The short answer
Start with $50 to $100 a day in one service area, paid directly to Meta, and give it at least two to three weeks before judging it. Then work backward from how many jobs you can actually take each month. Raise the budget only when your follow-up and your calendar can keep up with more inquiries.
"What should I spend?" is the first question almost every remodeler asks about Facebook ads. The honest answer depends on your area, your average job and how many projects your crews can handle. But there is a sensible way to set the number, and a few mistakes that waste money no matter what you spend.
A starting number
We recommend $50 to $100 a day to start, in one area, on one service. Less than that and Meta's system does not get enough results to learn who responds, so the ads stay expensive and you cannot tell what is working. Below roughly $30 to $50 a day there is simply not enough traffic to judge anything fairly.
Here is how one real account ramped. Smart Choice Remodeling in Phoenix spent $29.68 on its first partial day, September 18, 2026, then ran between about $94 and $167 a day for the next week, and was running around $300 a day by September 30 once the follow-up was proven to keep up. Over September 18 to October 5 the total was $3,890.10. That produced 66 homeowner inquiries and five sold jobs worth $72,704. One client, a few weeks, not a promise. But it shows the pattern: start moderate, prove the follow-up, then scale.
Work backward from the jobs you want
A better way to set a budget is to start from your capacity, not from a number you are comfortable with. You need four numbers:
- Jobs you can take per month from this source.
- Your close rate on estimates you go out to. Out of every ten homes you visit, how many sign?
- Your booking rate: out of every ten inquiries, how many become an appointment? With fast follow-up, more than half of Smart Choice's first 66 inquiries booked an appointment.
- Your cost per inquiry. You only learn this by running ads. Smart Choice's first weeks worked out to about $59 per inquiry ($3,890.10 divided by 66).
Then do the math. Here is a worked example with made-up round numbers so the arithmetic is easy to follow:
- You want 4 extra jobs a month.
- You close 1 in 3 estimates, so you need 12 estimates.
- Half your inquiries book, so you need 24 inquiries.
- At $60 per inquiry, that is $1,440 a month, or about $48 a day.
Your real numbers will differ. The point is that the budget comes out of your capacity and your follow-up, not out of thin air.
Who pays for the ads
You should. Put the ad spend on your own card, in your own Meta account, so you can always see exactly what was spent. On our standard plans the client pays Meta directly for ad spend, and we never mark it up. If an agency bundles ad spend into one monthly fee, ask how much of that fee actually reaches Meta. We cover more questions like that in questions to ask before you hire a marketing agency.
When to raise the budget, and when to cut it
Raise it when inquiries are being answered within minutes, appointments are getting booked, and your calendar still has room. Raise gradually, not all at once, so the ads keep performing while Meta adjusts.
Hold or cut it when leads are piling up without calls, when you are booked out, or when inquiries are coming from outside the area you serve. More spend does not fix slow follow-up. It just makes it more expensive.
Mistakes that waste money
- Too many ads on too little budget. Ten or more ads splitting $20 a day means none of them gets enough spend to prove anything. Run a handful at a time.
- Judging in three days. Give a new campaign two to three weeks before you decide it does not work.
- Changing everything every day. Constant edits restart the learning. Change one thing at a time.
- Advertising everywhere. Ads in towns you will not drive to produce leads you will not take.
- Spending before the follow-up is ready. If nobody can call within minutes, wait until someone can.
Common questions
What is a good cost per lead for remodeling on Facebook?
It depends heavily on your area, your offer and how you define a lead. Our own example is about $59 per completed survey for a Phoenix bathroom and kitchen remodeler. Cost per lead matters less than cost per sold job. A cheap lead nobody calls is the most expensive lead there is.
How long before Facebook ads work for a remodeler?
Inquiries can start in the first few days. Sold jobs take longer, because the homeowner still needs a visit and a quote. In Smart Choice's case the five sales were all marked sold within the first 15 days of the first ad dollar.
Is a monthly budget or a daily budget better?
Set it daily inside Meta so spend stays steady, and think about it monthly for your planning. $50 a day is about $1,500 a month.
Want the estimates booked for you?
We run the ads and the follow-up for remodelers. 30 minutes on a call, and you hear the price on the call.