How to Read a Korean Interior Estimate (견적서) Line by Line
A Korean interior estimate, or 견적서 (gyeonjeokseo), is the single document that decides whether your renovation comes in on budget or blows past it by millions of won. Most overcharges and disputes don't start on the job site. They start on this piece of paper, in the gaps between line items, in a word like "별도" (separate), or in a missing brand name. This guide walks the 견적서 line by line so you can read it like a contractor, not a target.
Last updated: June 2026
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A Korean interior estimate, or 견적서 (gyeonjeokseo), is the single document that decides whether your renovation comes in on budget or blows past it by millions of won. Most overcharges and disputes don't start on the job site. They start on this piece of paper, in the gaps between line items, in a word like "별도" (separate), or in a missing brand name. This guide walks the 견적서 line by line so you can read it like a contractor, not a target.
Quick Answer
- A real 견적서 lists four things per line: 공사 내용 (work item), 수량 (quantity), 단가 (unit price), and 금액 (total). If any line shows only a lump sum with no quantity or unit price, that line is where the padding hides.
- The word "별도" (separate) is the most expensive word on the page. It means "not included." VAT(부가세) 별도 alone adds 10% to your bottom line under Korea's standard rate, and demolition, AS (after-service), and waste disposal are often quietly marked 별도 too.
- Demand brand and model names on every material line. A line that just says "합지 도배" (basic wallpaper) or "데코타일" lets the contractor swap in the cheapest stock. A line that says "LG 디아망 실크벽지" or "동화 강마루 오리진" can be checked and held to.
- Compare estimates per-pyeong (평당), not by total. South Korea's Consumer Agency logged 1,752 interior complaints in four years, and over 60% of jobs run into unplanned add-ons. A 20-25% gap between two estimates for the same apartment usually traces to material grade, not labor.
What Is a 견적서 and Why Does It Matter So Much?
In Korea, you almost never get one all-in renovation price. You get a 견적서 — an itemized estimate that breaks the job into trades (공정): demolition, carpentry, electrical, tile, wallpaper, flooring, kitchen, bathroom, lighting, and so on. Each trade gets its own block of line items.
That structure is your protection. It's also where you get fleeced if you don't read it. There's a running joke among Korean homeowners that the moment you sign an interior contract, you become the "을" (the weaker party). The information gap is brutal: the contractor knows real material costs and labor rates; you usually don't.
The numbers back up the worry. South Korea's Consumer Agency (한국소비자원, KCA) received 1,752 interior-related consumer redress applications over four years (2018–2021) — with "defect-repair non-completion and delay" the single largest complaint type at 24.5%, and applications jumping 37.9% in 2021 alone (환경일보 / KCA data). Industry write-ups estimate that more than 60% of contracted jobs hit unexpected extra costs, and most of that traces back to material changes and "harder than expected" site conditions (나만의 까사 인테리어, casalight, 2025).
Reading the 견적서 well is the cheapest insurance you'll ever buy on a renovation.
The Anatomy of Every Line
A proper estimate line has four columns. Memorize them.
| Column (Korean) | English | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| 공사 내용 (품목) | Work item / material | What is being done, and with what |
| 수량 (단위) | Quantity (unit) | How much — in 평 (pyeong), m², 식(lump), 개(each) |
| 단가 | Unit price | Price per unit — the number you can comparison-check |
| 금액 | Line total | 수량 × 단가 |
The rule: the sum of all the line totals must equal the subtotal (소계), and the subtotals must equal the grand total. Add it up yourself. Korean estimate guides specifically warn that each item should break down to "work item – quantity – unit price – total," and you should confirm the detail lines actually add up to the subtotal (큐플레이스, Qplace, 2025). A line with no 수량 and no 단가 — just a lump number in 금액 — is a black box. Open it before you sign.
What Do the Common Line Items Mean?
Korean estimates follow a fairly standard trade order. Here's what each block covers and roughly what drives its price. Treat the won figures as 2025 market reference points from Korean contractor sources, not quotes — your apartment's age, floor, and material grade move them a lot.
| Trade (공정) | Korean term | What it covers | Reference unit cost (2025) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demolition | 철거 | Tearing out old finishes, fixtures | From ~₩200,000–400,000 base; scales with scope |
| Wallpaper (basic) | 합지 도배 | Paper-backed wallpaper, whole unit | ~₩23,000–25,000 per pyeong |
| Wallpaper (silk) | 실크 도배 | Vinyl "silk" wallpaper, durable | ~₩35,000–45,000 per pyeong (full silk) |
| Laminate floor | 강마루 | Engineered wood-look plank | ~₩105,000–160,000 per pyeong by product |
| Vinyl sheet floor | 장판 | PVC roll flooring, budget option | ~₩30,000–60,000 per pyeong |
| Electrical | 전기 | Wiring, outlets, circuits | Often quoted as 식 (lump) + add-ons |
| Tile | 타일 | Bathroom/kitchen/floor tile | Varies by tile spec and area |
| Kitchen | 주방 | Cabinets, sink, countertop | ~₩800,000–1,200,000 per pyeong (kitchen area) |
| Bathroom (full) | 욕실 | Tile, fixtures, waterproofing | ~₩7M–12M total for two full baths |
| VAT | 부가세 | 10% value-added tax | +10% of the supply amount |
Sources: per-pyeong laminate (강마루) bands from a Korean contractor breakdown (꾸미고, kkumigo 강마루 가이드, 2025); per-pyeong wallpaper (도배) and vinyl (장판) reference figures from interior estimate breakdowns (라이프베이스, LifeBase, 2026); kitchen and bathroom ranges and the ₩2–2.5M-per-pyeong full-job figure from apartment remodeling cost guides (에이제이디 AJD, 2025); VAT rate from PwC Tax Summaries, 2026.
Why Materials Need Brand and Model Names
The biggest soft spot is the material line that names a category but not a product. "합지 도배" tells you nothing about which paper. "강마루" tells you nothing about which plank. Korean estimate guides are blunt about this: if the line only carries a generic name like "합지 도배" or "데코타일 시공," there's a real chance a cheaper material gets used on site (라이프베이스, LifeBase, 2025).
Insist on the maker and model. Real product lines look like this:
| Generic line (weak) | Specific line (strong) | Why it's better |
|---|---|---|
| 강마루 시공 | 동화자연마루 강마루 "오리진" (₩120,000/평) | You can verify the exact product and grade |
| 합지 도배 | LG하우시스 합지 + 실크 거실 | Fixes paper type per room |
| 데코타일 | 한솔 데코타일 우드 우드타일 | Pins down tile line and finish |
One Korean contractor publicly posted a per-pyeong price card showing how granular this gets: 동화 강마루 "포레" at ₩105,000, "오리진" at ₩120,000, "헤링본" at ₩153,000, and "텍스쳐" at ₩125,000 per pyeong (jb_interiorcreator on Threads, 2025). When a model name maps to a published number, you can't be quietly downgraded.
Where Do Hidden Charges and Overcharges Usually Hide?
Padding rarely shows up as an obviously high number. It hides in three places: the word "별도," the lump-sum line with no quantity, and the missing scope. Here's the field guide.
Trap 1: The Word "별도" (Separate / Not Included)
"별도" means "billed separately, not in this total." It's legitimate when used honestly — but it's also the easiest way to make a headline price look low. Watch for these:
| Line says | What it really means | What it can add |
|---|---|---|
| VAT 별도 (부가세 별도) | Tax not included | +10% of the supply amount |
| 철거 별도 | Demolition not included | Hundreds of thousands to millions of won |
| 폐기물 처리 별도 | Waste disposal billed later | Variable, scales with demolition |
| AS 별도 | After-service charged extra | Unknown until something breaks |
| 자재비 별도 | Material cost separate | The biggest variable of all |
Korean buyer guides repeatedly flag the "별도" and "추가" (additional) sections of the contract as the lines to read most carefully, because that's where unplanned cost lives (라이프베이스, LifeBase, 2025).
Trap 2: The VAT "별도" Game and the 간이과세자 Twist
Most Korean contractors quote the price before VAT, which makes the first number look about 10% cheaper than what you'll actually pay. South Korea's standard VAT rate is 10%, administered by the National Tax Service, with no reduced rate (PwC Tax Summaries, 2025).
There's a wrinkle worth knowing. If your contractor is a 간이과세자 (simplified taxpayer) rather than a 일반과세자 (general taxpayer), the VAT they actually owe is far lower than the full 10% — for construction-type services it can effectively land near 3%. A Korean court dispute turned on exactly this: a simplified-taxpayer contractor issued a "VAT 별도" estimate and then tried to collect a full 10%, but the buyer argued that as a 간이과세자, only the lower effective rate applied. Korea's Supreme Court has held that when "VAT separate" is agreed, the amount the supplier may charge is the VAT calculated by the actual rules and trade practice — i.e., the contractor's real liability, not an automatic 10% (리걸타임즈, Legal Times, 2024). Translation: ask whether the business is 일반 or 간이, and don't assume "부가세 별도" always means a clean 10% you owe.
A separate warning: avoid the "현금가" (cash price, no tax invoice) shortcut to dodge VAT. Korean tax and interior writers note that going off-the-books leaves you with no tax invoice and no leverage when a defect appears — and contractors have been known to flip the threat around, demanding the VAT-included amount and warning of a tax-evasion report. Saving a few million won this way can put a far larger sum, and your legal standing, at risk (1204디자인, 2025).
Trap 3: The Lump-Sum Line With No Quantity
Electrical (전기) and "기타/잡비" (other / miscellaneous) lines love to appear as a single "식" (lump) number. Renovation cost guides warn that quotes often carry only a rough placeholder for electrical work, and the real number lands higher once the walls are open (Qanvast, 2024). For any "식" line over a few hundred thousand won, ask for the breakdown: how many outlets, how many circuits, how many meters of wire.
Trap 4: Old-Apartment Surprises Priced as "Add Later"
In a 구축 (older) apartment, things get found mid-demolition: a second layer of old flooring, water-damaged subfloor, rotten framing. Korean flooring guides note that when the floor is in bad shape or there are two or more layers of old vinyl, costs climb past the estimate (용진인테리어, 2026). The fix is contractual, not technical: get the estimate to state who pays when hidden conditions appear, and what the per-unit rate for that extra work will be — before you sign.
If you're renovating an older unit, our breakdown of how Korean interior differs by apartment age explains which surprises show up in which era of building.
How Do I Compare Two Korean Estimates Side by Side?
You cannot compare two 견적서 by their grand totals. A cheaper bottom line often just means cheaper materials or a missing trade. Normalize first, then compare.
Step 1 — Convert everything to per-pyeong (평당). Korean apartment renovations commonly run ₩2–2.5 million per pyeong for a full job (에이제이디 AJD, 2025), while platform-sourced estimates (오늘의집 and similar) average roughly ₩550,000–700,000 per pyeong for lighter scopes, swinging up to 30% on material and difficulty (나만의 까사 인테리어, casalight, 2025). The wide gap is exactly why you must match scope before you judge price.
Step 2 — Line up the trades. Put both estimates in one column-by-column table. The gaps jump out immediately: Estimate A includes demolition; Estimate B marks it 별도. Estimate A specifies 실크 도배; Estimate B says 합지.
Step 3 — Check material grade, not just price. Korean cost guides note that the same square footage can differ 20–25% in price purely from material choice, and that the regional labor and supply gap can reach about 15% (나만의 까사 인테리어, casalight, 2025). A lower estimate isn't a deal if the wallpaper is 합지 where you wanted 실크.
A Normalized Comparison Worksheet
| Trade | Estimate A (₩) | Material A | Estimate B (₩) | Material B | Same scope? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 철거 (demolition) | 400,000 | full | 별도 | — | No — B excludes it |
| 도배 (wallpaper) | per-pyeong silk | 실크 | per-pyeong basic | 합지 | No — grade differs |
| 마루 (flooring) | named model | 강마루 오리진 | "강마루" | unnamed | No — B unverifiable |
| 부가세 (VAT) | included | 10% | 별도 | — | No — B adds 10% |
Fill this in for your own quotes. Two estimates only become comparable once every "No" in the right column becomes a "Yes."
For the bigger-picture budget math, our guide to Korean apartment interior budgets by square meter shows what a realistic per-pyeong number looks like across apartment sizes.
What Should a Trustworthy 견적서 Always Include?
Use this as a pre-signature checklist. If three or more boxes are missing, ask for a revised estimate before you go further.
| Must-have element | Korean term | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Per-line quantity and unit price | 수량 · 단가 | No lump-sum black boxes |
| Brand + model on materials | 제조사 · 모델명 | Prevents silent downgrades |
| VAT stated clearly | 부가세 포함/별도 명시 | You know the true total |
| Demolition & disposal included or itemized | 철거 · 폐기물 | Avoids the biggest 별도 surprise |
| Payment schedule | 대금 지급 일정 | Ties money to milestones, not dates |
| Defect/AS terms | 하자보수 · AS | Who fixes what, for how long |
| Cancellation & refund terms | 취소 · 환불 | Your exit if it goes wrong |
| Completion date | 완료일 | A deadline you can enforce |
The KCA's own guidance is that consumers should always require a written contract, clearly list the building and finishing materials to be used, and confirm the contractor's defect-liability (하자담보) terms — interior work generally carries a one-year defect-liability period, waterproofing/roofing three years (한국소비자원, KCA). Get the materials named and that liability period in writing, and add a completion date and cancellation/refund terms while you're at it.
A reminder on platforms: the KCA and Korean press have flagged service-matching platforms (숨고 and similar) for complaints where contractors go dark mid-job ("연락두절"), so a slick app intro doesn't replace a real, itemized 견적서 and a signed contract (경향신문, Kyunghyang, 2025).
Tools That Help You Sanity-Check a Number
You don't have to take a 단가 on faith. Korean estimate calculators let you generate an independent per-pyeong baseline before you negotiate. A wallpaper estimate calculator, for example, computes 도배 cost by floor area and paper grade so you can see whether a contractor's 도배 line is in the normal band (도배르만, Doberman quote calculator, 2025). Run your own number first; then read theirs.
If you're weighing whether to hire out at all, compare against the DIY route in our Korean self-interior (셀프인테리어) DIY home transformation guide — some line items on a 견적서 are cheap enough to do yourself.
How Do I Negotiate Once I've Found the Soft Spots?
Reading the estimate is step one. Using what you found is step two. The leverage is almost always in the same places.
- Turn every "별도" into a yes/no. Ask the contractor to either fold demolition, waste disposal, and VAT into the total or to put a firm number on each. Vague "추가 시 협의" (negotiate if extra) is not a number.
- Pin materials to models. Replace "강마루" with a named product and its published per-pyeong price. If they resist naming the model, that's information.
- Tie payment to milestones, not the calendar. A common, safer structure is a deposit, a mid-point payment after a verifiable stage, and a final payment after walkthrough and defect check — not "50% on day one."
- Get the hidden-condition clause in writing. For older apartments especially, the estimate should state the per-unit rate for surprise work and who approves it before it's done.
- Keep the tax invoice. Paying VAT and getting a 세금계산서 (tax invoice) is what gives you standing if you later need defect repairs or a refund (1204디자인, 2025).
The platform inspiration side of this — finding the look you want before you brief a contractor — is worth doing first. Our overview of Ohouse (오늘의집), Korea's biggest interior inspiration platform is a good starting point for nailing down scope so your 견적서 matches what you actually want.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Does "부가세 별도" always mean I'll pay exactly 10% more? Usually, but not always. South Korea's standard VAT is 10% (PwC, 2025). If your contractor is a 간이과세자 (simplified taxpayer), the VAT they actually owe on construction-type services can be much lower, and a Korean court has held that "VAT separate" means the legally correct amount, not an automatic 10% (리걸타임즈, 2024). Ask whether the business is 일반 or 간이 before you accept a flat 10% add-on.
2. What's the single most important thing to check on a 견적서? That every material line names a brand and model, and every line has a quantity and unit price. Korean estimate guides warn that generic names like "합지 도배" let a contractor substitute cheaper stock (LifeBase, 2025). Specifics are what make a line enforceable.
3. Is it normal for one estimate to be 20% higher than another for the same apartment? Yes, and it's usually about materials, not greed. Korean cost guides note a 20–25% swing from material grade alone on identical square footage, plus regional labor differences up to about 15% (casalight, 2025). Normalize both estimates to per-pyeong and match material grades before deciding the cheaper one is the better deal.
4. Should I take a "현금가" (cash, no tax invoice) offer to save the VAT? It's risky. Without a tax invoice you have weak footing for defect repairs or refunds, and contractors have been known to later demand the VAT-included amount under threat of a tax report (1204디자인, 2025). Saving a few million won this way can expose you to a much larger loss.
5. What protects me if the contractor uses a cheaper material than the estimate said? A signed contract that names the material and states the defect-liability (하자담보) terms. The KCA advises requiring a written contract that clearly specifies the building and finishing materials, precisely because vague material terms are a leading source of disputes — so get every material named, with brand and grade, in writing (한국소비자원).
Related Reading
- Korean Apartment Interior Budgets by Square Meter
- Understanding Ohouse: Korea's Biggest Interior Inspiration Platform
- Korean Self-Interior (Sel-Injeolia): DIY Home Transformation Guide
- How Korean Interior Differs by Apartment Age
- Korean Jeonse Apartment Interior Rules and Restrictions
This article is for general informational purposes and is not legal, tax, or financial advice. VAT treatment depends on your contractor's tax status and current National Tax Service rules; consult a qualified Korean tax professional or the 한국소비자원 (KCA) for advice on a specific contract or dispute. Prices cited are 2025–2026 market reference points from Korean industry sources and will vary by region, apartment age, and material grade.