Blog
Estimating notes, written for the people who count.
Practical articles on takeoffs and quoting for the people who do them: yard estimators, counter staff, the managers who check their work, and the contractors who bid from the result. No industry news, no press releases.
- Bidding4 min read
What a lumber takeoff should tell a general contractor before the bid goes out
What a GC should be able to read off a lumber takeoff before committing a price: units, sources, assumptions, hardware, what it leaves out, and quotes.
Read the article - Order quantities4 min read
Stock length packing: why a takeoff in linear feet costs your yard margin
Linear feet do not tell a yard what to ship. How packing a cut list into stock lengths works, with a header example that takes six 12-footers or eleven 8s.
Read the article - Estimating method5 min read
How to count studs the way a framer builds: corners, intersections and openings
A yard estimator's method for counting wall studs: the layout formula, what corners and partition tees add, how openings are framed, and waste done once.
Read the article
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