Siding estimating software that wins more jobs

A siding price is built from five groups of work:

1. Removal and repair: tearing off the old siding and trim, hauling it away, and replacing damaged sheathing.
2. The weather barrier: house wrap or foam board, plus flashing tape and drip cap at every window and door.
3. The field: the siding panels or boards on the wall area.
4. Trim and accessories: starter strip, corner posts, J-channel, trim boards and caulking.
5. Soffit, fascia and details: overhead areas, fixture mounting blocks, vents and cleanup.

Measure the walls, not the footprint

Measure each wall's length times its height. For a gable, the triangle is half the base times the height.

Many installers deduct garage and patio doors but not every window, since the cuts around a window waste material anyway.

Add waste before you enter quantities

A house with lots of corners and angles wastes more than a plain box. Enter the quantity after waste, so what you order matches what you priced.

Measure trim runs separately

• Starter: the bottom edge of every wall.
• Outside corners: the height of every corner.
• J-channel or trim: the perimeter of every window and door.

Price each line from your own hours

These are the common lines on a siding estimate and what each is measured in:

• Square foot: tear-off, sheathing, wrap, panels and soffit.
• Linear foot: starter, corners, J-channel, trim, flashing and caulk.
• Each: mounting blocks.

The hours and prices are yours to set, and every line's hours are editable to match your crew.

Field work adds up before any trim

Example: The field work on a 20-square house (2,000 square feet of wall) adds up like this when vinyl replaces old siding. The rates are example figures; say your own records show:

• Tear-off: 1.5 hours per square, 30 hours
• House wrap: 1 hour per square, 20 hours
• Vinyl panels: 3 hours per square, 60 hours

That's 110 hours before a single corner post goes up.

Fiber cement and trim add their own hours

Example: Say fiber cement lap takes your crew 5 hours per square. Switch the panels to it and the panel line becomes 100 hours, so the field comes to 150.

Trim runs add their own time. On the same house, say 160 linear feet of outside corners takes your crew 10 hours, and 400 linear feet of J-channel around the windows and doors another 20.

Your labor rate covers more than the wage

An installer's wage is only part of what an hour costs you. Your rate also pays for:

• workers' comp and general liability
• staging, ladders, pump jacks or a lift
• the truck, trailer and brake
• the days lost to weather
• the hours spent measuring houses that sign with someone else

BuildWell builds the rate in three steps

1. Wage: the median wage for the line's trade in your metro.
2. Overhead: your labor overhead, which starts at 100% and so doubles the wage.
3. Markup: your labor markup, 20% to start.

Example: Say your installers cost you $30 an hour. Use your real figure, and blend in your helpers' rate if they do the tear-off. The 110 hours of field work on that vinyl job come to:

• Wages: 110 × $30 = $3,300
• With 100% overhead: $6,600
• With 20% markup: $7,920 for the field labor

Trim, soffit, fascia and details come on top.

Price sheathing, wall fixtures and disposal up front

• Materials: price panels, wrap, accessories, fasteners and caulk at what they cost near this job this week, plus your markup. BuildWell's material markup starts at 20%, and you can change it per estimate.
• Sheathing: you won't know its condition until the old siding is off. Price an allowance, a number of square feet of replacement, and state your price for anything beyond it.
• Things on the wall: lights, outlets, hose bibs, dryer vents, shutters and gutters all have to come off, get a mounting block or get worked around. Count them on the walkaround.
• Disposal and permits: price the dumpster as its own line. Many jurisdictions require a permit to reside, so add your permit fee; in BuildWell, a flat permit fee is added automatically when the estimate includes permits.

Check older houses for lead and asbestos

Paint on a house built before 1978 may contain lead. BuildWell adds a lead-safe setup and cleanup line when you say the house is that old.

Some older houses also have cement siding that may contain asbestos. Removing it is regulated, so have it tested and check your state's rules before you price the tear-off.

Income depends on market, crew and margin

Installer wages vary between metro areas and with experience.

As an owner, you earn the difference between what you charge and what each house costs you. So your labor rate and material markup matter more than any wage table.

Self-employment tax is 15.3% of net earnings

As a sole proprietor or single-member LLC, you pay self-employment tax on your net earnings: 15.3% in total.

• Social Security, 12.4%: applies to net earnings up to the Social Security wage base, which is $184,500 for 2026.
• Medicare, 2.9%: applies to all of it.
• Deduction: you can deduct half of the self-employment tax on your income tax return.

Federal and state income tax come on top. Set aside part of every deposit and final payment as it arrives.

Pay estimated taxes every quarter

Nobody withholds tax from your jobs, so the IRS expects payments through the year on Form 1040-ES. They're usually due in:

• mid-April
• mid-June
• mid-September
• mid-January

If your season is concentrated in summer and fall, your September and January payments may be the heavy ones.

Track your deductions as you go

Siding businesses commonly deduct:

• tools, brakes, saws and staging
• the business share of the truck and trailer
• fuel
• insurance, license and registration fees
• lead-safe certification and training
• dumpster and disposal costs
• phone and software

Keep receipts and log mileage as you go rather than rebuilding the year at tax time.

Subs paid $2,000 or more get a 1099-NEC

If you pay an unincorporated subcontractor for services, you'll generally need to send them a Form 1099-NEC. For payments made in 2026 and later, that applies once you've paid them $2,000 or more in a year, up from $600 before 2026.

Get a Form W-9 from every sub before the first payment.

Pay method doesn't decide contractor or employee

Siding crews are often paid by the square. But how you direct the work, not how you pay it, decides whether someone is a contractor or an employee.

Check your state's sales tax on materials

States treat siding contractors differently:

• Some have you pay sales tax when you buy materials.
• Others have you charge it to the homeowner on materials, or on the whole job.

Check your state's revenue department. In BuildWell, sales tax applies to materials only, not labor, at the rate you set.

This is general information, not tax or legal advice. A tax professional who works with contractors can tell you what applies to your state and business.