How many quotes should you get for a home project?
Three at minimum. Five if the job is more than a few thousand dollars. One quote is a price with nothing to compare it to. Two is an argument. Three is a range. By five you can see what the job really costs, and which bids quietly left something out.
Why most people stop at one
Not because they are lazy. Because of what a quote costs to get. Ask for one on the usual sites and you type in your phone number, and within the hour it rings. It keeps ringing for days, because the site sold your number to several companies at once. So people get one quote, from whoever called first, and take it. That is how a fence ends up costing three thousand dollars more than the fence next door.
That is the thing we built HouseRules to fix. You post the project once, with photos and a budget range. Contractors whose license we have checked read it and send bids. Nobody gets your number. You read the bids side by side and choose who you want to talk to. Five quotes, zero calls.
How many, by size of job
| A small repair, under a thousand dollars | Two is fine. One if you already trust the company. |
| A few thousand to fifteen thousand | Three to five. This is where the same job comes back with prices thousands apart. |
| A kitchen, a roof, an addition | Five. Then walk the job with the two you like best. |
How to get quotes you can actually compare
Give everyone the same thing. The same description, the same photos, the same budget range, at the same time. If one contractor hears a different story than another, their prices will not line up and you will not know why. Then ask each of them for the same three things: what is included, what is not included or could change the price, and how long it takes once they start. Those three lines are what every bid on HouseRules has to answer, for exactly this reason.
What to do with five quotes
Throw out the ones that do not say what they include. Look at the spread of the rest. If one is far below the others, find out what it skipped before you get excited. Then pick two or three to talk to. Meeting more than one contractor is normal, and on HouseRules it is how the site works: you choose who gets your contact information, and you can choose more than one. The rest never call, because they never could.
Common questions
How many quotes should I get for a home project?
Three at minimum, and five for anything over a few thousand dollars. One quote is a price with nothing to compare it to. Two is an argument. Three is a range, and by five you can see what the job really costs and which bids left something out.
Is it rude to get several quotes?
No. Contractors expect it, and good ones prefer a homeowner who has compared, because that homeowner is less likely to be surprised later. On HouseRules every bidder knows they are one of up to five, so nobody is misled.
Should I tell contractors I am getting other quotes?
Yes. A bid on a shared, written scope is fairer to everyone, and a contractor who bids knowing others will too tends to bid the real number instead of a placeholder.
Will more quotes just get me lowballed?
Only if you compare on price alone. The lowest number is often the bid that left out demo, haul-away, permits or the unknown under the floor. Compare what is included first, price last.
How long should getting quotes take?
A week is plenty if everyone gets the same scope at the same time. Most of the delay in the old way is the calls and the site visits. When the project is posted once with photos, most bids arrive within a couple of days.
Post the project once. Up to five license-verified contractors bid. You decide who calls.
Post your projectFree for homeowners, always. Guide updated September 2026.