Outdoor Living · Estimating
A $6,000 patio is a business. Most estimators are flying blind on margin.
Bids are built in Excel or on a clipboard. Actual pavers, labor hours, and sub costs live in QuickBooks and text threads. When you win the job, nobody closes the loop—and the next similar bid starts the same way the last one did.
One decision: which job types to bid higher, and which to keep
Paver patios
+12%
Composite decks
−3%
Retaining walls
+24%
Vinyl fencing
−8%
Outdoor kitchens
+6%
Estimate Actual (on-budget) Actual (over)
How It Works
Three inputs. One honest estimate.
Goes In
Data from how you already bid
- Your bid spreadsheets or estimating tool
- QuickBooks job cost (labor, materials, subs)
- Time tracking by job (crew clock-ins, field notes)
- Optional: CompanyCam, Jobber, HCSS, or STACK exports
Comes Out
Bids backed by your own history
- Per-job-type markup and waste factors from actual jobs
- Every new bid compared against similar past jobs
- Change-order leakage flagged before the next bid
- Bid-template suggestions you can approve in one click
Who It's For
Outdoor-living contractors
- Hardscape, paver, and retaining-wall specialists
- Deck, fence, and pergola builders
- Landscape design-build crews – $500k to $8M revenue
- Owner-builders working North Baltimore, Howard, Harford, and Loudoun County jobs
Custom-built to your estimating workflow and QuickBooks job cost. Typical delivery: 4–6 weeks from kickoff.
Want this built before next bid season?
Send three recent jobs—estimate and what it actually cost. We’ll show you exactly where the leak is.