ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Business Related Discussion Books on estimating

Hello everyone, this will be my first post here on ECN. I am looking for some good estimating books. Any and all info is welcome.

Thanks

Hello

Hello waterdog, welcome to the forum. Look at MIke Holts book on estimating electrical wiring.

Thanks macmikeman

Why do you want to estimate, the jobs, just look at what the other guy is charging, why waste all that time looking things up, after a few jobs, where you loose money, just add a few bucks, and see id your still loosing, if your still loosing, just keep increasing the next job until your check book balances.

If your serious about doing things the right way, try this book for some basic starting points, on estimating. Craftsmans Books on Estimating. If you like the Craftman Books, you can move on to more complex estimating systems from there.

Also, keep track of your time and materials on completed jobs. Nothing will be more accurate than your own numbers.

Dave

That is the real secret to pricing jobs.

Let us know how your doing, with locating the books

That's gold, Dave.
It's also where a computer really comes in handy, rather than digging through screeds of paper records.
Not that it isn't a silly idea to have a paper back-up, we all know what computers can be like.

What I find best for keeping track of (just about anything) is something called Filemaker. For most of you folks I suspect Microsoft Access is pretty similar to it.