About
About DIYorBuyLocal
Plan your project. Price it right.
Our story
DIYorBuyLocal started with a simple frustration: we wanted better tools to estimate the cost of a home project, and couldn't find any we trusted. Every existing calculator gave a vague national average. Every contractor site demanded a phone number before showing a price. Every cost range felt engineered to push toward a lead form, not toward an actual decision.
So we built the tool we wanted: locally calibrated cost data, transparent sources, and a clear answer to the only question that actually matters. DIY this, or hire it out? No lead forms. No homeowner data resold to contractors. No hidden affiliate kickbacks bending what we recommend.
The platform is built around four products and one rule. The free DIY Calculator works for any project in any zip code. That's the door we keep open for everyone. Project Blueprints ($19.99–$49.99) are paid PDFs we only charge for because they take real research time. State Guides bring permits, code highlights, and local picks together by location. Local Pros is a Phase-2 contractor directory built on a Psychology-Today-style subscription: flat monthly fee for visibility, never for your contact info. The rule: no kickbacks, no sold data, no pay-for-placement on the directory. Those lines do not move.
If you're trying to make a smart call on a home project (whether to DIY it, hire it out, plan it now or wait), this platform was built for you.
Why this exists
The dominant home improvement platforms (HomeAdvisor, Angi, Thumbtack) are lead-generation businesses. Their core product is not information; it is the homeowner's contact information, sold to contractors who bid for it. That model creates a structural conflict: the platform profits when homeowners submit forms, not when homeowners make good decisions. Cost estimates on those platforms are frequently vague, unsourced, or calibrated to encourage form submission rather than to inform. A homeowner researching the cost of a deck replacement deserves a number they can verify, not a range designed to prompt a call.
Our answer is a different architecture. Every cost figure on this platform is traceable to a named source. State-level adjustments use BEA Regional Price Parity data and BLS occupational wage surveys: the same inputs used by professional estimators. Data is refreshed monthly, and the refresh date is displayed on every page. The methodology document is public and linked from every cost guide. We do not ask you to trust us; we ask you to check the citations.
How the platform works
Three things, in order of how a homeowner uses them.
Cost calculators
Free. No account required. Locally calibrated using BEA Regional Price Parity indices and BLS labor data for each state. Enter your project parameters and get an instant range (hire cost and DIY cost) with the source citations displayed inline. No form submission, no follow-up email, no contractor referral.
Free · Instant · Cited sources
Project Blueprints
Paid PDFs delivered to your inbox after human review. Three tiers: the DIYorBuy Project Blueprint ($19.99), the Contractor Comparison ($29.99), and the DIYorBuy Project Playbook ($49.99). Each tier adds depth: materials lists, tool inventories, build sequences, permit checklists, AI renderings (Contractor Comparison and up), a quote evaluator, and a contractor quote review (Playbook). Content is AI-drafted under human review and approved before delivery. Turnaround ranges from 4–12 hours to 24–48 hours.
$19.99–$49.99 · 4–48hr human review · Three tiers
Local Pros directory
Free to browse. Contractors are listed by trade and state, sourced editorially from Reddit, NextDoor, and trade forums. The business model is a flat monthly subscription contractors pay for directory placement (think Psychology Today for trades), never lead-rental. We do not sell homeowner contact information, and paid placement never influences cost guides, calculator outputs, or DIY report content. Launching Phase 2; contractors can join the early-access list at business@diyorbuylocal.com.
Free to browse · Flat-fee subscription · Never lead-rental
On AI authorship
DIYorBuyLocal's research, cost data, and project guides are generated by AI under direct owner review. Every page is reviewed and approved before publishing. We disclose this because we believe the citations, not the author, are what make cost data trustworthy. A number sourced to RSMeans and BLS is verifiable regardless of who wrote the sentence around it.
Our editorial standard for AI-generated content: every cost figure must be traceable to a named public source. No invented statistics. No vague ranges without a citation. No contractor testimonials used as data. When the underlying source data changes (RSMeans quarterly updates, BLS annual wage surveys, BEA RPP revisions), the affected pages are updated and the revision date is displayed.
If you find a figure that appears unsourced, outdated, or inconsistent with current public data, email editorial@diyorbuylocal.com. We will review it within 48 hours and publish a correction if warranted.
Sources: RSMeans · BLS Occupational Employment Statistics · BEA Regional Price Parity · Angi · Fixr · HomeGuide · Submitted Contractor Quotes
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