How we estimate costs

Every comparison on this site is built the same way, from the same kinds of sources, with the same arithmetic, so the numbers are comparable from one service to the next. This page documents the method in full — including the formulas and a worked example generated from the live data — so you can check our work. If you think a figure is wrong, tell us.

Principles

• Both sides get the same scrutiny. The DIY budget is itemized as carefully as the pro price. "You could save money doing it yourself" is not a number.
• A first-timer, not an expert. DIY hours and tool lists assume you've never done this job before.
• Ranges, not point estimates. Every figure has a low, typical and high, and we say what moves it.
• Every number has a source and a date. If we can't point to where a figure came from, we don't publish it.
• The prose follows the data. Costs live in one data file per service; the tables, calculator and structured data are generated from it, and the article text is checked against it whenever it changes.

Pro costs

A professional's price is labor, equipment, overhead and margin. We build it in three steps:

1. Wages. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) gives median hourly pay for the specific trade — Tree Trimmers and Pruners (SOC 37-3013), Tile and Stone Setters (47-2044), Surveyors (17-1022) and so on. Each service's data file records its SOC code.
2. Calibration. Wages are a fraction of what you pay; the rest is equipment, insurance, travel, overhead and profit. We calibrate the wage-to-price relationship for each trade against contractor rate surveys and the price ranges published by service marketplaces (HomeAdvisor, Angi, trade-specific sources), cross-checked against each other.
3. Job-size tiers. Each service is split into two to four tiers by the factor that most changes the price — tree height, lot size, tile type, vegetation density — with a low, typical and high figure per tier. One tier is marked as typical and drives the headline numbers. Low is a straightforward job in the off-season; high is difficult access, poor condition, complex work or rush timing.

Separately, each service lists add-ons — the items that are commonly quoted as extras (stump grinding, old-tile removal, debris haul-away) — with their own ranges, and the factors that push a quote up or down. Ranges are national; see what the numbers don't include.

DIY costs

We itemize what you would actually spend, line by line:

• Tools — each with a current price from a national retailer or rental counter, and marked as a purchase, a rental (per day) or a consumable. Tools most homeowners already own — a ladder, a drill, a tape measure — are flagged. The headline DIY figure assumes you own those; a second "own nothing" figure includes them.
• Materials and consumables — fuel, blades, adhesive, tile, batts — at retail prices, with the waste allowance the job needs.
• Disposal — dump fees, haul-away or bagging, as a range.
• Permits — where they commonly apply, as a range, with a note on when.
• Time — an hour range for a first-timer. It is not added to the cash total; it is reported alongside it and used for the break-even figure.

Job-size tiers apply to DIY too. A bigger job means more rental days, more consumables and more debris, so each tier has a size factor that scales rentals, consumables and disposal. Purchased tools are not scaled — a chainsaw costs the same for any tree.

The formulas

These are the calculations the site runs, written out. All figures are rounded to the dollar.

DIY cash cost (low / high)

tools you'd buy or rent + materials + disposal + permit, where rentals, consumables and disposal are multiplied by the tier's size factor. Low uses the low end of disposal and permit; high uses the high end.

DIY typical

tools + materials + (disposal low + high) ÷ 2 + (permit low + high) ÷ 2 — the midpoint of the variable items.

Pro cost

The tier's low / typical / high, straight from the data. Add-ons are not included unless you tick them in the calculator.

Savings

pro typical − DIY typical. Shown as dollars and as a percentage of the pro price. Can be negative — some jobs cost more to DIY.

Break-even hourly rate

savings ÷ midpoint of DIY hours. This is what an hour of your time would have to be worth for the two options to cost the same. If you value your time above it, hiring is cheaper all-in.

Worked example: Tree Removal, medium tree (30–60 ft)

Generated from the live tree removal data, so it always matches the comparison page.

The verdict for tree removal is nevertheless "hire a pro" — which is the point of the verdict step: the money math is only part of it.

Recurring services

For jobs done repeatedly — lawn mowing, for example — a per-visit comparison is misleading, so we compare per season. The pro side is the per-visit price multiplied by a typical number of visits (26 for mowing, with a low and high for shorter and longer climates). The DIY side spreads purchased equipment over its expected life (8 years for a mower with basic maintenance) and adds a season's fuel, parts and upkeep. We show both the first season, when you buy the equipment, and the ongoing season, which is the fair number to compare year after year. Hours are per visit times visits.

The calculators

Each service's calculator runs the same formulas on your inputs. On the DIY side you pick the job size, untick equipment you already own (it's removed from the total), include a permit or not, and set what your time is worth — the calculator then shows cash cost and all-in cost with time valued. On the pro side you pick the job size and a low, typical or high quote, and tick the add-ons that apply; each add-on is added at its typical price. The comparison line uses whichever settings you've chosen on both sides. Nothing you enter is stored.

How the verdict is decided

Every job size gets one of two calls — do it yourself or hire a pro — and the service's headline verdict is the call for its default size, which we set to the regular-house case: a 1,500–2,500 sq ft single-family home on an ordinary lot, the job a typical homeowner is actually weighing. There is no "it depends": where the answer changes with the size of the job, the page shows the verdict for each size and the calculator flips it as you change the tier. The money math above is an input, not the answer. We weigh it against:

• Risk level (low / medium / high): how badly a mistake can hurt you or your property. Tree work is high; mowing is low.
• Skill level (beginner / intermediate / advanced): what a first-timer can realistically produce, and whether the result is visible for years.
• Legal lines: whether the job requires a license, a permit, or a professional's seal — a land survey has no DIY version at all.
• The break-even rate: if DIY only pays when your time is worth less than a few dollars an hour, the savings aren't real.
• What a failed attempt costs: a scalped lawn recovers; a fence a foot over the line, or a crawl space that traps moisture, does not.

Roughly: high risk or a legal requirement means hire a pro regardless of savings. Low risk with real savings means do it yourself. Where the answer turns on something other than size — the lease clause, the power line, whether the crawl space is dry — the verdict summary says so in its first sentence and the "when to DIY / when to hire" lists spell out the conditions. The hidden costs listed on each page are the ones that moved the verdict.

Sources and dating

We prefer primary sources — government statistics, retailer listings, professional-society standards — and use secondary sources (other cost guides) only to calibrate and cross-check. Every source is listed at the bottom of each service page with the month it was observed, and the BLS occupation code for the trade is recorded in the data. When sources disagree, we favor the primary source and widen the range rather than pick a side.

What the numbers don't include

• Your region. Figures are U.S. national. Local wages and cost of living move real prices 20–30% either way; parts of the Northeast and West Coast run higher, much of the South and Midwest lower. Regional pages built from local wage data are planned; until then, treat our figures as a national baseline.
• Sales tax on tools and materials, which varies by state.
• Add-ons, unless you tick them in the calculator. The headline pro price is the core job.
• The value of the result. A pro's lawn stripes or a tile setter's perfectly straight lines have a value we can't price.
• Risk, as a dollar figure. Injury and damage are described, not costed — there's no honest way to put an average number on a chainsaw accident. They enter the verdict, not the total.

Review and corrections

Every service page shows the date its figures were last reviewed (currently the newest is 19/09/2026). Data is re-checked at least quarterly and whenever a source publishes new figures — BLS wage data updates each spring. When a figure changes, the tables, calculator and structured data update with it automatically, the prose is re-read for numbers that no longer match, and the review date moves. Reader corrections go through the contact form; we make them on the page and update the date rather than editing quietly.

What we don't do

• We don't provide quotes. Get at least three written estimates before hiring anyone.
• We don't accept payment from contractors, and we don't rank or recommend specific companies.
• We don't publish a number we can't point to a source for.