Guides
What things cost, and what the work pays.
Most contractor advice online is written to sell you a lead. These are written to answer the question. Every figure below comes out of the same pricing engine that quotes a real job — so a guide can never quietly disagree with the estimate you are given.
For homeowners
What it costs before anyone knocks on your door.
Price ranges by project size, the signals that decide repair versus replace, and what a contractor may legally ask for up front in California.
- How much a concrete driveway costs in Los AngelesReal driveway prices for Greater Los Angeles, computed by the same engine that quotes the job — plus what actually moves the number.9 min read
- Stucco repair or re-stucco: how to tell, and what each costsHow to tell patch-and-paint from a full re-stucco, what each costs in Los Angeles, and the signs that decide it.9 min read
- What exterior painting costs in Los AngelesExterior painting prices for LA homes, computed live, plus why prep — not paint — decides what you pay.9 min read
- Artificial turf vs a lawn: the ten-year costTurf installation priced live against a decade of LA water, mowing and reseeding — with the break-even year.9 min read
- Roof repair or replacement: the signals that decideThe specific signs that mean repair is still viable, the ones that don't, and what a Los Angeles roof costs either way.8 min read
- What a contractor can legally ask for up front in CaliforniaCalifornia caps a home-improvement deposit at $1,000 or 10% of the contract, whichever is less. What that means when someone asks for half.8 min read
- How to check a contractor's licence before you hireA five-minute CSLB check that catches expired licences, missing bonds and the wrong classification — worked through on a real number.8 min read
- Pressure washing vs soft washing: which your surface needsWhich surfaces take pressure, which are ruined by it, and what each service costs across Greater Los Angeles.7 min read
For contractors
What the work pays, with the arithmetic shown.
Payouts by tier, how the platform fee compares to buying leads, and what working under DPOC's licence costs versus carrying your own.
- What DPOC actually pays, and how the fee worksThe disclosed tier fee curve, real payouts on a real job, and where every dollar of a DPOC job goes.9 min read
- Working under someone else's licence: what it costs youCrews without their own active CSLB licence work under DPOC's and pay a disclosed premium for that coverage. Here is the arithmetic, and how to remove it.8 min read
- Lead fees vs platform fees: the arithmeticWhat buying leads actually costs per won job, compared against a platform fee taken only on work you were actually paid for.7 min read
- Priced work vs bidding: what the estimate hour is worthThe unpaid hours inside a bid-and-hope pipeline, costed against what the same hours earn on already-priced work.6 min read
- Getting concrete work in Los Angeles without buying leadsWhere LA concrete work actually comes from, what it pays by city, and how to get it without a lead invoice.7 min read
- Starter to Elite: what each tier is worth in dollarsThe four DPOC tiers, what each one changes about your fee, and what moving up is worth on the jobs you already run.7 min read