I spearheaded the modernization of Kukun’s Home Renovation Cost Calculator, a consumer-facing tool that empowers homeowners, contractors, and financial institutions with accurate remodeling cost estimates and ROI projections. The calculator allows users to scope projects at different levels of detail, from high-level estimates to contractor-ready specifications, by factoring in variables such as square footage, finishes, materials, labor rates, and regional adjustments. When I joined the company, the product was a legacy PHP application with critical bugs and limited scalability.
My Role
Dev Lead: Directed a small team (3 developers) to migrate and rebuild the legacy product.
Legacy Modernization: Analyzed a Yii-based PHP monolith and proposed a full migration to Next.js to improve scalability, developer onboarding, and long-term maintainability.
Widget Architecture: Designed a modular PHP widget that could be embedded via iframe for banking clients (strict security requirements).
Secure Communication: Built a custom JavaScript library for safe postMessage communication between iframes and host applications, reducing friction for client integrations.
Scalable Customization: Enabled per-client branding, logic adjustments, and content overrides without rewriting core logic.
Core Features
Top Level: Delivers quick price ranges that help users understand the overall scope of a project. It’s ideal for forming an initial budget or comparing different types of renovations at a glance.
Design Level: Allows for deeper customization by adjusting room dimensions, finishes, and materials. This tier gives users a more realistic view of how specific choices impact the overall cost.
Contractor Detail: Generates complete, professional-grade specifications that include dimensions, material breakdowns, labor requirements, and overhead. These reports are detailed enough for contractors to use when preparing bids.
Broad Data Coverage
The system supports cost estimation across all major areas of home improvement. This includes structural projects and exterior work as well as interior updates and systems.
Impact
Seamless Client Integration: Stabilized the PHP legacy product while planning the long-term migration.
Design Level: Delivered a widget embeddable in high-security environments like US Bank.
Successful Migration: Transformed the web app into a modern Next.js stack, enabling faster development cycles and easier onboarding of new engineers.
Future-Proof Foundation
Positioned the platform to scale across multiple clients and partners.
