The problem: gallons are a calculation, not a measurement
- You measure square feet, but you buy gallons — and the conversion depends on the product's spread rate, which is different for primer, flat, eggshell and enamel.
- Two coats is not simply double, because the second coat usually spreads further than the first on new work.
- Bare drywall, previously painted surfaces and raw trim all drink differently, and they are all on the same job.
- Trim, doors and windows are priced per linear foot or per each, and they are deductions from the wall area at the same time.
The arithmetic is easy once. The trouble is that it changes every time the spec changes product, and every gallon over-ordered is money sitting in the shop.
How the tool handles it
Each paint part converts area to gallons through a spread rate you control, multiplied by the coat count for that surface, rounded up to the container size you actually buy. Change the product and the gallons change everywhere it is used, on every room, in one edit.
One trace, the whole material list
A condition is a named, colored layer you trace on the drawing. An assembly turns that one condition into every part it drives, each with its own formula, coverage rate, waste percentage and rounding rule. A Interior walls, primer plus two coats condition looks like this:
| Part | Unit | Driven by |
|---|---|---|
| Primer | GAL | wall SF ÷ primer spread rate, rounded up |
| Finish coat | GAL | wall SF ÷ spread rate, per coat — the second coat spreads further on a sealed surface |
| Ceiling paint | GAL | ceiling SF × coat count ÷ spread rate |
| Trim enamel | GAL | trim LF × girth in inches ÷ 12 ÷ spread rate |
| Doors | EA | door count × sides painted |
| Windows | EA | window count by size |
| Caulk | TUBE | trim LF ÷ tube coverage |
| Masking and prep material | LS | by room count |
| Sundries | % | percent of paint cost |
| Cut-in labor | HR | cut LF ÷ production rate |
| Roll labor | HR | wall SF ÷ production rate |
Change a coverage rate, a waste percentage or a unit cost and every job using that assembly re-prices. You are not editing numbers in twelve places.
Spread rate lives in one place
Change from a 350 SF/gal product to a 250 SF/gal product and every room on the job re-prices in one edit, instead of being re-figured room by room.
Coats are priced per coat, not doubled
A second coat on a sealed surface spreads further than the first on bare drywall, so each coat carries its own spread rate rather than multiplying the first by the coat count. Doubling over-orders by roughly ten percent.
Openings and trim from one outline
The room outline gives wall area, the openings deduct from it, and the same geometry drives trim linear feet.
Every number traces back to a mark
When a change order is disputed, you show the rooms traced, the openings deducted, the spread rate used and the coat count applied. Every gallon on the order has a shape on the plan behind it.
Every number on the report links back to a specific mark, on a specific sheet, at a specific place on the page. The marked-up PDF export draws every mark in its condition color with the quantity labeled — that is the file you attach to the bid.
Accuracy is held to a stated tolerance: linear measurements within 0.10% of true, straight-sided areas within 0.25%, and calibration repeatable within 0.20% across five separate calibrations of the same page. Geometry is stored in PDF units, never screen pixels, and rounding happens exactly once — at report time.
What it costs
Paint over-ordered by a few gallons on every job, across a year, is the price of this tool several times over.
$2,500, paid once. Nothing in year two. Nothing in year three. No per-seat bill and no renewal date.
| Estimators using it | A per-seat subscription, five years | Ours, one-time licence |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $8,745 – $10,000 | $2,500 |
| 2 | $17,490 – $20,000 | $2,500 |
| 3 | $26,235 – $30,000 | $2,500 |
| 5 | $43,725 – $50,000 | $2,500 |
Their column multiplies by headcount and then repeats every year. Ours does neither. Put a fourth estimator on it and the number is still $2,500, because you are not licensing seats — you are buying the software.
And it does not repeat
| Whole company | Per-seat subscription, billed that year | Ours, billed that year |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $1,749 – $2,000 × seats | $2,500 |
| Year 2 | $1,749 – $2,000 × seats | $0 |
| Year 3 | $1,749 – $2,000 × seats | $0 |
| Year 4 | $1,749 – $2,000 × seats | $0 |
| Year 5 | $1,749 – $2,000 × seats | $0 |
What you actually receive
- The source code. Not access to it — a copy of it, running on your infrastructure.
- A one-time perpetual licence. It does not expire, it cannot be revoked, and there is no renewal date in your calendar.
- No seat count. Put every estimator in the company on it. There is no user tier to outgrow and nothing that counts logins.
- No dependence on us. Sixty days of support are included. After that you can hire any developer to change it, because you have the code. Most vendors cannot make that offer, because with them you are renting.
Subscription figures are publicly reported PlanSwift prices from software review sites, shown as a representative example of per-seat takeoff pricing. Check any vendor's current pricing directly before you compare. See the full PlanSwift comparison.
What is being built next
- DXF and DWG import is in active development. Today the tool reads PDF. If your drawings arrive as CAD files, ask on the call and we will give you honest timing rather than a guess on a web page.
- Auto-count symbol recognition — box a symbol once and find every match on the sheet — is a later release.
- Multi-estimator assignment, so a supervisor can hand work to specific people, is still being built out.