CityvettedHire well. Spend less. Get scammed never.
Reporting, buyer's guides, and the unglamorous fine print of hiring the people who fix, clean, and build for American households.
A 4.8 means nothing. Here's how to actually read a contractor's reviews.
We pulled 1.2 million reviews across nine service categories and found that the star rating most people trust is the single least useful number on the page. What to read instead.
Latest from the desk
Hand-edited before publishingStorm-chaser roofers are back. The five sentences that send them packing.
After a hailstorm, your driveway fills with out-of-state trucks offering free inspections. Here's the script our editors use to separate the licensed from the louts.
The fake-review economy: how a 4.9 gets manufactured
Inside the market for paid five-star reviews, the brokers who sell them, and the tells that give a manufactured rating away.
How to get three home-service bids that are actually comparable
Get three quotes is the most-repeated and least-useful advice in home services, because most quotes measure different things. Here's how to scope a job so the numbers finally line up.
What a fair roof actually costs in 2026, by region
Asphalt shingle replacement priced out across the country, plus the local factors that move the number up or down.
Spring gutter cleaning: what is worth paying for
When gutters actually need a pro, what a real cleaning includes, and which add-ons (guards, sealing) earn their cost.
What a fair plumbing quote actually looks like in 2026
Flat-rate, time-and-materials, trip fees. We break down a real three-bid comparison for a water-heater swap and show you where the padding hides.
Deposit, draw, final: how to pay a contractor safely
The payment schedule that protects you, how big a deposit is reasonable, and why you never pay in full up front.
How much should it cost to clean a 2,000 sq ft house?
Per-visit, hourly, and flat-rate cleaning priced out by region, plus what deep clean really buys.
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One standard across every deskBuyer's Guides
Category-by-category playbooks for getting it right.
8 stories →Investigations
Data-driven reporting on how the industry really works.
6 stories →How We Rank
What our Vetted Score measures, and what it ignores.
4 stories →Pricing & Quotes
What fair costs look like, and where padding hides.
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