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How to measure it, price it and get paid for it
Written for people who do this work. No affiliate links, no prices invented for a market nobody here knows, and nothing claimed that has not been established.
Want the sum rather than the method? The 5 calculators run the app’s own engine on figures you type.
12 guides
Contractors
Takeoff, estimating, proposals and getting paid.
Start here · 11 min How to do a drywall takeoff, wall by wall Work out board, mud, tape and screws from the room itself — the arithmetic, the deductions that matter, and the two mistakes that cost the most.- What a construction estimate has to include 10 min
- How to measure a room for flooring 9 min
- Square footage vs wall area: the mistake that costs the most 7 min
- How to measure baseboard and trim without coming up short 8 min
- LiDAR room scanning: what it is good at, and where it fails 12 min
- How to write a remodeling proposal a homeowner will sign 10 min
- How to write a change order that actually gets paid 8 min
- Building a rate book you can actually defend 10 min
- How to price a kitchen remodel, line by line 11 min
- The three-day right to cancel, and the day almost everyone counts wrong 12 min
- Every takeoff formula, and where each one gets its number 12 min
10 guides
Restoration
Water losses, documentation and what an adjuster needs.
Start here · 12 min How to document water damage for an insurance claim What to photograph, what to measure, what to log and in what order — on the first visit, before anything gets cut out or dried.- Water damage categories and classes, explained plainly 9 min
- What the IICRC S500 asks of your documentation 10 min
- How to write a loss description an adjuster can use 8 min
- Getting a sketch into Xactimate: what an ESX file is 9 min
- Keeping a moisture log that proves the building dried 8 min
- Flood cuts: choosing a height and defending it 7 min
- Measuring water-damaged drywall for an estimate 8 min
- What an adjuster is actually looking for in your file 9 min
- What an ESX file actually is, and why nothing writes you one 10 min
5 guides
Choosing a tool
What to compare, and what the categories actually are.
Start here · 9 min Looking for a magicplan alternative: what to compare The six questions worth asking of any room-measuring and estimating app, and why "does it flag a guess" is the one most people never ask.4 guides
Homeowners
Reading a quote, and knowing what to ask for.
Start here · 8 min What a contractor’s estimate should include The eleven things to look for before you sign anything, what each one protects you from, and the single most valuable paragraph in the document.