If you have to ask the question, how do I estimate, you shouldn’t be in the contracting or plumbing business. If you want to learn how to estimate, my response to that is that you should have gathered enough experience by now working for other contractors. If neither applies, I suggest purchasing books about the trade. Hopefully you will get enough information that will help you.
For me, it may take fifteen minutes or fifteen hours to give a proper estimate. It’s hard to go into detail about all the little things you need to know. For someone like me who is in general contracting and plumbing, doing home repairs, replacing windows, or pouring concrete, may be a little easier for you to figure out mathematically. Add up the cost of your materials and the time that you will need to complete the job, and use this information to bid the next jobs. After about four or five estimates, you will be able to develop an average price, or at least get a better idea of what you should be charging for your jobs.
If you are searching for answers to this question, it tells me that you do not have enough experience in the plumbing and contracting business, and probably shouldn’t be estimating. You are taking a big risk estimating without knowing what you are doing. It’s just like rolling the dice, not knowing what number you will land on.
With that said, read some books, get as many as you can. These books that are twenty dollars may have five thousand dollars worth of knowledge in them. The second thing is experience; If you are working with someone, see if you can go to a couple jobs with them to better understand the process. They might not be willing to teach. If that is the case, than gather as much information from the books as you can.
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