Michael Criswell

Michael Criswell is the founder of BuildCost. He started the site after years of running into the same problem from both sides of the table: as someone who has worked in construction and the trades, and as a homeowner managing his own renovation projects, he kept seeing how little reliable cost information most people had before they ever talked to a contractor.

BuildCost is his attempt to fix that. Drawing on a data and research background, he built the site to aggregate labor and material cost data, regionalize it by U.S. census region and state, and present it in plain low / mid / high ranges instead of vague “it depends” answers. The goal is to give every homeowner the same ballpark numbers that experienced contractors and real estate investors use every day.

He reviews the cost methodology and writes the cost guides and articles published on BuildCost. Estimates are always meant for planning and budgeting — the site consistently recommends getting quotes from at least three licensed local contractors before committing to a project.