In short
- Painting, floor refinishing and tile work are mostly labor, so the crew hours and rate matter most.
- Furnace, central AC, whole-house window and garage door replacements are mostly equipment, so the model and brand matter most.
- Roofing and gutters are split about evenly between materials and labor. Siding leans toward labor.
- Fees are a bigger share of small repairs, because a service call costs about the same for a small job.
Labor, materials and fees by job
Share of the middle of each range, US average. Our estimates from parts bands, crew hours and public wage data, not from real quotes. Most labor first.
| Job | Labor | Materials | Fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kitchen cabinet painting | 84% | 10% | 6% |
| Exterior house painting (2-story, ~2,000 sq ft) | 82% | 12% | 6% |
| Hardwood floor refinishing (400 sq ft) | 75% | 13% | 12% |
| Tile floor install (100 sq ft bathroom) | 72% | 20% | 8% |
| Interior room painting (12x12 room) | 72% | 18% | 10% |
| Vinyl siding replacement (1,500 sq ft of wall) | 57% | 36% | 7% |
| Drain clearing (sink, tub or main line) | 56% | 6% | 38% |
| Seamless gutter installation (150 ft) | 46% | 48% | 6% |
| Asphalt shingle roof replacement (1,500 sq ft) | 45% | 44% | 11% |
| Refrigerator repair | 34% | 41% | 25% |
| Furnace replacement (gas) | 26% | 68% | 6% |
| Central AC installation | 24% | 71% | 5% |
| Window replacement (10 windows) | 23% | 73% | 4% |
| Water heater replacement (40-50 gal tank) | 22% | 66% | 12% |
| Garage door replacement (16x7 double door) | 21% | 75% | 4% |
Labor jobs
In painting, floor refinishing and tile work, most of the price is the time of the crew. Prep takes the longest. When you compare two quotes for these jobs, ask how many hours, how much prep and how many coats.
Equipment and materials jobs
When you replace a furnace, a central air conditioner, a set of windows or a garage door, most of the price is the unit itself. Ask for the make, the model, the size and the warranty, because a different unit can move the total more than a different crew would.
Mixed jobs
Roofing and gutter installs split about evenly between materials and labor. Siding leans toward labor. Both questions apply: what material, and how many crew hours.
Fees on small jobs
On a small repair, a service call or diagnostic fee is a large share of the total. A drain clearing or an appliance repair has little in parts, so the fee and the minimum charge decide the price. Ask what the visit fee covers.
How we work out the split
Each share is the middle of the range for the job, split into materials, labor and fees using the same math as the job pages: parts low and high, hours times a labor rate from public wage data, and fees. Shares are our estimates for the US average and they move a little by area.
Common questions
Why is painting mostly labor?
Paint and supplies cost little compared with the days of prep, patching and two coats. That is why the hours in the quote matter more than the paint.
Why do the shares change from job to job?
Each job has its own mix of parts, hours and fees. Our ranges use a parts band, a number of crew hours and a fee band for every job.
Are these shares from real quotes?
No. They come from our estimates of parts, hours and fees plus public wage data. No real customer quotes are behind the ranges yet.
Updated October 2026. Not a repair shop or contractor, estimates only.