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The number you send after the walkthrough, not from the truck
Buy it now only for $19.99
The Plumbing Bid Book is a portrait field handbook for contractors who still have to send a number before they open the truck. Four bid types, a cost stack, walkthrough misses, and print-ready quote pages. Instant digital access. Nothing ships. Print every page you need.
Use it on the next real job or quote. If it does not help you see the work more clearly, message support within 30 days for a full refund.
Free on this shelf. One-page walkthrough checklist. Print it. Take it on site. No card.
Get the free checklistWho this is for
Solo plumbers
You quote from memory after a short look around. Fixture count and permits never make the page.
Small shops on remodel sub-bids
You price a remodel like a service call because the type was never named first.
Commercial and TI walkthroughs
As-built conditions wipe the month if they stay in your head instead of on a list.
Skip this if you want software that prices the job, a get-rich trades course, or legal advice.
What you get
- Four bid types so you stop pricing a remodel like a service call
- A cost stack: loaded labor, marked-up materials, overhead, profit
- A walkthrough list for the misses that wipe commercial work
- 2026 national planning ranges as a sanity check, not your city's bid
- Print-ready quote templates instead of a text thread
Use it today
01Name the bid type first
Service, water heater or repipe, remodel sub-bid, or commercial TI. Do not stack numbers until the type is on the page.
02Walk the miss list on site
Tick what you saw. Circle what you could not see. The circle is the sentence you write into the quote.
03Stack the four lines
Loaded labor, marked-up materials, overhead, profit. Then sanity-check the ranges. Your supply house still wins.
The bid is not late because you cannot add. It is late because the brain already wrote a best-case walkthrough.
How a brain actually prices a job
What happens in the twelve minutes after you park
Most estimating pages shout that you are leaving money on the table. That shout is the same sting that makes a solo plumber guess from memory. This book was written around the research, not against it. None of it claims a lab tested these files. It claims the pages are shaped like the way people actually bid.
01The planning fallacy writes the first number for you
Kahneman and Tversky showed that people forecast the best-case version of a task, then treat that forecast as the plan. A 12-minute walkthrough feels complete because the finished job is easy to picture. The vents, access, and permit are not in the picture. The book does not ask you to become a pessimist. It asks you to name the bid type before the picture finishes itself.
02Ambiguity feels like speed until it is a change order
Ellsberg's work is simple: people would rather take a known risk than an unknown one. A number from the truck is an unknown dressed as confidence. A cost stack turns labor, materials, overhead, and profit into four known lines. Known is slower. Known is what you can stand behind.
03A checklist is working memory you can fold
Atul Gawande's point about checklists is not that experts are careless. It is that load is highest at the exact moment you need the miss list. The walkthrough page exists so the 12th miss does not have to live in your head while a homeowner is talking.
The page most people skip
A five-line pre-mortem, written before the number leaves
Gary Klein's pre-mortem is the inverse of a pep talk. You date the page six weeks later and write: this job ate the month. What did we skip. Fixture count, access, venting, permit, as-built conditions. You fill the lines while you can still change the number. It takes four minutes. It is the cheapest insurance in the book. Not a promised save. A habit for the bid that would have been guessed.
Inside the handbook
Four chapters. Written to sit on a dashboard.
- 01
Chapter 1: The 4 bid types and when to use each
Service, water heater or repipe, remodel sub-bid, commercial or TI. The type is the first decision, not a label you add after the math.
- 02
Chapter 2: Building your cost stack
Loaded labor, marked-up materials, overhead, profit. Four lines. If a line is missing, the number is a wish.
- 03
Chapter 3: Walkthrough checklist: 12 misses to catch
The list you carry on site so hidden rough-in, venting, and permits are not a memory test.
- 04
Chapter 4: Print-ready quote templates
A page the customer can read. Scope on the left. What is not included underneath. No vibe.
Before and after
The same week, two versions
Composite jobs these pages were written around. Not a promised revenue result.
Solo plumber, remodel sub-bid
BeforeQuoted from memory after a 12-minute walkthrough. Left fixture count, access, and permit out of the number.
AfterUses the four bid types and the walkthrough list. The number is slower to write and harder to undercut yourself on.
Small shop, commercial TI
BeforeTook the drawing at face value. Missed as-built conditions that only show up on site.
AfterWalks the job against the checklist, then stacks labor and materials with overhead on the page, not in his head.
From the desk
“I used to send the number from the driveway because stopping felt like I was already late. The book does not care that I am late. It cares whether overhead made the page.”
Composite contractor note · not a star rating
Instant digital access · nothing ships
The Plumbing Bid Book
Buy it now only for $19.99
One payment. Keep the files. Print what you use.
- Four bid types: service call, water heater or repipe, remodel sub-bid, commercial or TI
- The cost stack: loaded labor, marked-up materials, overhead, profit
- 2026 national planning ranges
- Walkthrough checklist for the misses that wipe a job
- Print-ready quote templates
Use it on the next real job or quote. If it does not help you see the work more clearly, message support within 30 days for a full refund.
New customers: SAVE20 for 20% off at checkout.
Need both field guides? The Contractor Estimating Bundle is $39.00, $10.98 less than buying them apart. See the bundle
Questions
Is this a get-rich trades course?
No. It is a decision-ready book you open before you send the number. No income claims.
Will these prices match my city?
Ranges are 2026 national planning figures. Your supply house, wage, and AHJ still win. The book teaches the stack, not a magic number.
Do I get a printed copy?
This is instant digital access. Print the checklists and templates as many times as you need.
What if it is not useful on the next job?
Use it on the next real job or quote. If it does not help you see the work more clearly, message support within 30 days for a full refund.
How do I contact UP Digistore?
Email untoldphilosophy1@gmail.com. Refunds are explained on the refunds page. Privacy and terms are linked in the footer.
Plumbing contractors who still have to send a number before they open the truck. Not for: People looking for a get-rich course, software that prices the job for them, or legal advice.
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Buy it now only for $19.99
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