Sean Kriger · Founder, Bold Estimation · Oklahoma City

Nobody wants the takeoff desk. I built one with 200 people on it.

I'm Sean Kriger. Seven years ago I stopped building houses and started building estimators. Today 200 of them do the takeoffs, the bids and the back office for contractors, lumber yards and subs across the country. This is where I write down what I've learned, and where you can find me if you want to talk.

Get the walkthrough checklist

The list my team runs on the call at the end of every takeoff. Use it on your next set of plans.

Book 15 minutes

Fifteen minutes is enough to know if we fit.

Send us one job

If we're not better than what you have, you lost a week.

200people on one team
7years, same team
75 to 100house takeoffs a month
40 to 50multifamily takeoffs a month
250training videos every estimator goes through
1walkthrough call at the end of every job

The short version

I was the most affordable homebuilder in America for three years in a row. Cheaper per square foot than a mobile home. Houston's permitting office had 34 separate inspections, and I failed 60 or 70 of them, most through no fault of my own. For three years I spent half of every day on permits. One day I asked myself what I could do in construction that does not need a permit. That is a short list.

Estimating was on it. I hired an overseas shop to do the drawings and takeoffs, the same way you probably have. The quality never got there, no matter how much of my own time I poured in. So I went and built my own team. That was seven years ago. It is more than 200 people now, trained on a 250-video program, organized by trade. A lumber guy does lumber. A door guy does doors.

The problem was never outsourcing. It was who you outsourced to. Quality is a training problem, and I spent seven years on it so you do not have to.

Read the whole story →

Things I will say out loud that nobody else in this business will

01
We are about 30% slower than most estimators. We read the whole set of plans. We read the notes. We read the soils report. Most shops do not know what a soils report is.
02
My guys do not do mechanical, electrical or plumbing well. I will tell you that on the first call, not after the bid.
03
My service uses AI. You do not. I use it, I check it, and then a person walks you through every number on the phone.
04
I would rather you send one job than read a testimonial. If we are not better than what you have, you lost a week.

Two options, and the third one

When you hire an estimator, you get two options. Pay a lot for someone good and hope he stays. Or pay a lot less, manage every mistake yourself, and hope one of them does not cost you a roof.

There is a third one. A trained team. A named person on your account who learns your standards. A call at the end of every job where we walk you through every number, with notes that read like the story of the job instead of a spreadsheet dump.

Send us one job and judge it yourself.

What I write about

Six pieces, in the order I am writing them. One every two weeks.

01What seven years and 200 people taught me about hiring overseascoming
02The $95,000 estimator who is idle half the yearcoming
03Why nobody in construction job-costs properly, and the five-minute problems that add up to three hours a daycoming
04I was the most affordable homebuilder in America for three years. Here is why I quitcoming
05My service uses AI. You don't.coming
06What a takeoff has to contain before you can bid off it the same daycoming

All articles →

The team

200 people I trained myself. Every one of them was grown, not hired off a shelf. They write notes. Lots and lots of notes. A lumber guy does lumber, a door guy does doors, and the person on your account knows your standards by the second job.

You cannot scale a company without trust. I built one where the people on it believe in it, and where the client gets a real person to call, not a ticket number.

Speaking

I talk to rooms full of people who bid work for a living. Three talks, one checklist every room leaves with.

See the talks →