Editorial Standards

Short version: we tell you where the money is, and we don't let the money tell us what to write.

Pricing information

Cost figures in our guides are typical national ranges drawn from industry pricing data, contractor input and published market rates. They're a starting point for judging quotes — not a promise of what your project will cost. Where regional variation is large, we say so.

Advertising vs. editorial

Some pages on this site are paid promotions, and some links pay us a referral fee. Two rules keep that honest:

• Promotional pages are disclosed as such on the page itself.
• No advertiser or partner can buy a recommendation, change a price range we publish, or remove criticism.

The complete money picture is on our disclosure page.

Corrections

When we get something wrong — a price that's out of date, a step that's out of order — we fix the article and update its date. Spotted an error? Tell us; corrections get priority over everything else in the inbox.

What we won't publish

• Paid "guest posts" or undisclosed sponsored content
• Advice we wouldn't follow in our own homes
• Safety-critical instructions (gas, electrical panels, structural work) presented as DIY — those get a "hire a licensed pro" every time, because that's the correct advice