Tried shadowing a plumber for a day, totally changed how I quote jobs now

I spent last Tuesday tagging along with a plumber in Akron on three residential calls. Watching him walk through each basement first and point out stuff I never would've noticed made me realize I was pricing my pressure washing work way too fast. I started adding a 20% buffer for hidden problems and last week I only had one job go over my estimate instead of four. Has anyone else tried learning from a different trade and seen their numbers get better?

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susanm2217d ago

Wondering if that 20% buffer is just a flat add-on or if you actually adjusted how you scope out the job first. Did the plumber teach you a specific way to look for trouble spots that you can use on houses, or are you basically just charging more to cover your own blind spots? Because if you're not finding the hidden stuff before you quote, the buffer might just be delaying the surprise instead of catching it early. Curious if you changed your walkthrough routine too, or if the buffer is doing all the heavy lifting.