Renovations · Methodology v1.0
How MARA estimates renovation costs
What goes into a renovation number and what it is definitely not.
A MARA renovation estimate is not a contractor quote
It is a planning figure. Actual Montreal contractor pricing varies enormously with access, structural surprises, permit requirements, borough rules and contractor availability. Always get written quotes before committing.
Inputs the estimate actually uses
- The renovation areas you selected (kitchen, bathroom, roof, basement, and so on)
- The quality level you chose for each area: basic, mid-range or high-end
- Any size or scope note you typed for that area
- The free-text context you provided
- If you linked a property: its type, size, year built, borough and asking price
- Montreal / Quebec contractor cost ranges from the model's general knowledge, applied through MARA's Quebec-specific prompt
What is calculated versus estimated
| Value | Origin |
|---|---|
| Materials and labour per area | AI estimate |
| Per-area total | Calculated: materials + labour |
| Subtotal | Calculated: sum of per-area totals |
| Contingency | Calculated: subtotal × contingency rate |
| Grand total | Calculated: subtotal + contingency |
Note
Because the arithmetic is done in application code, the numbers on screen always add up. If the AI returns figures that do not sum correctly, MARA recomputes the totals from the line items rather than displaying the inconsistent values.