Build a detailed estimate of your home’s reconstruction cost. Review the building assumptions, separate the dwelling from other structures, and save a free PDF for discussion with your insurer.
Estimate the cost to rebuild a house with a detailed component breakdown and a free PDF. Start with square footage and construction details; names and street address are optional.
Planning estimate: model rates are not yet calibrated against carrier valuations. The displayed range is illustrative, not a measured accuracy interval. No name or street address is needed to calculate.
How this estimator prices: the base rate is a complete standard home at your chosen quality — including a standard poured-basement foundation, roof, siding, windows, kitchen, two full baths, and contractor overhead. Your selections adjust up or down from that standard, so credits (shown as negatives) are normal.
1 · Property & location2 · Structure3 · Foundation & basement4 · Interior5 · Systems6 · Roof, windows & exterior7 · Garage & attached features
Permanently attached to the dwelling — counted in the rebuild number:
8 · Outdoor property & detached structures
These typically fall under other structures / separate coverages, not the dwelling limit — shown as a separate subtotal:
Enter at least the above-ground square footage (300+) to calculate.
Using your result
How the home replacement cost estimator works
Replacement cost is an estimate of the labor, materials, contractor overhead, debris removal, and related expense needed to rebuild a home—not its market value, tax assessment, mortgage balance, or purchase price. The estimator organizes the characteristics that materially change that number and produces a reviewable component breakdown.
How to use it
Enter the home as it exists today: finished square footage, stories, foundation, exterior, roof, interior grade, attached structures, and special features.
Review the component breakdown for missing or understated items such as finished basements, porches, garages, custom kitchens, fireplaces, debris removal, and detached structures.
Save the PDF, compare it with your insurer’s replacement-cost worksheet, and ask a licensed agent to review any large difference before changing Coverage A.
Before you rely on the result
This is an educational estimate, not an appraisal, contractor bid, coverage guarantee, or promise that a claim will be paid in a stated amount.
Post-catastrophe demand, historic construction, log homes, unusual architecture, high-end finishes, code upgrades, remote sites, and local labor constraints may require professional review.
Coverage terms, limits, valuation clauses, coinsurance requirements, ordinance or law, and extended or guaranteed replacement cost vary by policy and carrier.
How this home replacement cost calculator works
The RGC model starts with an assumed cost per square foot for the selected construction quality, then adjusts for building geometry, location and features. Its standard base includes a poured basement, ordinary roof and siding, a standard kitchen, two full baths and contractor overhead. Choosing a different feature adds or subtracts from that base.
This is a planning model. Its rates have not been calibrated against carrier replacement-cost software. The displayed ±10% band is a model scenario, not a measured accuracy interval or a current local contractor quote. State factors and Michigan ZIP adjustments are assumptions, not live market feeds.
Which square footage should I enter?
Enter finished living area above ground. Enter finished basement area in the separate basement fields and garage area in the garage fields. Combining them into living area can count the same space twice.
For example, a house with 1,800 square feet above ground, a 600-square-foot finished basement and a 400-square-foot garage should begin with 1,800—not 2,800—in the living-area field. Then describe the basement and garage separately. Comma-formatted inputs are accepted.
Living area above ground
Use the above-ground finished square footage field.
Finished basement
Use the basement area and finish-quality fields.
Attached garage
Use garage area and garage type.
Detached buildings and outdoor property
Review separately from the dwelling estimate.
Land
Exclude land from rebuilding cost.
Replacement cost vs. market value vs. actual cash value
Market value reflects a sale of the property, including land and location. Replacement cost concerns reconstruction. Actual cash value generally accounts for depreciation. Those figures answer different questions and can differ substantially.
Use the result to compare assumptions with your insurer’s worksheet. A large gap is a reason to check area, quality, additions and local costs with your agent. It is not a reason to automatically lower the policy limit.
A quick square-foot estimate
Useful for an initial check when the local rate and building scope are appropriate.
This detailed calculator
Makes construction assumptions and additions visible.
Carrier replacement-cost evaluation
Uses the insurer’s accepted valuation process for the specific property.
Contractor estimate or appraisal
Useful when specialized construction or a major discrepancy needs investigation.
Your next step
Continue with a related tool or ask RGC’s Michigan agency team to help with your insurance.