How we decide
OurHomeSaysexists to answer the question you actually have — what’s wrong, is it urgent, can I do it myself, repair or replace, what it costs — and to be honest about how sure we are.
Every claim is labeled
- Official fact — a value cited to an official or standards source (government, fire service, utility, code, manufacturer, or a body like NFPA or InterNACHI).
- Calculation — arithmetic over cited facts and the numbers you enter.
- OurHomeSays rule — one of our decision rules of thumb (like “a repair over half the cost of replacing tips to replace”). Useful, but not an official standard, and we say so.
- Estimate — a cost range from an industry survey. These publishers earn money connecting you to contractors, so we mark them, date them, and never present them as a fixed price.
- Not yet verified — when we don’t have a solid source, we say that instead of inventing an answer.
Safety comes before everything
Before any diagnostic, cost, or repair guidance, we screen for hazards — gas, carbon monoxide, electrical, structural, flooding near electricity, and a few others. If one is present, we stop: we tell you to get to safety and who to call, and we do not give steps to open, test, or repair the dangerous system. Safety guidance is reviewed by hand and never changed automatically.
Repair or replace, in order
Our repair-or-replace pages run an ordered rule: (0) a confirmed safety hazard forces replacement regardless of cost; (1) age against the item’s typical service life; (2) the repair quote against a full replacement (the 50% rule); (3) how often it has failed; (4) efficiency and remaining life. You get a verdict with the reasoning shown, not a hedge.
Costs are line items, not one blurry range
We break a job into base fee, materials, labor, and add-ons — each with an assumption stated — so you can see what drives the number and adjust it for your home. Then we always tell you to get real quotes.
One page per real question
A page only exists when there’s a real question behind it and we have evidence to answer it. We don’t spin up near-duplicate city-by-problem pages, and we merge different phrasings of the same question into one answer.