Replies

1. 
   davidmeiland | Jan 08, 2005 06:33am | #1

   I'd say a good place to start is with David Gerstel's book 'Running a Successful Construction Company'. He talks about his estimating technique, which involves having very good historical data for all the work you do... number of hours per piece, number of hours per foot, number of hours per square foot, etc. etc. He gets that data by carefully collecting it all the time, and then uses it to estimate. Jerrald Hayes also has detailed data on the time required to do the trim and stair work his guys do... i.e. X number of feet of crown molding per hour. Maybe Jerrald can toss some examples out there... the kind of data we should all be using.

   There are discussions about pricing here all the time. Some people say they do everything by the square foot and then other people say it can't be done accurately that way. Some people use estimating books. I've known a lot of guys and how they estimate and everyone uses a degree of 'guesstimating' in their work.

   Bottom line for you is that you probably don't have historical data written down, but you do have a good sense of what things take, time-wise. How fast can you get 40 sheets of subfloor glued and nailed on joists? How fast can you get a set of trusses for a simple roof on? A complex one? You're going to have to break down your jobs into component parts, and do your best on estimating each part. Then check it against an esimating guide. Throw your numbers up on this board and let everyone here take a look.

   Estimating is a major part of being in business. I know most guys don't feel very comfortable with it... there are so many variables like weather, quality of plans, site access, material delivery timing, client interference, carpenters having a bad day or a bad year, too many cute girls walking by the job (or even one working on the job). etc. etc. You can get close in a bid but can you ever get it perfect?

2. 
   dbanes | Jan 08, 2005 08:49am | #2

   A trick you might try is to look in county or city records for bldg permits,for structural,and find the price attatched,it may give you a clue. Look at craftsman's construction costs,Means constr. costs...

   Scribe once, cut once!

1. 
   Piffin | Jan 08, 2005 09:59pm | #3

   figures on permit applications are no more than a wild guess and oftn engineered to be as low as possible in places where that info is used by the assessor's office. Last place I'd want to look for accurate cost info 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

1. 
   davidmeiland | Jan 08, 2005 10:23pm | #4

   Here the permit technician assigns the value for a project, using square foot formulas. Put in an application for a 1000SF deck and they will say it's worth $25K.... doesn't matter if it's on 5 levels and made out of Ipe or on one level and made of PT.

1. 
   heffesan | Jan 12, 2005 02:23am | #5

   one thing i've run across is an insurance company form called a "replacement cost estimation" worksheet.

   feed in sq/ft,  ammenaties, age of home, location (zip), appreciation ( in home garages actually reduce value!)...

   gives you what an insurance company would pay.

   granted they pay as little as possible;  but is does give you a "floor" dollar figure

   jeff stafford

   indianapolis