Estimating Guides for Professionals
Practical articles on material calculation, quantity takeoffs, and faster estimating—written for painters, wallpaper installers, and contractors.
From Phone Scan to BIM: Exporting IFC for Revit and ArchiCAD
Re-modeling an existing building by hand is the slowest part of a renovation project. Scan the space and export an IFC model with walls, doors, windows, rooms, and multiple stories that opens in any BIM tool. Here is what IFC export does, and what to check before you trust it.
Estimating a Multi-Floor Building Without Losing the Per-Floor Breakdown
Multi-story jobs are where takeoffs get messy. You either lose the per-floor detail or you cannot see the building total. Here is how stacked floors and a rolled-up takeoff keep both numbers at once.
Quote Faster, Fail Cheaper: Guest Scanning for Trades With a 30 Percent Hit Rate
If you close 3 or 4 of every 10 estimates you bid on, most of your estimating labor is sunk into losses. Guest scanning and automated takeoffs cut the per-bid cost so you can chase more leads without burning hours.
Per Roll vs Per Square Foot: Why Wallpaper Pricing Has Two Conventions
Wholesale wallpaper is sold by the roll. Designers and contract reps usually quote per square foot. Here is how the two pricing models line up, and when each one makes sense.
From Net Area to Buy Quantity: Why CAD Takeoffs Need a Trade Layer
Architects and BIM tools output net surface areas. Trades order in buy quantities. The gap between those two numbers is where every estimate gets revised. Here is what fills it.
Butt Seam vs. Overlap Seam: How Seam Type Changes Your Wallpaper Strip Count
Most wallpaper uses a butt seam—strips placed edge to edge. Commercial vinyl wallcovering uses an overlap seam that reduces how much wall each strip covers and raises your total strip count.
How to Calculate Paint for a Room (The Right Way)
Step-by-step guide to calculating how many gallons of paint you need for any room—including the formula, worked examples, and how doors and windows change your numbers.
Wallpaper Calculator: How Many Rolls Do You Need?
Learn how to calculate wallpaper rolls for any room—including how pattern repeat changes your numbers and why pros always add a buffer beyond what the math says.
How to Turn a Floor Plan into a Material Estimate
The step-by-step workflow contractors use to go from a room scan or blueprint to a complete material takeoff with quantities, costs, and margins—ready to hand to a client.
Skip the math—let SiteScope do it.
Scan a room, assign materials, and get a wall-by-wall quantity takeoff with cost and margin—ready to export before you leave the site.