Hone your plumbing bids: price the unknown behind the wall
Show up, and price what you cannot see yet. Plumbing pays the prepared.
The visible repair is easy to quote; the corroded shutoff and the fitting that is not to code are where plumbing jobs grow. Here is how to bid for the wall you have not opened.
Where the margin leaks
The pricing traps that quietly cost contractors money.
No service-call minimum
Showing up has a cost. A minimum makes a quick repair still pay for the roll.
Under-pricing the unknown behind the wall
The shutoff that crumbles, the fitting not to code. A contingency covers what you cannot see until you are in.
Eating supply-house runs
The extra trip for the right part is real time. Price it or absorb it.
Where the money is
The levers that actually move your take-home.
Flat-rate the common jobs
A water-heater swap or fixture set at a known flat price quotes faster and protects margin from hourly creep.
Big installs over small repairs
A tankless or a repipe at the right markup beats a day of low service calls.
Bundle while you are there
The second fixture, the shutoff upgrade. Add-ons on a job you are already at are pure leverage.
What to track
The few numbers worth watching.
Flat-rate actuals
Did the flat job land where you priced it? The feedback that tunes your rates.
Service-call recovery
Whether the trip pays for itself.
Callback rate
Rework is unbilled labor and lost trust. Watch it.
Set Anvil up for it
How to make Anvil price your trade the honest way.
Bottom-up the bigger jobs
Fixtures and labor with a contingency for the wall, into a real bid.
Save your rates
Default hourly, markup, and contingency on Business.
Send a proposal for the big stuff
A repipe or a remodel rough-in deserves a real document.
Know your trade.
The cost engine is free. Put your real numbers in and see what to charge.