1. The space
2. The work
3. Costs and margin
Enter the space and your costs, or load the example, then click Price this job.
Result
If the real volume is not what the walkthrough showed
Your quoted price held fixed against the cost of the job at each volume. Days and containers come in whole units, so cost moves in steps.
| Volume vs. estimate | Cubic yards | Days | Containers | Your cost | Profit at your quote | Margin at your quote |
|---|
The arithmetic, and what it leaves out
- Debris is floor area times ceiling height times how full the space is, less what the client keeps, divided by 27 to give cubic yards.
- Work is cubic yards times the person-hours per yard, plus the sanitising minutes for the area you list. Days are the person-hours divided by the crew and by the productive hours left after the drive and setup each day, rounded up.
- Containers are the debris divided by the container size times how full you load it, rounded up. Dump fees are tons times the fee per ton.
- Cost is labour for the paid days, gear, truck and equipment, container hauls and dump fees, plus the risk allowance. Price is cost divided by one minus your margin, never below your minimum charge.
- The overrun limit solves for the volume at which cost equals your quoted price. The change-order rate is the extra cost of a 25 percent larger pile, per extra yard, divided by one minus your margin.
- Not modelled: sales tax, permits, licences and insurance, hazardous-waste rules and disposal, pest or mould treatment, recycling credits, valuables found in the home, client financing, and time with the client and family. What counts as hazardous and what you must wear or dispose of is set by your own regulators; check them.
Common questions
How do I price a hoarding cleanout?
Estimate the cubic yards of debris from the floor area, ceiling height and how full the space is, less what the client keeps. Then cost the person-hours to sort and carry it out, the sanitising, protective gear, containers, dump fees and a risk allowance, and divide by one minus your margin. This tool does that and shows the price per cubic yard and per square foot.
Why does the price jump when the volume goes up a little?
Days and containers come in whole units. A job that needs 8.1 days is billed as 9, and the 31st yard needs a second container. The volume table shows where those steps fall so you can see which overruns are cheap and which are not.
What should the change-order clause say?
That any debris beyond the walkthrough estimate is billed per cubic yard. The tool gives a number: the cost of the next yard, loaded with your margin, averaged over a 25 percent overrun.
How far over the estimate can I go before I lose money?
The result shows the break-even volume: the largest amount of debris at which your quoted price still covers cost. Walkthroughs of heavily cluttered homes are easy to underestimate because floors and shelves hide depth.
Does it cover biohazard cleanup?
Only as arithmetic: a risk allowance percentage and sanitising minutes per 100 square feet that you set. It does not say what is hazardous, what protective equipment or disposal your jurisdiction requires, or what licences you need.
What does this leave out?
Sales tax, permits, licences and insurance, hazardous-waste disposal, pest or mould treatment, recycling credits, items of value found in the home, client financing and the time spent with the client and family. It is a bidding aid, not a quote.
Is my data uploaded?
No. Everything runs in your browser tab and nothing is sent anywhere. There are no accounts. The share link keeps your numbers in the link itself, which you choose whether to send.
Want the margin, walk-away price and overrun headroom as well, or pricing a different trade? Price this job in the Bid Price Engine, one calculator for 121 trades.