Resources · Calculator
What does a takeoff actually cost you?
Most yards have never put a number on it, because the cost is buried in a salary. Move the sliders to your own numbers.
Your numbers
Framing takeoffs per month12 bids
Hours an estimator spends on one6 hours
Fully-loaded estimator cost45 $/hour
Typical house size3,000 sq ft
Fully-loaded means wage plus payroll tax and benefits — usually a third above the hourly rate.
Estimator time, per month
$3,240
12 bids × 6 h × $45/h = 72 hours
BidLoggers, same volume
$1,800
12 bids × 3,000 sq ft × $0.05 = $1,800
$1,440 a month back — and 72 estimator hours freed
The hours matter more than the money: they're the bids you currently turn down because nobody has time to quote them.
This compares takeoff labour with what BidLoggers bills. It deliberately leaves out the harder-to-price things — bids you can now answer, and the cost of a short load caused by a missed line. We'd rather show a number you can check than one you can't.