Terms of Service
Last updated: 2026.Q2
These terms govern your use of TheFatBook, including the painting cost index, calculators, estimate-analysis tools, guides, embedded widgets, and related pages. By using the site, you agree to these terms.
Service Description
TheFatBook provides independent home improvement cost data, the Bid Fairness Checker, the True Cost Calculator, upload analysis, and educational guides. The service is designed to help homeowners understand typical cost ranges, contractor markup, negotiation floors, and project variables.
No Professional Advice
Cost estimates, fair-price ranges, savings estimates, financing calculations, and calculator outputs are for informational and educational purposes only. They are not quotes, bids, appraisals, legal advice, tax advice, financial advice, construction advice, or guarantees. Actual costs vary based on project specifics, contractor availability, materials, local codes, site conditions, timing, and market demand.
Contractor Decisions
TheFatBook does not endorse, license, supervise, or verify individual contractors. A fair-price result does not mean a contractor is qualified, insured, bonded, properly licensed, or safe to hire. Always verify licensing, insurance, references, permits, scope, warranty terms, payment schedule, and written contract terms before committing to work.
Estimate Upload Tool
The Estimate Upload tool provides automated analysis of contractor estimates against TheFatBook cost data. It may use direct parsing, pattern matching, and AI-assisted extraction to identify line items. Results can be incomplete or incorrect if the uploaded file is blurry, scanned, handwritten, compressed, mislabeled, incomplete, or formatted in an unusual way. You are responsible for reviewing the extracted line items and confirming that the analysis matches the actual contractor scope.
Data Accuracy
We update cost data periodically using sources such as BLS, FRED, Craftsman, permit-fee data, and industry references. Data may lag current market conditions. Regional adjustments are approximations based on metro-level inputs and may not reflect neighborhood-level pricing, contractor backlog, unusual site conditions, supply shortages, storm demand, or specialty materials.
Expert Review
Content marked "Reviewed by" has been reviewed for methodology accuracy by the named reviewer. The reviewer does not endorse specific contractors, guarantee specific outcomes, or verify individual calculator outputs. Review covers methodology only.
User Responsibilities
You agree not to misuse the site, overload the service, attempt to bypass rate limits, upload unlawful or malicious files, scrape or redistribute the database, reverse engineer protected tools, or use TheFatBook to make automated decisions about consumers, contractors, credit, insurance, employment, or eligibility for services.
Uploads & Submitted Content
You represent that you have the right to upload any estimate, invoice, image, CSV, PDF, or other submitted material. You grant TheFatBook and its service providers permission to process, parse, analyze, store, transform, and display submitted content as needed to provide the service, maintain security, improve accuracy, and create aggregated or de-identified benchmarks.
Embedded Tools
TheFatBook may provide embeddable calculator widgets. You may embed official widgets using the provided code, but you may not remove attribution, frame the tools in a misleading context, imply endorsement, or use embedded tools on pages that are unlawful, deceptive, discriminatory, or primarily designed to collect sensitive personal information.
Availability
The service may change, pause, fail, or be discontinued without notice. Calculator outputs and upload analysis may be unavailable during maintenance, provider outages, abuse-prevention blocks, quota limits, or configuration changes.
Third-Party Services
TheFatBook may rely on hosting, analytics, AI extraction, rate-limiting, and infrastructure providers. We are not responsible for third-party outages, model errors, network failures, or processor limitations.
Intellectual Property
TheFatBook site design, calculators, copy, cost-index presentation, analysis logic, data compilation, and tools are proprietary. You may not scrape, reproduce, resell, bulk download, or redistribute our data or tools without written permission. Limited sharing of ordinary page links and use of official embed code is allowed.
DMCA & Complaints
If you believe content on TheFatBook infringes your rights or is inaccurate in a way that could materially affect users, contact us through the website with the page URL, the issue, supporting evidence, and your contact information.
Limitation of Liability
TheFatBook is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable for decisions, losses, contractor disputes, project overruns, financing costs, failed negotiations, lost savings, property damage, or other damages arising from use of our data, tools, uploads, or content. If liability cannot be excluded, maximum liability is limited to the amount you paid directly to TheFatBook for the affected service, which is typically $0.
Changes to These Terms
We may update these terms as the service changes. Continued use of the site after updated terms are posted means you accept the revised terms.