A. Source-derived facts and figures
A source-derived fact is a value, definition, date, scope note, or quantity rule reported by an identified third-party publisher. Each registry entry stores the publisher, title, URL, publication or update date when available, Ramefor's verification date, individual value IDs, scope notes, units, and a usage limitation.
A published reference is not interchangeable with an estimate. Two U.S. calculators return exact published scenarios; the Basement, Bathroom, Roofing, Laminate, and Windows calculators create bounded planning ranges from registered rates or component rows, geometry, quantity rules, and explicit scope decisions. The quote-comparison tool uses no third-party price dataset and applies a Ramefor-created scope-comparison framework. The source remains responsible for each published fact, while Ramefor is responsible for how it is selected, labeled, and used here.
| Value type | What it means here | What it does not mean |
|---|---|---|
| Published range | A source’s stated lower and upper values for its defined project scope. | A guaranteed interval for every local project. |
| Reported average | An arithmetic average explicitly reported by that source. | A Ramefor average or the midpoint of another range. |
| Reported median spend | The middle homeowner-reported spend in the described study group. | An average, a contractor estimate, or a current price prediction. |
| Per-square-foot range | A source's unit reference for its described scope; it is multiplied only when the model collects the matching quantity. | Authorization to price a different scope or create an arbitrary whole-project formula. |
| Per-window reference | A source's value for one window with its stated product, labor, or installation scope. | Automatic permission to multiply any per-window value by any count. Multiplication requires compatible published scope and units, an explicit matching quantity in the model, a registered allowed transformation, and no addition of overlapping values. |
| Published point | A single amount explicitly shown for a defined unit or scope. | An average unless the publisher identifies it as one. |
Why source-derived values remain separate
Angi, This Old House, and Houzz Research do not necessarily measure the same population, project definition, time period, or statistic. Ramefor does not average incompatible ranges, reported averages, medians, thresholds, or unit references. A difference between them can reflect methodology and scope rather than an error.
B. Ramefor-created analysis, decision logic, and software
Ramefor creates the calculator interfaces, input validation, scenario-selection mappings, roofing geometry and quantity logic, scope comparisons, checklists, editorial explanations, warnings, and automated tests. These are product decisions and original software, not statements made by the cited publishers.
The Remodeling Quote Comparison Tool is explicitly first-party logic. Its scope items, status matching, difference categories, optional total difference, and clarification questions come from Ramefor's comparison framework, not an external cost dataset or a judgment about contractor quality.
When a tool applies its own rule, the rule is kept in typed configuration and documented next to the result. Two scenario tools resolve the numeric row through a source ID and value ID. Basement, Bathroom, Roofing, Laminate, and Windows use deterministic models with source-compatible units, while Quote Comparison uses first-party scope logic.
Scenario and calculation-model tools may surface a separate registered reference when a project answer makes it relevant. Each reference keeps its published value, unit, section, and scope; benchmarks and overlap-sensitive values are never silently added to a modeled subtotal.
C. What Ramefor refuses to infer or fabricate
- No local price, tax, permit, labor, access, quality, or complexity adjustment is added without a usable documented rule.
- Unlike ranges, averages, medians, units, and project scopes are not blended into a new figure.
- Missing measurements, hidden conditions, product choices, and contractor availability are not guessed.
- No credentials, named experts, project experience, reviews, ratings, or authority are invented.
- A planning result is never labeled as a contractor quote, appraisal, diagnosis, or professional advice.
D. Selection, review, testing, reverification, correction, and retirement
The current standard requires a page or tool to answer a distinct planning need and have enough source support or original utility to differ meaningfully from existing material. Publication volume is not a selection criterion. Redundant resources identified by the audit are in the approved consolidation process and may temporarily coexist until their destination passes acceptance.
The workflow below is required for current research and corrections. It does not establish that every historical source received manual review under this process or that every current tool implements the full Evidence Ledger standard. Migration of existing resources remains pending in batches.
- Research the planning question and verify the relevant sources.
- Record provenance while preserving scope, units, and value type.
- Add Ramefor's analysis or utility, then manually review assumptions, labels, and limitations.
- Run automated tests for calculations, source references, route metadata, and editorial constraints.
- Flag a reference for reverification after 180 days from the last real check.
- Correct the registry, dependent logic, visible explanation, and tests together, or retire material that can no longer be supported or provide distinct utility.
To report an outdated figure, broken source, attribution problem, or unclear explanation, use the contact and corrections page.
Scope distinctions in practice
Basement finishing means converting unfinished or semi-finished space into finished living area. Basement remodeling means altering an already finished basement or undertaking a broader overhaul. Their project ranges and per-square-foot references are never treated as equivalent rates.
Flooring values are classified by their published scope. An installed-project value can include more than a material-only value; a labor-only reference excludes materials; underlayment, removal, subfloor, furniture, and material-size totals remain independent when the source publishes them separately.
How the calculators implement those distinctions
The bathroom remodel calculator builds room geometry and a Scope Graph from mutually exclusive wet-area pathways, overlap-aware demolition, compatible vanity, toilet, and fan paths, and exact user prices. This Old House size rows and Angi whole-project figures remain independent benchmarks; HVI ventilation and EPA moisture guidance remain separate from cost.
Its current Evidence Ledger shows the quantity, rate, formula, available source section and dates, scope decision, and overlap note. This does not imply full migration to the current evidence standard. Unpriced plumbing, flooring, electrical, wet-area, ventilation-route, and concealed-condition work remains visible instead of receiving a multiplier or a false $0 value.
The kitchen remodel calculator returns an exact Angi size row. A selected minor, major, or complete tier can surface its separate registered project range; size and scope ranges are never combined.
The basement finishing calculator applies Angi's $7–$23 unit range only to the actual finishing area within the source-demonstrated 500–2,000-square-foot interval. Its Scope Graph keeps exact-row examples, project benchmarks, overlapping feature prices, remodel context, and process guidance outside the subtotal; it never switches to basement-remodel data.
The laminate flooring calculator derives gross area, exclusions, net installed area, waste-adjusted purchase target, and whole-box quantity from user geometry. It multiplies only source-backed values whose units and scope support the operation.
Its scope graph prevents known overlaps: installed or whole-project benchmarks never stack onto component lines, underlayment labor never stacks onto the published professional-labor context, disposal is never automatic, and furniture moving is withheld when professional laminate removal may already cover it. Unresolved work is excluded instead of receiving an invented price, and benchmarks remain separate from the modeled subtotal.
The home addition calculator maps 14 exact size/build combinations to Angi's general table. Relevant answers can expose separate site-prep or permit references; its Second Story Build column remains separate from the dedicated second-story article.
The window replacement calculator builds exact opening groups. Each group uses one Modernize installed-style, user-installed, or user-product price pathway. The registered model multiplies the compatible published installed per-window range by the explicit group count without adding overlapping installed values. Generic Angi labor is compatible only with product-only retrofit groups whose opening, condition, and access answers meet the documented safe rule.
Its Scope Graph keeps exact Angi count rows, installation-method references, older-home context, project-level structural repair, and overlapping This Old House frame/glass survey averages outside the subtotal. Dimensions are takeoff context only, unresolved construction remains unpriced, and the ENERGY STAR V7 U-factor/SHGC screen is separate from cost.
The roofing calculator is the bounded calculation model. It converts horizontal roof-plan area with pitch geometry or accepts known roof surface, applies a user-selected GAF waste allowance to material quantity, rounds standard asphalt bundles up, and adds HomeGuide's registered material, labor, and optional removal components.
The quote-comparison tool compares Included, Explicitly excluded, Not stated, and Not applicable statuses across two user-entered scopes. It may display the absolute difference between two optional totals, but it does not normalize prices, score completeness, rank contractors, or recommend a quote.
- Published-scenario tools do not multiply square feet by a dollar rate; calculation models multiply only a source-backed unit whose scope matches an explicit user quantity.
- It does not interpolate between bands or extrapolate beyond them.
- It does not combine one source with another source's ranges, averages, or medians.
- It does not add location, plumbing, labor, permit, quality, or premium-work multipliers without a usable published rule.
- It preserves overlapping or otherwise ambiguous source labels instead of resolving them with invented arithmetic.
- The roofing model does not apply location, story, access, complexity, or steep-pitch cost multipliers because the registered sources do not provide a complete auditable rule set.
Across the two published-scenario tools, only the scenario selection chooses the main numeric row; project-context answers never silently change it. Basement, Bathroom, Roofing, Laminate, and Windows accept measurements only for their documented bounded or component models. Quote comparison accepts only user-entered statuses and optional totals, keeps all processing in the browser, and saves nothing.
Why a local quote can fall outside a national reference
National references cannot inspect existing plumbing, concealed damage, access, local labor availability, taxes, permits, product specifications, contractor overhead, schedule, or the final written scope. A local contractor may therefore quote below or above a published range without either figure being inherently wrong.
Source freshness and reverification
The current threshold is 180 calendar days. Automated checks calculate age from verifiedAt in UTC, not merely from the publisher’s older publication date. This allows a still-relevant source to remain current after Ramefor has reviewed it again.
When a reference exceeds the threshold, tests identify it for reverification. The verification date changes only after the source has actually been checked; the publisher date changes only when the publisher changes it.
Corrections and changed sources
If a publisher changes a figure, scope, date, or page, the typed registry, dependent explanation, and tests must be reviewed together. Ramefor corrects the stored value and its visible context rather than silently substituting a different source or blending the old and new values.
See About Ramefor for the product's role and limits, or use the contact page to request a correction.