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Digital takeoff tools felt like a gimmick until I ran a 40 unit remodel bid in Houston
I've been doing estimates on paper prints for like 15 years. My old foreman always said software is for guys who can't read a tape. So I avoided that Bluebeam stuff forever. Then last month we bid a 40 unit apartment remodel in Houston, 3 floors, weird angles everywhere, and the GC wanted numbers in 4 days. I ran out of time and finally loaded the plans into a trial version of a takeoff program. It measured everything in maybe 2 hours. That would have taken me a full day with a scale and a highlighter, and I'd still be second guessing myself. The real kicker was when I caught a 12 foot error in the original PDF that I would have never spotted on paper because the dimension line was messed up. Now I'm not saying throw away your prints, but anyone still doing manual takeoffs on jobs over 100k is just leaving money on the table. Has anyone else switched late in their career and felt stupid for waiting?
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nguyen.blake28d ago
Bet the time savings alone pays for itself on big bids.
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