Small Job Estimates

[Finish Blademan]

Well, I guess it is time for me to come into the modern ages and stop doing small scale estimates on 6 or 7 pages of notebook paper with a calculator and engineer scale.I get hit up a lot to help out with leg work and estimation.Today was my day off and I put in 4 hours of time with my Lincoln rod spot checking elevations against the plans,scaling demo amounts of concrete and asphalt and figuring up machine time,base,asphalt and miscelleneous extras, i.e. trees to remove,hauloff,averaging cut and fills on a Church add on job.
Its not a big job at all, maybe 25,000 total on the dirtwork end including asphalt patches but it does have a decent amount of concrete paving.
I dont figure concrete costs,just subgrades, demos,asphalt,select fills,base etc.. as we have 5 full time estimators that do concrete and one of em is our sitework guy who I am trying to help a bit.
My question is,what is the best estimating software I can use to help me keep my estimates on my end more productive and easy to use?
I did about 50 percent of the estimating for the last company I worked for but I didnt handle anything bigger than 250 grand or so.
I would truly appreciate any input some of you fellas can give me on what to buy.
Cost of software is not a real problem but if I am going to request the money for it,I need something that will truly help me speedup how many jobs I can quote.I have Carlson autocad that the company bought another license for me to use so they will do what I ask for but I need a solid product that works well and not too hard for an old dinosaur to use..
thanks for any help in advance gents.
Gene

 

[CM1995]

I use Excel spreadsheets. Once you make the template that best suits what you do it is easy to copy and paste to start a new job. I link them together if it is a larger job.

Most of the jobs I estimate are smaller jobs less than $100K but I have done development projects well over a million.

I set up the sheets to calculate volumne, unit price, mark-up, taxes, etc

Volume calculations are easy as well, I usually do the old grid method if the job is small and enter my grid area and the cut/fill, total at the bottom and do the math to convert to CY.

I carry a laptop with me and alot of times I will either start the estimate on-site or finish it up there, double checking my numbers against what the actual site consists of.

 

[Squizzy246B]

I use Excel Spreadsheets as well. Although its really just an advanced calculator it provides a record for later referral. I find it also helps with planning the job. You need to cost out the major activities/stages of the work so you list the assets you are using and the rates and time on the job.

 

[CM1995]

I use Excel Spreadsheets as well. Although its really just an advanced calculator

I used to think the same before I saw a sheet built by someone that really knows Excel. That program can do all sorts of stuff I had no idea it was capable of.

I would like to take a refresher course on macros and Excel in general.

 

[Finish Blademan]

Thanks fellas.I did my first bid with it this morning.I had MS Word and Excel on my laptop.I punched in the numbers I had from paper and calculator.
It wasn`t a real big job but had lots of pieces to it.It looks great laid out like Excel does it.I still have a great deal to learn but I was able to make a basic estimate worksheet.
Thanks again fellas for the advice.Much appreciated.
Gene

 

[I AM IRONMAN]

I use a lot of Excel Spreadsheets and they work great.

I use them for mostly office work so they aren't to complicated.

Some people that really know how to use them can set them up as templates that calculate formulas.

Maybe someone will share one on here that they have set up for dirt work or water and sewer. I would like to see one that is all set up with materials, labor, etc.

You do need to double-check the work though, one tiny mistake in the formula can make a huge difference in cost, profit, etc.

I suppose there are programs already set up to do that figuring!:beatsme

 

[Finish Blademan]

Ironman, I have a buddy who uses a program called Power Pro.It looks a lot like the spread sheet in Excel, but everything is all filled in.All you do is input your price per each activity and total.I think it works with Excel actually.I am not sure though and will ask him if it does.He told me he paid fifty bucks for it and it has repayed that investment many times over.

 

[CM1995]

I found this site for downloads - http://www.filebuzz.com/findsoftware/Construction_estimating/1.html Some are free and some charge for the download. I don't know about the security of the downloads from this site.

Finish Blademan, if you could find more info about Power Pro, I would like to take a look at it. Most of these programs do operate in Excel, developed by folks that really know how to use it. unlike myself

 

[Finish Blademan]

Sure thing CM.I`ll ask him more about Power Pro when I talk to him again.Thanks for the link as well.
Gene

 

[PipeLayer]

The National Estimator books come with Free Software. Its not high end or anything, but its decent.