Most home jobs are priced by scope, not by name. Say the scope out loud and the three quotes you collect finally describe the same work.
You call three companies, describe the job the same way to all three, and get back $400, $900 and $2,300. It feels like two of them are trying it on.
Usually none of them are. They quoted three different jobs, because you asked three different questions without knowing it.
Home work is priced by scope, not by the name of the service. "Fix a leak" is not one job.
In our own service catalog, a leak in an accessible pipe runs $200 to $450. The same leak behind a wall runs $475 to $1,060. Under the slab it runs $1,690 to $3,770.
Same four words from you. Three honest quotes, eight times apart.
This is not one odd example. Of the 348 services we price, 260 have more than one scope, and the typical distance between the cheapest and the most expensive version of the same service is about two and a half times. Interior painting goes from $305 for one room's walls to $2,705 and up for a whole house. That is not a different painter. It is a different job wearing the same name.
Here is what happens on the call. A company that quotes low is picturing the simple version, because that is what most jobs are. A company that quotes high is picturing the version where the wall comes open, because they have eaten that cost before. Neither is lying. They are guessing, and you gave them nothing to guess with.
Scope is the boring detail you skip because it feels obvious to you. It is not obvious to someone who has not seen your house.
| Instead of | Say |
|---|---|
| "I need a leak fixed" | "Water under the kitchen sink, pipe is visible, nothing opened yet" |
| "I need painting" | "One bedroom, walls only, no ceiling, no trim, about 12 by 14" |
| "I need an outlet" | "New outlet on the garage wall, no outlet on that wall today" |
| "Gutters cleaned" | "Two story house, about 200 feet of gutter, guards installed" |
Notice what these have in common: a size, a place, and what is not included. Those three things are what a company needs to give you a number that will not move later.
You do not need to be right. You need to be specific. "I think it is plaster, the house is from the forties" is more useful than silence, even if it turns out to be drywall, because it tells them which questions to ask next.
Ask for the scope in the quote, in writing, in the company's own words.
Two reasons, and the second matters more than the first.
It makes the comparison real. If one quote says "accessible pipe, no wall opened" and another says "open wall as needed", you now know exactly why one is half the other, and you can decide which risk you want to carry.
It is what protects you mid-job. Every trade has the same conversation: something is worse than it looked and the price goes up. That is often legitimate. But there is a difference between "the scope said accessible pipe and it turned out to be in-wall, here is the new number" and a vague quote that quietly grows. A written scope makes that conversation short and fair.
If the scope genuinely cannot be known until somebody looks, that is a fine answer and often the honest one. Then ask what the visit costs, what it includes, and whether it comes off the job if you hire them. Get the range in writing after.
Across every trade, the same handful of details decide which end of the range you land in. If you say nothing else, say these.
Access. Can somebody stand next to the work, or do they need a ladder, scaffolding, or to crawl? This is the single biggest multiplier in home services, and the one homeowners mention least, because from inside the house it does not feel like part of the job.
Age. A house from the forties has plaster walls, older wiring, and pipe sizes that no longer come off the shelf. Saying the decade costs you nothing and changes the estimate honestly.
Finished or unfinished. Work in an unfinished basement is cheap. The same work behind a painted wall costs the opening and the closing, and often a second trade to make it look like nothing happened.
How many. Three outlets in one visit cost far less each than one outlet three times. If you have a list, give the whole list, even the parts you were planning to postpone.
When. Same-day and after-hours carry a premium in every trade. If it can wait until Tuesday, saying so out loud is worth money.
Say you did all of this and the quotes still range widely. That happens, and it usually means one of four things:
Different materials. Ask what brand and grade. A faucet at $80 and one at $400 both say "faucet" on the invoice.
Different labor assumptions. One company sends one person for a day, another sends two for half a day. Same hours, different feel, sometimes different price.
Different warranty. A year on labor versus none is worth real money and almost never appears in the conversation unless you ask.
Different appetite. A company that is busy quotes high because they do not need the work. That is not dishonest, but it does mean the highest quote is not automatically the most thorough.
"Should I just take the lowest?" Only once all three describe the same scope. Before that, the lowest quote is usually the one that assumed the least work, and the difference shows up when somebody is already in your house with the wall open, which is the worst possible moment to be renegotiating.
When you post a job on Fixeep the scope goes in the form, so the pro sees what the work involves before deciding to take it. That is not thoroughness for its own sake. It is why the number you hear is closer to the number you pay.
Tell us what the job is. It is free, it takes a minute, and a verified pro in your area gets it.
Free, and no account to create. Your number stays hidden until a verified pro takes the job.
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