Terms of service

01What HouseRules is

HouseRules is a marketplace where homeowners post home-improvement projects and licensed contractors bid on them. We introduce the two sides; we are not a party to any contract between a homeowner and a contractor, we do not perform the work, and we do not guarantee the work.

02Accounts and honesty

You must give us accurate information: your real email, and for contractors, your real business name and license number. We verify contractor licenses against the state registry (Oregon CCB, Oregon LCB, Washington L&I) before allowing bids, and we may re-check at any time. Misrepresenting a license, impersonating a business, or posting fake projects or bids gets your account removed.

03How matching works

Homeowners set a bid limit when posting. Contractors see the project details but never the homeowner's contact information. When a homeowner picks a bid, that contractor receives the homeowner's name, email, and phone number, and the contractor's identity is shared with the homeowner. A homeowner may pick more than one bid — for example, to compare finalists in person — and each picked contractor receives the contact information. Contractors the homeowner does not pick never receive it. If a homeowner picks nobody, nobody receives their contact information.

Everything after the pick (site visits, quotes, contracts, payment, permits, the work itself) happens directly between homeowner and contractor, off the platform.

04Pricing

HouseRules is free for homeowners. For contractors, placing a bid holds a credit amount that scales with the size of the bid itself, using the midpoint of a range (the sheet is published on the FAQ page); the credits are kept only if the homeowner picks that bid — each picked bid is charged, including when a homeowner picks several — and unpicked bids are refunded automatically in every outcome: decline, expiry, project withdrawal, or the homeowner closing out the remaining bids. Founding Pros pay half the published amounts permanently, as promised at signup. There are no lead fees, there is never a charge for a homeowner's contact information, and there will never be a charge for a homeowner who does not pick you.

05What we are not responsible for

We check licenses; we cannot guarantee workmanship, timelines, prices, or conduct of either side. Homeowners should verify bids, insurance, and references before signing anything. Contractors should verify project details before pricing. The platform is provided as-is; to the maximum extent allowed by law, our liability to you for anything arising from use of HouseRules is limited to the amount you have paid us.

06Your dealings are your own; you cover us for them

Everything that happens between a homeowner and a contractor — quotes, contracts, payment, permits, the work, and any dispute about any of it — is between those two parties. You release HouseRules from claims arising out of your dealings with other users.

You also agree to indemnify HouseRules — that is, to cover us and hold us harmless — against claims, damages, and reasonable legal costs arising from your projects, your bids, your content, your contracts, your work, or your violation of these terms. Plain version: if your project or your work generates a legal fight, that fight is yours, not ours.

07Acceptable use

No scraping other users' information, no using contact details for anything beyond the project at hand, no spam, no reselling leads (obviously), no posting content that is illegal or deceptive. We may remove content or accounts that break these rules.

A bid is a real price for the project as posted. Placeholder bids, bids placed to start a conversation or arrange a visit, and any other attempt to get around the bid-then-pick process may be removed, with the credits refunded. Repeated attempts can end your access to HouseRules.

08Privacy

How we handle your data is covered in our Privacy Policy. Short version: your contact info is never sold, and it is only revealed by the mechanism described in section 03.

If you give us a mobile number, you agree to receive transactional text messages about your own projects, such as a bid arriving or a contractor asking a question. Reply STOP to any message to opt out, or leave the phone field blank and everything comes by email. Message and data rates may apply.

09Changes and contact

We may update these terms as the product grows; material changes will be posted here with a new date. Questions, disputes, or anything else: taylor@joinhouserules.com — a real person reads it.