|
Creating a square foot estimate
The Square Foot Estimator tool lets you create square foot estimates for your projects. You can define a variety of parameters, including preferences, building type and wall framing, any building additives, and costs. Once you create your estimate, you can choose to view, print, and save your completed estimate to a folder, as well as export it as an Excel spreadsheet.
This section contains the following topics:
Creating a square foot estimate
To create a square foot estimate,
1 |
Click the tab for Square Foot Estimator:
|
2 |
Locate the section for Step 1:
 |
3 |
In the Building Type field, use the drop-down list to select the building type.
Results:
- The Wall\Framing Type field populates with the selected buildings default value corresponding to the building type you selected :
- The Step 2: Building Parameters section populates with building dimension and fee information, a graphic image, and cost information:
|
4 |
Enter the values for User Fees and select either Yes or No for the Include Basement value. |
5 |
Click the tab for Step 2a: Building Additives:
Result: The Building Additives menu is displayed:
|
6 |
The Building Additives menu contains a list of commonly used assemblies and their costs per unit ($ Cost) for the selected building type.
To use the menu,
- Enter the number of units you expect to use for each assembly in the Quantity column.
- Use the scroll bar on the right of the menu to see all the items in the list.
- Click off of the box or press Enter to see the total cost of the item in $ Total column
and add the item to the Building Cost total amount.
Note: You can skip the Building Additives section if you only want to see a base square foot estimate for the structure.
|
7 |
Click Calculate Building Cost.
Result: The Building Cost menu displays the total costs for your building estimate:
|
8 |
Continue to Viewing, printing, saving, and exporting your estimate to use your estimate. |
Viewing, printing, saving, and exporting your estimate
Once you create your square foot estimate, you can choose from a variety of options to make your estimate useful.
If you want to... |
Then from the Building Cost menu... |
Result |
| view your estimate |
click View Report. |
A full report of your estimate showing each line item is displayed. |
| print your estimate |
- click View Report
- click the icon for print at the top of the page:
|
The print menu for your system is displayed. Follow the instructions to print your estimate. |
| export your estimate |
- click View Report
- click the icon for export at the top of the page:
|
The menu to export your file as an .xls Excel file is displayed. Follow the instructions to export your estimate. |
| save your estimate |
click Save Estimate. |
The Estimate Header Information menu is displayed. Complete the fields for your estimate and click Save. |
|
