Home project tools for Columbus homeowners

Planning a remodel, addition, or repair in Columbus? Design and Biz makes six free tools that help Central Ohio homeowners price projects, check permit requirements, and avoid the expensive surprises that show up halfway through a job.

Columbus is one of the fastest-growing metros in the Midwest, and that growth has pushed remodeling costs, contractor wait times, and permit review times higher than they were even two years ago. Whether you're finishing a basement in Clintonville, adding a deck in Westerville, or rewiring a century home in German Village, the tools below give you a real estimate in under two minutes — no contractor calls, no email walls (well, almost none).

What Columbus homeowners use these for

Most projects in the Columbus metro fall into a handful of buckets: basement finishes (the soil and water table here make waterproofing a real line item), kitchen and bath remodels in the older neighborhoods inside 270, decks and three-season rooms in the suburbs, and electrical service upgrades for EV chargers and heat pumps. Every tool below is calibrated for those project types and for Central Ohio labor and material pricing.

Permits in Columbus

Most residential work inside the city of Columbus is permitted through the Department of Building and Zoning Services (111 N. Front St.). Suburbs like Dublin, Westerville, Worthington, Hilliard, Upper Arlington, and Bexley each run their own building departments with their own fee schedules and review timelines. PermitWut will tell you which jurisdiction you're in and what's typically required for your specific project.