Every price, rule and statistic in a HomeAnvil guide comes from a source you can open yourself, and each guide lists those sources at the bottom with the date we read them. This page explains how that works.
Where the numbers come from
HomeAnvil does not yet publish price data of its own. The prices in our guides come from published cost surveys, such as HomeAdvisor, Angi, HomeGuide, Fixr, This Old House and Modernize, and each figure is credited to the survey it came from. Where two surveys disagree, the guide shows both rather than picking the one that sounds better.
Rules, codes, programs and safety facts come from the people who set them wherever we can reach them: federal agencies such as the IRS, the EPA, FEMA, the FTC and the Bureau of Labor Statistics; standards and industry bodies; the model building codes; and manufacturers' own installation documents.
How we date and label figures
- Read dates. Each source is listed with the day we read it, and the guide shows the date it was last updated.
- Our own arithmetic is marked. When a guide works out a number itself, such as a price per square from a price per square foot, it says so.
- No invented numbers. If a figure cannot be traced to a source, it is left out, and the guide says what could not be verified.
How we keep them current
Cost surveys revise their numbers. Once a month we re-read the pages each guide cites and flag any headline price that no longer appears on its source, then correct the guide.
What we do not publish
- Rankings of companies or brands. HomeAnvil connects homeowners with contractors, so we do not rank installers or products.
- Claims about any contractor. Our guides describe the work, not who does it.
- Local service claims. Our guides are national. Pages that name a state give that state's own published facts, such as its wages, codes and storm record.
- Advice. Guides that touch taxes, insurance, loans or law explain the general rules and say they are not legal, tax, financial or insurance advice.
How the guides are written
We use AI tools to help gather sources and draft. Every guide follows the same written rules: figures come only from sources read on the date shown, disagreements between sources are shown, and nothing is published that cannot be traced to a source.
Frequently asked questions
Why do your prices differ from another site's?
Each survey measures something slightly different: its own customers, a typical house size or a national average. We show the survey's own range and name it, so you can see where a number comes from.
Is the price in a guide what I will pay?
No. It is a national range. Your price depends on your house, your area and the contractor. A written estimate for your project is the only firm number.
How often are the guides updated?
The sources are re-read every month, and a guide is updated when one of its figures changes. The date at the top of each guide is its last update.