What it actually costs to start each of 40 home-service trades, computed the same way for every trade from published, cited sources: essential equipment + a used vehicle + first-year general liability insurance + a launch marketing budget. The cheapest trade to enter on these figures is Window Cleaning at $3,667; the most expensive tops out with Window and Door Installation at $68,574.

Trade	Startup, low	Startup, high	Essential equipment	Free kit	The plan
Air Duct and Dryer Vent Cleaning	$23,078	$34,588	$9,028–$15,238	Kit →	Workbook →
Appliance Repair	$25,890	$55,727	$8,473–$13,985	Kit →	Workbook →
Basement Waterproofing	$15,693	$61,060	$1,364–$4,494	Kit →	Workbook →
Cabinet Refinishing	$12,919	$26,140	$832–$1,728	Kit →	Workbook →
Carpet Cleaning	$15,716	$25,962	$2,725–$7,751	Kit →	Workbook →
Chimney Sweep	$19,814	$26,158	$1,664–$3,508	Kit →	Workbook →
Concrete Flatwork	$16,977	$29,157	$2,007–$7,737	Kit →	Workbook →
Deck and Porch Building	$14,847	$25,625	$1,335–$2,885	Kit →	Workbook →
Drywall	$11,881	$25,223	$436–$1,203	Kit →	Workbook →
Electrical Contracting	$18,086	$35,553	$442–$1,117	Kit →	Workbook →
Fence Installation	$17,292	$48,575	$692–$2,075	Kit →	Workbook →
Flooring Installation	$13,661	$24,374	$661–$4,374	Kit →	Workbook →
Garage Door Service	$9,629	$21,209	$579–$1,209	Kit →	Workbook →
Gutter Installation	$16,948	$37,534	$10,848–$22,034	Kit →	Workbook →
Handyman	$12,680	$37,393	$195–$660	Kit →	Workbook →
Home Inspection	$23,619	$31,981	$2,070–$5,276	Kit →	Workbook →
HVAC	$21,357	$34,747	$2,721–$4,931	Kit →	Workbook →
Insulation	$20,271	$31,180	$8,616–$11,050	Kit →	Workbook →
Irrigation	$12,873	$33,950	$1,513–$5,750	Kit →	Workbook →
Junk Removal	$21,741	$30,681	$10,801–$13,421	Kit →	Workbook →
Kitchen and Bath Remodeling	$20,407	$36,105	$885–$5,505	Kit →	Workbook →
Landscape Installation	$19,430	$37,689	$3,570–$9,489	Kit →	Workbook →
Lawn Care	$7,688	$21,349	$1,828–$8,149	Kit →	Workbook →
Locksmith	$14,794	$37,760	$309–$1,889	Kit →	Workbook →
Masonry and Hardscape	$12,921	$47,340	$481–$820	Kit →	Workbook →
Painting	$17,814	$28,207	$247–$686	Kit →	Workbook →
Pest Control	$10,538	$29,971	$788–$1,971	Kit →	Workbook →
Plumbing	$10,335	$17,881	$683–$1,755	Kit →	Workbook →
Pool Service	$14,550	$47,600	$5,450–$14,100	Kit →	Workbook →
Pressure Washing	$14,987	$27,620	$2,103–$3,430	Kit →	Workbook →
Residential Cleaning	$15,815	$20,921	$135–$571	Kit →	Workbook →
Roofing	$22,874	$43,556	$1,280–$2,360	Kit →	Workbook →
Siding	$24,247	$34,535	$1,192–$1,565	Kit →	Workbook →
Smoke and Mold Remediation	$17,157	$66,659	$1,728–$5,893	Kit →	Workbook →
Standby Generator Installation	$12,331	$28,705	$1,331–$4,205	Kit →	Workbook →
Tile Installation	$11,507	$31,540	$257–$1,840	Kit →	Workbook →
Tree Service	$13,414	$36,536	$6,414–$11,880	Kit →	Workbook →
Water Treatment	$11,349	$30,898	$1,153–$4,818	Kit →	Workbook →
Window Cleaning	$3,667	$11,135	$339–$511	Kit →	Workbook →
Window and Door Installation	$31,482	$68,574	$837–$2,506	Kit →	Workbook →

Click a column heading to sort. Figures in US dollars; ranges reflect the low and high ends of the cited sources.

How these figures are computed

Each trade’s range is the sum of four sourced components, computed programmatically from the same research dataset that produced the plan workbooks (formula: essential equipment + used vehicle + first-year general liability insurance + launch marketing budget):

Essential equipment — itemized retailer and manufacturer prices for the tools a first-year operator cannot work without (nice-to-have equipment is excluded).
Used vehicle — Kelley Blue Book value ranges for a work-appropriate used truck or van (the largest single line for most trades; if you already drive something workable, subtract it).
General liability insurance — first-year premium ranges from insurer-published cost data.
Launch marketing — published startup-checklist and industry-guide budget ranges.

Sources and as-of date. Component figures were retrieved between 2026-08-26 and 2026-08-27 from published sources including 1800insurance.com, 7ten.marketing, amazon.com, angi.com, appliancemarketingpros.com, aquasureusa.com, bactoolsales.myshopify.com, baileysonline.com, bigrocksupply.com, bladesdirect.net, blog.rossware.com, bobvila.com. Every individual figure, with its full citation, is printed in the licensing and startup-cost chapters of the matching plan workbook. This page was last regenerated 2026-08-29; it is rebuilt from the dataset whenever a source figure is updated.

What the ranges do not include

State licensing and registration fees (they vary by state and trade — each workbook tables them per state, with sources), working capital for slow weeks, and your own wages before the calendar fills. Treat the table as a comparable floor across trades, not a personal quote: the free companion kit for each trade includes an Excel financial model where you replace these ranges with your own figures.

Use the numbers

Answer pages built on this dataset: how much it costs to start a cleaning business, what to charge to clean a house, and the rest of the starting-out questions. The full plans live on the Business Plans shelf — $14.99 each, ebook, with a free companion kit per trade, in English and Spanish.

Educational estimates only. These calculators and workbooks do the arithmetic on the figures you enter; they are general-purpose tools, not financial, investment, tax, legal, lending, insurance or construction advice, and no result is a quote, an offer, or a guarantee of any outcome. Results depend entirely on your inputs and assumptions.