Independent estimating for subcontractors
You bid the job. I do the counting.
Drywall, framing and carpentry takeoffs, priced and bid-ready in 48 hours. One estimator who has hung board and swung a hammer — not a queue, not a call center, not somebody's overnight shift.
The problem isn't that you can't estimate.
It's that you're on site from six-thirty to four, and then you're pricing work at the kitchen table at nine at night. Some weeks the bid goes out rough. Some weeks it doesn't go out at all.
That's the job I take off your hands. You forward the plans; I do the takeoff, price the labor and material, write up the assumptions and exclusions, and send you back something you can put your letterhead on and email to the GC. You stay on the tools and you bid more work.
What lands in your inbox
- A full quantity takeoff — broken out by area, level and wall type. Board by type and thickness, studs and track by gauge and width, insulation, rated and sound assemblies, corner bead, access panels, finish level.
- Labor hours priced to your market, not a national average — and I'll ask you what your crews actually produce rather than guessing at it.
- A bid summary you can send as-is. Clean enough to go straight to the GC under your name.
- Assumptions and exclusions in writing. Spelled out, so nothing lands on you in a scope review six weeks later.
- Excel and PDF — or your own format if you have one you like.
Two trades, priced properly
Drywall & interiors
Gypsum board hang and finish, metal stud partitions, shaft wall, rated and acoustic assemblies, suspended ceilings, insulation, plaster and stucco scopes. Level 4 and Level 5 finish priced like they're different things, because they are.
Drywall estimating →Framing & carpentry
Wood and light-gauge rough framing, sheathing, blocking and backing, doors, frames and hardware, finish carpentry and trim, millwork and casework, countertops. Including the HVHZ detailing that changes a Florida framing scope.
Carpentry estimating →How it works
Send the plans
Email, Dropbox, WeTransfer, a link from the plan room — whatever you have. Addenda too. If the set's incomplete I'll tell you what's missing before I start, not after.
I price it
Takeoff, labor, material, waste factors, assumptions and exclusions. If something in the drawings doesn't make sense, I call you — I don't quietly guess and bury it in a number.
You send the bid
Inside 48 hours on a single-trade package. Review it, tell me where you'd have priced it differently, and I get calibrated to how you actually build.
What it costs
Published, because almost nobody in this business publishes theirs.
| Price | Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| First takeoff | Free | One per contractor, on a real bid. No card, no contract, no catch. You see the work before you spend anything. |
| Per bid | From [$X] | Tiered by sheet count and project size. You get the number before I start — never a surprise invoice. |
| Monthly | [$X]/mo | Covers up to [N] bids a month. Month to month, cancel whenever. This is what most contractors end up on. |
| Rush | +[25]% | Anything you need faster than 48 hours. |
| Terms | Net 15 | 50% up front on the first job with a new contractor, net 15 after that. |
I don't price as a percentage of your bid. You shouldn't have to pay me more for winning.
Three ways to buy a takeoff
I'll be straight about where I sit. I'm not the cheapest and I'm not the biggest.
The $15 gig
- Turnaround
- 24 hours
- Who does it
- Unnamed, usually overseas, often a different person each time
- Reaching them
- A form, and a reply tomorrow
- If it's wrong
- You find out at the scope review. There's no recourse.
Martin Estimating
- Turnaround
- 48 hours, single trade
- Who does it
- Me. Every time. [Your full name] — [XX] years in drywall and carpentry.
- Reaching them
- My cell, during the day, answered by me
- If it's wrong
- Call me and I fix it. I take [N] jobs a month so I have room to.
The big estimating firm
- Turnaround
- Six to nine business days
- Who does it
- Whoever's next on the bench
- Reaching them
- An account manager
- If it's wrong
- A process, and a place in the queue
Straight answers
Where are you based?
[Your city, state]. I work off plans — same as every estimator you'd hire for this, including the ones with an address in your town. What you get that they don't is one named person on a phone that rings during your workday, instead of a shift worker in another time zone or a ticket number at a firm with sixty clients.
What do you need from me to start?
The plan set and any addenda, the bid date, and the scope you're carrying. If you have production rates you trust — sheets per man-day, footage of tape per day — send those and I'll price to them instead of to an industry average. If you don't, I'll use mine and show you exactly what I used so you can push back.
What's actually free about the first one?
All of it. A real takeoff on a real bid you're chasing — not a sample, not a sample of somebody else's job. No card, nothing to sign. If you like it, we talk about the next one. If you don't, you've lost a plan set upload.
What if the numbers are wrong?
Call me and I'll re-run it, same day where I can. Every takeoff ships with its assumptions and exclusions written out precisely so you can check my logic instead of taking a total on faith. I'd rather be argued with before the bid goes in than after.
Do you work with the GC or just with subs?
Mostly subs — drywall, framing and carpentry contractors bidding their own work. I'll do interiors packages for GCs too, but subs are where I'm sharpest, because pricing one trade properly is a different job from pricing twenty roughly.
Will you sign an NDA? Do you bid against me?
Yes, happily. And no — I don't estimate for two contractors bidding the same package. If you bring me a job and a competitor of yours calls about it, they get turned down, not a second quote off your plans.
What software do you use?
On-Screen Takeoff for the quantities, Excel for the pricing. You get the workbook, not just a PDF, so your own people can open it, check it and reuse the structure on the next one.
How much work can you actually take?
[N] jobs a month. When I'm full I'll tell you I'm full rather than take it and sit on it. That's the whole reason the 48 hours is real.
Send me the next set of plans.
The first takeoff is free and there's nothing to sign. Worst case you get a second opinion on a number you were going to guess at anyway.
Best times to catch me: early morning or after four. If I don't pick up I'm on another set — leave a message and I'll call back the same day.