Best Estimating How-to & Home Improvement Books of 2026

The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs, 2nd edition, by J Scott is a comprehensive guide for real estate investors and fix-and-flippers who want to accurately estimate the costs of renovating a property. This book covers everything from inspecting a property to creating a renovation scope, assigning accurate prices to each rehab task, and identifying the best contractors for certain repairs. With detailed tips, tricks, and tactics, this book provides a professional framework and methodology for evaluating renovation costs. Overall, this book is an essential resource for anyone involved in house flipping or investment property renovation.

The 2023 Contractor's Pricing Guide: Residential Repair & Remodeling Costs Book is a must-have for anyone in the construction industry. It provides a comprehensive breakdown of unit price costs for all aspects of common repair and remodeling projects, from demolition to installation and even cleaning. This updated edition includes material and labor costs, allowing for simplified estimating methods, and clear descriptions for easy understanding. It's a valuable resource for contractors, estimators, insurance adjusters, and homeowners alike. The inclusion of location factors and abbreviations make it an all-in-one pricing solution. Overall, this guide increases profitability by speeding up estimating time and ensuring accurate estimates.

The 2023 RSMeans Building Construction Costs Book is the go-to guide for building construction estimators in North America. With over 23,000 lines of costing data, this publication contains the latest construction costs from a proprietary construction estimating database. The book is organized in CSI Masterformat 2018 and includes City Cost Indexes, localization factors, and costs per square foot for 160 common commercial building configurations. The meticulously assembled data by industry-leading teams of cost researchers, project engineers, and data scientists makes this book a reliable source for commercial and industrial new construction, as well as large multi-family housing projects. The updated materials, wages, and equipment costs make this book a valuable resource for building construction professionals.

"Markup & Profit: A Contractor's Guide, Revisited" is a comprehensive guide for contractors who want to run their business profitably. The book covers essential business basics, including pricing jobs, writing contracts, managing crews, working with subcontractors, and collecting payments. It includes tried and tested formulas, step-by-step instructions, and easy-to-follow examples to help contractors learn how to operate their business successfully. What sets this book apart is that it applies to all construction-related businesses, whether it's remodeling, new construction, or commercial work. The free downloadable forms and checklists make it even more valuable. Overall, this is a must-read for any contractor looking to succeed in the construction business."

This book, titled "Roofing Construction & Estimating" by Craftsman Book Co, covers virtually every aspect of roofing installation, repair, and estimating for both residential and commercial structures. The book includes detailed information on various types of roof coverings, including asphalt shingles, wood shingles, metal, and more. The author also shares valuable tips for minimizing waste and ensuring a profit on every job. Troubleshooting techniques are also included to help identify the source of most leaks. With over 300 illustrations, this book is an excellent resource for those in the roofing industry.

This comprehensive book, co-authored by an academic and an industry professional, offers a thorough guide to successful construction project management in today's complex environments. It covers all aspects of the process, from project phases to effectively managing people and projects. The book also includes real-world examples and sidebars written by industry-leading professionals. The latest technologies, techniques, statistics, trends, and career information are presented throughout the book, making it an up-to-the-minute resource for anyone in the construction industry. Overall, Construction Project Management is a valuable tool for students, professionals, and anyone interested in the construction industry.

The Square Foot Costs book with RSMeans data is an essential cost reference for accurately estimating any construction project. The book provides building components required for developing accurate assemblies-level cost estimates, evaluating trade-off costs, and verifying unit price estimates. It includes Plumbing assembly pages, more than 90 reference tables, estimating aids, and technical data, making it an all-encompassing guide. The book also features a glossary, abbreviations, and supplemental information such as General Conditions, Location Factors, Historical Cost Indexes, Project Costs, and more. Overall, this book is a must-have for anyone in the home design and construction industry.

This book, Estimating in Building Construction, is a comprehensive guide for students who want to learn cost estimating and construction estimation. It covers all the essential skills necessary to estimate both simple and moderately complex commercial and residential buildings. The 9th edition has been updated to align with the learning outcomes of major accreditation bodies and includes a new chapter on specialty contractors, two rewritten chapters, and reorganized appendices. This book is ideal for students of construction, architecture, and engineering. Overall, the book is well-organized, informative, and offers practical solutions for estimating modern building construction projects.

The 2023 National Construction Estimator is a comprehensive guide that provides current building costs for residential, commercial, and industrial construction. It estimates the prices for every common building material, offers manhours, recommended crew, and gives labor costs for installation. This book is an excellent resource for anyone involved in the construction industry, including contractors, builders, and architects. It provides complete estimates for just about every item used in residential, commercial, or industrial construction. The book is a must-have for anyone looking to stay up-to-date with the latest construction costs and trends.

The 2023 Electrical Cost Estimating Book with RSMeans data is a comprehensive resource for all types of estimators, providing the latest costs for a variety of building materials, including LED light fixtures, knob and tube wiring, and more. The book includes Assemblies and Unit prices, Division 25 Integrated Automation Electrical, Communications and Electronic safety and security divisions, Power generation, integrated automation, Electrical work project cost report, and more. This book is an essential tool for project managers, electricians, contractors, designers, and engineers looking to estimate the total cost to install electrical systems. The inclusion of historical cost indexes and location factors makes it stand out among other electrical home improvement books.