The problem: tons are three conversions away from the drawing
- Asphalt is drawn in square feet and bought in tons, and the conversion runs through compacted depth and mix density before it gives you a number.
- A lot is rarely one depth — drive lanes, parking stalls and the dumpster pad are often three different sections on the same plan.
- Base stone is its own conversion at its own depth, usually to cubic yards or tons.
- Sealcoat is gallons at a spread rate that changes with surface porosity and coat count, and striping is linear feet plus per-each stalls and symbols.
Ordering asphalt short stops the paving crew. Ordering long is money on the ground. The number comes from a chain of conversions, and the chain has to hold when the site plan is revised.
How the tool handles it
Each paved area condition carries its own compacted depth and its own mix density, so tons come straight from the trace — area times depth in inches divided by twelve, times density, divided by 2000. Compacted hot-mix runs about 145 to 150 lb per cubic foot, the same thing as the 110 lb per square yard per inch factor most state DOTs publish; that is the shipped default and you change it per mix. Base stone carries its own density and its own compaction allowance, because dense-graded aggregate is nothing like asphalt by weight. Trace the drive lane and the stall field as two conditions and each converts on its own section.
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 2in surface over 6in base condition looks like this:
| Part | Unit | Driven by |
|---|---|---|
| Asphalt surface | TON | area SF × (depth in ÷ 12) × mix density lb/CF ÷ 2000, + waste |
| Mill and haul-off | SY | existing pavement SY |
| Base stone | TON | area SF × (base depth in ÷ 12) × stone density lb/CF ÷ 2000, + compaction allowance |
| Prime coat | GAL | base area SY × application rate |
| Tack coat | GAL | area SY × residual rate gal/SY ÷ (1 − dilution) |
| Sealer | GAL | area SF × coats ÷ spread rate |
| Sealer sand | LB | sealer GAL × lb per gal |
| Crack fill | LB | crack LF × yield |
| Striping paint | GAL | stripe LF ÷ coverage |
| Stall and symbol | EA | counted |
| Roll and compact | HR | area SF ÷ production rate |
| Paving labor | HR | area 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.
Depth per section
Drive lanes at one section and stalls at another are two conditions on the same plan, each converting to tons at its own depth.
Density is a published default, not a mystery
Compacted hot-mix is about 145 to 150 lb per cubic foot. Dense-graded aggregate base is about 140. Both ship as defaults you can see and change, so the conversion is something you can check rather than trust.
Striping from the same trace
Stripe linear feet, stall counts and symbol counts come off the lot layout you already measured.
Every number traces back to a mark
When the tonnage is challenged at the scale house, you show the lot traced by section, each with its compacted depth and mix density labeled, and the waste factor applied.
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
A load of asphalt ordered wrong is a crew standing still or material cooling on the ground. Neither is cheap.
$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.