program (US Environmental Protection Agency, retrieved September 5, 2026). 40 CFR Part 745, Subpart E: thresholds and the window rule.

Whole-home renovation What a whole-house project involves, trade by trade.
Kitchen remodel cost calculator The kitchen line.
Bathroom remodel cost calculator The bathroom line.
Remodel vs move calculator This budget against the cash to change houses.
What remodeling costs What moves a remodeling price.

Plan Your Remodel Back to the home page