The problem with a building boom, if you’re the only estimator covering the pipeline, is that you cannot get to all of it.
Most interiors estimators do not need help understanding how to measure a plan. They need help getting through repetitive takeoff work sooner so they can review vendor quotes, test alternatives, and have better scope conversations with general contractors.
Todd is the sole estimator for a fast-growing commercial interiors contractor in Columbus, Ohio. He covers framing, board, and grid, while supporting a field operation that ranges from 70 to 120 people depending on backlog.
When bid volume started outpacing the hours available in the day, Todd added Auto Takeoff, part of the Takeoff BOOST™ suite in On-Screen Takeoff®, to his workflow. On a recent 12-story apartment tower, he completed the takeoff in four days instead of about two weeks. The time savings was significant, but what Todd did with that time back mattered more.
We sat down with Todd to hear what AI-powered takeoff actually does on real interior plan sets.
Q: You're the only estimator covering three scopes. How do you keep up with the bid volume?
Todd: “It’s a blessing to have all the work coming in. But there’s only one of me, and only so many hours in the day.”
For a sole estimator, every bid is a tradeoff. Time spent drawing every area, linear, and count manually is time that cannot be spent reviewing scope, comparing material costs, or looking for ways to make a proposal more competitive.
Todd says Auto Takeoff helps him get through that first pass faster and stay available for more opportunities.
Todd: “Auto Takeoff speeds up my day a lot, because I’m the only estimator at our company. Auto Takeoff helps me get to more jobs and be more available to my customers.”
Q: Walk us through what a major project looked like before you had Auto Takeoff.
The clearest example is a project most estimators would not want to face alone: a 12-story apartment tower with metal studs, ceilings, and drywall throughout the building.
Todd: “On a recent 12-story apartment tower, metal studs and ceilings all the way up, plus drywall, if I’d done it without Auto Takeoff it would have taken me about two weeks. With Auto Takeoff, I finished the whole thing in four days. I got to the Quick Bid® stage way faster, and I could focus on pricing and dig into my material costs more closely, instead of just drawing all day.”
The important comparison is not only two weeks versus four days. It is what became possible once the repetitive measurement work was no longer consuming the entire bid window.
Todd could move into material pricing sooner, spend more time reviewing the estimate, and get to the Quick Bid stage without waiting for every quantity to be drawn manually.
Q: Where do you find Auto Takeoff most useful day-to-day?
On everyday interior buildouts, Todd uses Auto Takeoff most consistently for ceiling scope and larger floor plans.
Todd: “I love using Auto Takeoff to help me get ceilings. It just makes it really fast. If I have a big floor plan, I click the net area and it gathers the ceiling really fast.”
That type of repetitive work can be easy to underestimate. One ceiling plan may be manageable. Multiple floor plates, repeated layouts, and several scopes can quickly turn the same task into hours of clicking and tracing.
Todd: “On a lot of the interior buildouts, I’ll use Auto Takeoff just to make things faster. Auto Takeoff saves about half the time.”
The best fit is not necessarily the most complicated project. It can be any project where repetitive measurement is slowing down the estimator’s ability to review, price, and respond.
Q: What do you do with the time you get back?
For Todd, the first place that time goes is vendor review, an important part of the estimate that can get rushed when a due date is approaching.
Todd: “I often speed through vendor quotes just because I’m trying to get a material number and I have a due date. The extra time I get back because of Auto Takeoff lets me spend more time looking through them.”
On one project, that meant reviewing quotes from 12 different vendors across metal ceilings, grid, specialties, and wall protection.
Todd: “The extra time that Auto Takeoff saved me let me choose the most cost-effective, reliable vendors.”
The benefit also extends to alternatives and value engineering.
Todd: “I often use the time that I saved with Auto Takeoff to research alternative products that provide cost savings to the owner while maintaining the same level of quality and performance.”
That is the difference between finishing takeoff faster and improving the estimate. The time comes back in places where it can affect the quality of the bid.
Q: How does that change the way you work with GCs?
More time in the estimate creates a different kind of conversation with the people who award the work. Todd is not just submitting a number. With time back in his day, Todd can go above and beyond and show up with options.
Todd: “With Auto Takeoff, I am getting in front of the clients more, exploring more VE options to make my bid stand out.”
He is direct about what that means for actually winning jobs, even when the number is higher.
Todd: “A GC isn’t going to go on a limb and choose some random guy who just did a quick takeoff and handed them a number. They’re going to give it to the guy who’s been asking the right questions, going over scope, and offering new solutions and products, even if that guy’s the higher number.”
Q: What would you say to another interiors estimator who is on the fence?
Todd’s answer comes from using the software across real projects and real deadlines.
Todd: “On-Screen Takeoff is helping me get work, so I appreciate it. I love it all. It’s all part of what I do as a construction professional.”
The Takeaway
What Todd describes is not a story about speed for the sake of being faster. It’s about what an estimator can do when takeoff stops consuming the day: tighter vendor reviews, sharper scope conversations, better value engineering ideas on the table.
Takeoff is where the estimate starts. The competitive advantage comes from having enough time left to review the scope, challenge the pricing, and bring better options to the GC. Auto Takeoff is part of the Takeoff BOOST™ suite in On-Screen Takeoff®. It is built to help estimators move through repetitive measurement faster while keeping the estimator in control of the final result.
See the full numbers from Todd’s 12-story tower project, including how a two-week takeoff became four days, in the case study below. Or bring a real plan set and see how Auto Takeoff handles your actual scope.
CASE STUDY
How one interiors estimator cut a 12-story tower from two weeks of takeoff to four days.
DEMO
Bring a real drawing. We’ll run Auto Takeoff and other AI tools in Takeoff BOOST tools on your actual plans.
