Websites for restoration (genjo-kaifuku) and interior contractors very often carry a price list.

Wallpaper replacement — from ¥XX per sqm Cushion floor replacement — from ¥XX per sqm Film applied to a door — from ¥XX,XXX per leaf

It is easy to read, and easy to compare. We went back and forth on whether to publish one right up to the end.

We left it out. Here is why.

Two units that are both “1K, 25 sqm” are not the same job

The cost of restoration is not decided by floor area alone. What actually moves the figure is this.

The state of the substrate. You take the wallpaper off and find the plasterboard cracked, or the substrate rippled from damp. Whether that is a job for filler or a full board replacement changes the figure. And you do not know until it comes off.

Access for materials. Is there a lift, is the staircase wide enough, is there anywhere to set materials down. With long materials such as sheet vinyl, this is where the effort involved changes.

The building’s own rules. In a condominium block, or a building under tight management, the permitted working hours and the extent of protection are set for you. An office building may also require a works plan to be submitted.

How the last tenant lived. Smoking or not, pets or not, the state of the kitchen and bathroom. The same layout can mean a completely different amount of work.

A flat rate table is an average with all of that flattened out. Very few real jobs land on the average.

When the figure is wrong, it is the client who suffers later

Someone reads the price list, thinks “25 sqm, so around ¥XXX,000”, gets in touch — and then the site visit produces twice that. At that point, however correct our explanation is, what is left behind is mistrust.

There is a way of working where you publish a table that looks cheap and collect more enquiries. What we did not want to create was the experience of the first number you see not matching the final invoice.

So what the site says instead is this.

We quote after seeing the place

Estimates and site visits are free. Even without drawings or photos, if you can tell us the condition of the unit we can give you a rough figure there and then. “I only want to know roughly what it costs” is a perfectly good stage at which to talk to us.

Three things worth checking when you take an estimate

None of this is specific to us. It works with any contractor you ask for a price.

1. Ask where the quantities come from

Not “wallpaper replacement, one lot”, but how many square metres — and where that figure came from. Measured on site, or taken off a drawing? Where this is vague, quantities tend to grow later.

2. Agree in advance what happens if extra work comes up

In restoration there is always something you only find once you open things up. The problem is not that in itself — it is what happens when you do find it. Will you be contacted first? Will you be shown photos? Does work start only after you have approved it? Settling this before work begins removes nearly all of the arguments that come afterwards.

When extra work is needed, we contact you with photos from site, and we start only once you have decided whether to go ahead.

3. Ask what is not included

Disposal, protection, parking, use of the lift. Costs you assumed were included are sometimes priced separately. One question — “what is not in this estimate?” — prevents it.

In short

• The cost of restoration turns on the state of the substrate and the conditions on site more than on floor area
• A flat price list is easy to read, but it does not match reality
• We give you an estimate after visiting the property (free of charge)
• When comparing contractors, three checks keep you safe: where the quantities come from, how extra work is handled, and what is not included

A rough figure is fine too. Tell us the type of property and the condition of the unit, and we will answer on the spot.