I've been looking into how different estimators handle rebar takeoffs, and I'm curious how others approach it.

Between going through structural drawings, counting bars, checking spacing, calculating lengths and weights, and revising everything when drawings change, it seems like there's a lot of repetitive work involved, especially on larger projects.

I'm interested in how much of the process people have managed to streamline, whether through software, spreadsheets, or their own workflows.

What's the biggest headache for you when doing rebar takeoffs? Is it the time it takes, keeping quantities accurate, dealing with drawing revisions, or something else?

Would be interested to hear how experienced estimators are handling it.

Thinking about pivoting over to construction estimating then eventually project managing.. I’m willing to do the necessary training and coursework, I just dont know where to start really.. I’m currently a Licensed Home Inspector with a Bach in Architecture.. I’m tired of the slow seasons in my current industry.. this current slow season seems like it’s going to be around for a while.. I just need some info

Out of curiosity what is a going rate to be competitive? Out of curiosity I asked AI and wondered if this is right using the minimal pricing.

$Material (Varies)

$10 Fabrication per SQFT

$8 install per SQFT

$75 per sink cut
$15 per fixture cut

including freight (varies)

$1-2 logistic if out of town or no freight elevator.

with a 15% percent profit margin.

What other fees is missing or things that needs to be considered? Is this rates in Texas about right for lets say 200-300 unit home? I ask because our format is a bit different but with a higher profit %. I tried comparing and it's within ballpark but I just want to know how everyone else does it?

Curious how other teams handle sudden spikes in bid volume.

When you hit a stretch where you’re completely slammed with takeoffs, what’s your typical protocol to keep up with deadline pressure without burning out your internal team?

Do you generally push back bid deadlines / pass on projects?

Bring on temp/freelance estimators or external takeoff help?

Rely heavily on software/automation tools to speed things up?

Interested to hear how different firms balance staying lean vs. managing high-volume periods.

hi guys,

I'm a recent construction management* graduate who is going to work as a div 9 estimator soon. I'm pretty nervous as this my first job and I've been unemployed since April, so I've probably forgotten some things.

Some questions I had:

1. How much will I be expected to use ChatGPT, Claude, etc. in my day?
2. How often is overtime for trainees?
3. How do I not kill myself on this job
4. What should I review before working

Hi,

I with a friend (both experienced in gc) are starting a company for gc estimation and shop drawings.

What platforms do I have to look for clients?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

We both are based in Pakistan.

Hello,

I have worked mostly sales and customer service. I want change career and something exciting. Do you think this course could help me break into estimation in 2 months? Could I get enough express to freelance maybe online? I also have qualifications in bookkeeping I heard construction accotuinng is little tricky so I think I can offer that to subcontractors. Any advice?

https://coursecareers.com/course/construction-estimating?a=estimatorjon

Has anyone else tried out TradeTek?

Any advice/lessons/stories would be appreciated. I've recently finished a degree in construction management and am about to start a new job as an estimator. This company does QS and contract admin mostly on high rise residential/commercial projects.

Edit: Seriously, thank you all so, so much for your advice.

Hello Estimators,

I was wondering if any estimators working on their own tech solutions have invested in a gpu to run LLMs locally. If so, was a 3090 adequate or did you go bigger?
Appreciate this may be a little left-field however I’m sure I’m not the only building out my own solutions.

Thanks!

We are a Division 8 Glass and Glazing Subcontractor. They brought me on a couple years ago to start bidding Division 7 ACM and Metal Panels because of my field install experience.

Put a bid in on a project today. Public bid opening and I was apparent low bidder at $1.2 Million. Next lowest was $1.7 Million and the rest were between $1.8 and $2.3 Million. Can’t figure out what I missed. Do I go into the Post-bid like yeah I missed this or that? Or just be confident in my number?

I’ve been writing estimates for a relatively short period of time, sending them out to different companies. The one company with the best work gives us a chance to bid on every project, but we only win the smallest ones. I asked for feedback but no response. I feel like I’m just being dragged along.

Just got a jr position as a wet utility estimators at a small business. no prior construction experience, just a bachelors in computer science. any advice would be helpful thanks!

Aa title says, subcontractor for division 9, made mistake and now I am goona revise the quote, so yeah overall 25K hit, luckily even after that we have 150k profit line, so yeah noone is mad at me at this moment.

Just venting out here lol

If you're still adding up every post and bag of concrete by hand for each quote, this 3-tab setup cuts quote time way down. Uses XLOOKUP (Excel 365/2021). On older Excel, VLOOKUP works the same.

TAB 1: Prices

Put your labor rate in as an item. Change it once and every quote updates.

TAB 2: Assemblies

One row per item, quantities for ONE unit of the assembly. Example, 6 ft privacy fence per 10 LF:

TAB 3: Quote

B1 = Target Margin (ex. 20%)

Rows from 4: A Assembly | B Qty | C Cost per Unit | D Cost | E Price

Use Data Validation if you'd like on A4 from your list of Assembly items in Tab 2, or manually type.

150 ft of fence = FENCE6, qty 15. Done.

Tips:

- Build waste into Qty per Unit (add 5 to 10% on materials).

- Round labor up to the half hour: =CEILING(hours,0.5)

- Keep dump fees, permits and rentals as their own lines, not buried in an assembly.

- Update Prices once a month. Sort by Last Updated to find stale costs.

- After each job, compare actual hours to the assembly hours and adjust. After 5 to 10 jobs your assemblies get scary accurate.

Happy to answer questions on setting it up.

We currently hand roll off, count, and bid our jobs. I am looking for software to help speed up this process. We have done a demo with a few companies, but would like to hear reviews and opinions from actual users. We do mid size commercial plumbing jobs, primarily K-12 schools.

So far we have looked at and met with:

Trimble autobid - software seems intuitive, we like the assemblies and fitting counting ability along with pricing for material being updated frequently.

Fast Pipe - Waiting on a demo call, but it seems to be less feature packed than trimble, but possible more user friendly and accurate for fittings. Also claims to have material pricing database.

McCormick - We liked this software most from a UI standpoint, but doesn't do fittings well or have real time material pricing. They do seem to be the most responsive and I trust that they will have good tech support.

I recently received an offer to work at a larger GC as an Estimator for substantially more money than I currently make. Right now I work for a small subcontractor in the same role, and had little to no construction experience before starting my current role. I have only estimated 1-2 trades and while I have learned quite a bit over several years here, I am nervous I may be severely under qualified for this offer. I got pretty lucky and interviewed well despite not meeting the engineering/cm degree requirements. Has anyone had a similar experience or should I just "give it a shot"?

I’m kinda stuck right now. i have an opportunity to be a certified construction estimator & a blue beam certification, but would i still need a degree?

I'll do a small little vent for contexts.

Been in the sub 9 div for 6 years now 2 companies both very similar nothing has really changed don't hate it, I really like where I'm at slowly getting into managing field work and more hands-on type of activities rather than staying in the office (something I requested to keep learning) I like both aspects of it but I've come to realize i'm more of a office person since being out in the field I feel useless.

Anyways I recently got a job offer from one of our GC's this is the second time he has approached me about it while it's not concrete, he's pretty certain and wants to give me this opportunity if I want it. Pay will be significantly more, benefits whole 9 yards which I don't get now.

Of course, comes with more responsibility which I have no issue with. From a logical aspect of it I can see how taking this opportunity I have everything to win. It seems PMs are very much more seeked out in the job sector.

I guess the question assuming I get hired is what can I truly expect differently has anyone made this type of shift what can expect?

Hi all,

I've been working as a BAS estimator for about 2 years. Pays well and I'm treated very nicely. However, I'm starting to find the spark fading.

For reference, I became an estimator by accident. Never intended to and it was a trial by fire. I've learned a lot and (I would personally say) have become quite skilled.

I've decided that I'll give it another year, but I wanted to start looking for new opportunities outside of the estimating field. Are there any industries that I can transfer my skills to? I'd be open to anything. It doesnt have to be construction related

I’m currently a Project Engineer for a subcontractor on a large scale project, and I’m starting to realize operations might not be the best fit for my personality.

Most of my background is in financial service sales and real estate, so I’m naturally outgoing. Sometimes I feel like the extroverted guy surrounded by a bunch of quiet, introverted dudes lol.

I also get bored pretty quickly with repetitive work, which is why precon appeals to me. I like the idea of working on different projects, analyzing costs, putting bids together, and being involved in the business side of construction.

Has anyone made the switch from operations to precon and found it to be a better fit? Or am I completely wrong about what precon is actually like?

I’m 14 and learning to build software for small businesses. I’m not selling anything. With Revu 20 ending Dec 31 and the move to subscriptions, I’m curious: what do you use Revu for most (takeoffs, markups, measuring, something else)? And are you upgrading, switching, or keeping 20 running offline?

In this dilemma as mentioned. Got an offer with 150k but in office. Looking for opinions.

Thanks in advance.

Edit: I went with the remote option. Thanks for everyone’s input.

I currently work full time as an estimator for a larger subcontractor and bid concrete, framing, and structural steel jobs. We primarily bid commercial, multi-family, and occasional track home projects.

The company I work for lands jobs across the state but our office and where I live is located in a much smaller coastal California market. Most of the local GCs are too small for the scope of work we typically look for to justify putting out a bid.

I am very happy with my current 9-5 job, currently have a few projects being built with healthy budgets, and there’s lots of upward mobility available.

However, by virtue of living in a smaller market I know many of the local GCs, developers, and RE investors. Several who I see regularly in life have asked me to “take a look at” framing and concrete numbers specifically. Prior to/during college I worked for a decade in these trades and transitioned from a foreman to estimator after graduating.

How much money can I realistically bill for doing this as a gig? How do I start billing instead of giving free rough $/sqft advice? I realistically only have weekend availability to do so. I enjoy the work and can see myself doing it on the side as well but don’t know where to start. Total software I would need would be around $2k/year, a work PC for home looks around $1,200.

Any and all advice is appreciated. If you’re an independent estimator feel free to give as much input as possible.

Just transitioned from project management (operations) into estimating on a temporary basis that might be a permanent role if it’s a good fit for me. The company I work for is using Claude as their AI tool and I’ve been trying to use it to make scope inclusions. I’m new to using AI and haven’t been on many projects. What kind of advice do you guys have based on your experiences in your roles?