Walker's Building Estimator's Reference Book

Rating:
Summary: Great Tool!!!
Review: This book is unique in that it gives you the tools to obtain an accurate cost for your project with its own specific data. Having control over a project, and its BUDGET, depends on how well you know your estimate; and this book will teach you most of what you need to know about estimating.

Rating:
Summary: A lot of book for your buck
Review: This is like five books in one. I think it's an amazing value. My father used this book for about 40 years and, as a result, I became a disciple of the Walker method. I just picked up the new edition and I found the concrete and masonry chapters vastly improved. It teaches you how to factor in all those variables and to account for the unexpected and how to put together your own bid, something that estimating software has yet to do.

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Source
Review: Walker's shows you how to work up a price and customize your bids. It takes some computation of your own (you definitely have to know your local labor costs) but it's definitely worth the effort because Walker's explains how jobs wind up costing a certain amount. A great book for sure.