How to Write a Contractor Quote From Photos

What a contractor quote has to include

A quote is a short contract. It should answer five questions without a phone call: what you'll do, what you won't do, what it costs, how long the price holds, and how the customer says yes.

At minimum:

• Your business name, phone, email and license number if your trade or state needs one.
• The customer's name, the job address, and the date you walked it.
• The scope, line by line, in plain words.
• What's not included.
• A price for each line and a total, plus tax if your state requires it.
• Payment terms and any deposit you need before you start.
• An expiry date.
• How extra work gets handled.
• How the customer accepts: their name and the date.

The full checklist is further down.

Estimate vs quote: what's the difference?

Honestly, a lot of contractors and customers use the two words for the same thing, and so do most apps. When people do draw a line, an estimate is your best guess and the final bill can move (time-and-materials work, hidden conditions), while a quote is a fixed price for a fixed scope.

What matters is that you say which one you're sending. Put one sentence on the document: "This is a fixed price for the scope above" or "This is an estimate. The final price is based on actual hours and materials." Rules on how far a final bill can run over a written estimate vary by state, so check with your licensing board if you're not sure.

Step by step: from job photos to a quote

1. Shoot it like you'll quote it from the truck. Before you leave, get a wide "before" shot of every area you'll touch, then close-ups of the damage or condition you're pricing. Put something in the frame for scale: a tape measure, a 2×4, your hand. Shoot access too: the attic hatch, the crawlspace, the panel, the stairs, where you'll park. Access is where hours hide. Grab model plates and labels so you can price the exact part.

2. Talk while you shoot. A voice note like "ceiling stain about two feet across, drywall soft, need to open it" turns into a scope line later. It's faster than typing with wet hands.

3. Go photo by photo and write one line per piece of work. Leaking hose bib photo → "Replace exterior hose bib." Ceiling stain photo → "Cut out and replace damaged ceiling drywall, about 2×2 ft. Tape, mud, prime." One outcome per line, in words the homeowner can picture. Don't write "misc. repairs." Bundled lines are where people start haggling.

4. Price each line on your real numbers. Hours at your actual hourly rate. Materials at your cost plus your markup. Drive time, mileage, dump fees and permit time on their own lines so they don't quietly come out of your pocket. If you need help with the numbers, see how to price a job.

5. Add the terms, then send it while the customer still remembers you. A quote sent from the driveway beats a better quote sent Thursday. Text usually gets read faster than email.

What to leave out (and write as an exclusion)

Exclusions protect you more than any other line on the quote. If it isn't written down, the customer will assume it's included. Common ones:

• "Painting beyond the patched area is not included. The patch will be primed only."
• "Haul-off of old materials is not included." (Or price it as its own line.)
• "Permit fees, if required, are not included" or "billed at cost."
• "Repairs to anything found behind the wall once opened will be quoted separately."

Handling the stuff you can't see yet

You can't price what's behind the drywall or under the old floor with certainty. Don't hide that risk inside your other numbers. Photograph what you can see, note it as a risk, and put the unknown on its own line, with the number you're assuming and what happens if it runs over. For example: "Subfloor repair if needed: assumed 1 sheet, $___. More than that will be quoted as a change order before work continues." The customer sees the risk up front, and you're not eating it.

Expiry, deposit and payment terms

• Expiry: say how long the price is good for. Material prices move, and a quote from last spring shouldn't still bind you this fall.
• Deposit: if you need money up front for materials or to hold the date, say how much and when. Check your state's rules; some limit contractor deposits.
• Payment: when the balance is due and how they can pay.

When the job changes: change orders

Put this rule on every quote: extra work is priced and approved in writing before it's done. Then stick to it. When you open the wall and find rot, stop, photograph it, price it, and get a yes on that extra work before you continue. Don't rewrite the original quote. Keep the original as it was approved and add the change on top, so everyone can see what was agreed when.

The Contractor Photo-Quote Checklist

Download the printable PDF.

1. Customer name, job address, best phone/email, and the date you walked it.
2. A wide "before" photo of every area you'll touch.
3. Close-ups of the damage or condition you're pricing (with something for scale).
4. A photo of anything you can't fully see yet (behind walls, under flooring, decking), noted as a risk.
5. Scope in plain words, area by area: what you will do.
6. Exclusions: what is not included (paint, haul-off, permits, patching, etc.).
7. Labor: hours per line at your real hourly rate.
8. Materials, with your markup included.
9. Drive time, mileage, disposal/dump fees and permit time on their own lines.
10. Unknowns priced as a separate line, with what happens if it runs over.
11. Total, plus tax if your state requires it.
12. Payment terms and any deposit you need before you start.
13. How long the price is good for (expiry date).
14. The change-order rule: extra work is priced and approved in writing before it's done.
15. How the customer accepts (name + date), and "after" photos from the same angles when you finish.

A real example

Here's an illustrative sample job: a leak call on Hollis Ave, shown on QuoteProof's sample quote page. Six photos were taken on site: the shutoff valve, the ceiling stain, the riser, the meter, the access panel and the wall.

Behind it: 2.5 hours × $140/hr = $350.00, materials $72.00 + 20% markup = $86.40, and a 28-mile round trip = $29.35. The customer sees one price per line and the total, not the hourly rate or the markup. Before sending, you'd still add the exclusions ("painting beyond the patch not included"), an expiry date and payment terms.

In QuoteProof, you take the photos and it drafts the scope and line items from your photos and notes, priced at your own hourly rate, materials markup and drive. You check every line and fix what's wrong. The quote shows how long the price is good for. The customer approves on a link that opens on any phone, with no account and no app, by typing their name; the approval is stored with a date stamp. When you finish, a before-and-after proof report with time stamps goes to the customer to verify. It doesn't take payments; you get paid the way you already do. If you do remodels or GC work, see remodel estimates and general contractor quotes.