WARNING!! Newbie Seeking Estimating Assistance...

LeftHandedHammr

Howdy folks.

[takes off hat, wipes shoes - you know; manners and stuff]

Been reading this site for a couple days. Wow...great stuff! Anyway, I searched and found quite a bit of estimating info, but would like to know if anyone uses any of the estimating guide books that are available. I've looked into Marshall & Swift, Craftman, and R. S. Means. Any thoughts on these or any others? Thought I'd ask before I buy.

Thanks in advance.

jproffer

I'm sure if you've read more than about 5 posts about this subject on here, you've read this before but...the only true method to figure out YOUR prices is to figure out YOUR costs and YOUR overhead then add profit and that's the price.

Sorry..best I could do, I've never tried any of the books.

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Jim P.

JustaFramer

Keeping detailed time completion records of past jobs will help a lot. The cost books will give a generic price and what seems inflated if you want a job. If the actually cost detailed in the cost books where perfect nobody would have to bid. However the software is customizable.

So what is really left is getting your records in order.

nadonailer

Like they said - I have tried Means and find it ridiculously low for my tastes. The more you do, the more comfortable you'll be throwing prices around. But it is critical to know what you need to cover your overhead and what you need for profit to pay your monthly nut and have some left over. In my opinion, most contractors undercharge.....

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"History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid”.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

JustaFramer

Hey when that over inflated housing market crashes in Kali. Let me know if you need a job.

ProWallGuy

More info about them on this thread.

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Wallpaper Hanger St. Louis
Digital Murals Installation

LeftHandedHammr

Thanks for the thoughts everyone.

For me, figuring materials and overhead is the easy part. Estimating time is where I lose my grip. I haven't done enough residential work to have adequate time audits. My thinking is that I could use something like M&S to compare against my own estimates to see if I am at least in the ballpark. Hopefully, I won't be undercharging. I'd rather be too high and lose the job; I never lost money on a job I didn't get.

Perhaps I should add that I'm an owner/operator doing really small jobs; basically, handyman (there's that word again ) day jobs, combined with some multi-day gigs. But no $10K remodels, etc. (at least, not yet). The small stuff is largely T+M. I figure at least I won't be eating materials that way.

Anyway, I was just curious if anyone had any experience with these guides, good or bad.

Pearce Services

You can get a free copy of Craftsman estimating Software through Home Depot.

The proposals are very thorough, but unfortunately, include all Home Depot SKU's in the description, which can be edited out.

This is a great reference for me. Just be cautious about trusting their time estimates for how long things take because I think they presume new construction, were you are already onsite, tools unpacked, etc. So for a small project, I always edit the hours in the program to cover for mobilization.

It even allows you to add for profit and overhead.

It's a great tool for free

JustaFramer

Actually just go to craftsman-book.com d/l the free software you get a thirty day trial on their costbooks. If you plan on doing tract work this software doesn't even come close to tract prices.

Too high. But you can get a bid list and adjust for the next one. lol

fez-head

I still use the Home-Tech Handyman Estimater www.hometechonline.com once in a while and highly recomend it. When I first started it was a BIG help because I always under estimated.....on very small jobs there is no room for mistakes.

It also made me more confident when charging higher hourly rates. The articles on that web site www.hometechonline.com/handy/ changed my life for the better.

Good Luck,

Jesse R. Kirchhoff
Kirchhoff Handyman Solutions LLC
“Making your Life a Lot Less Complicated’’
www.midmohandyman.com