Bidfident for addition builders
Estimating software for home additions
An addition is a small house tied into an old one. With Bidfident you price footings and foundation walls by the cubic yard, framing, trusses and siding by the square foot, and windows by the each, with a boom truck charged only for the hours it spends setting trusses. Excavation and mechanical bids sit side by side, and the permit and weekly supervision are carried as general conditions.
Enter your email and Bidfident sends you a sign-in link. New companies start with a starter rate library. Who runs Bidfident, and what it keeps about you.
Sound familiar?
Supervision priced for the first schedule
The addition was supposed to take 14 weeks, then the foundation slips and it takes 16. In a spreadsheet the weekly costs stay at 14. In Bidfident weekly and monthly general conditions follow the job duration.
The boom truck charged for the crew's hours
The truck is on site for a morning, but the spreadsheet charges it for every hour the framers work. In Bidfident a line's equipment can have its own hours per unit, so it's charged for the hours it runs.
Excavator and mechanical bids on scraps of paper
One excavator called, another emailed, and the plumbing and HVAC number is in a text. In Bidfident each trade's sub bids sit side by side, the lowest is flagged, and you carry the one you pick.
How Bidfident fits your work
A boom truck for the hours it runs
Give the truss line its boom truck with its own hours per unit, and the truck is charged for those hours. Leave it blank and it runs for the crew's hours.
General conditions that follow the schedule
Supervision by the week, the permit as a lump sum, rentals by the month. Change the job duration and every linked weekly or monthly item follows it.
Foundation to roof, in division order
Group the sheet by CSI division: concrete, wood framing, roofing and siding, then windows and doors, each with its subtotal. Name your own divisions where the standard ones don't fit.
Excavation and mechanical bids side by side
Enter each sub bid for digging and backfill, and for plumbing and HVAC. The lowest is flagged and carried unless you pick another.
The deck as an alternate
Price the covered deck as a line, then switch it off. It stays on the estimate, struck through, with what it comes to shown beside the totals.
Cubic yards beside square feet
Concrete in CY, framing and siding in SF, windows in EA, each line in its own unit with a material price and waste percentage. Totals add up as you go.
Worked example: a two-story rear addition, built to dried-in
A made-up job, priced in Bidfident: 26 lines of your own work, 4 subs and 5 general conditions items over a 14-week job. The 6 lines this page talks about are listed one by one, and the rest are added up in one row. It's the same job you can open as an example project in Bidfident, so every figure below matches it.
To open this job in Bidfident: sign in and set up your company in the US, then on the Projects screen, under Example project, pick "Remodelers and home builders" and "Additions" and press Add example project.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Footings and foundation wall, poured, 50 CY
| $18,607.50 |
Wall framing, 2x6 studs at 16" o.c., 1,650 SF
| $17,047.80 |
Roof trusses, set and sheathed, 720 SF
| $7,264.80 |
Vinyl windows, triple-pane, 9 ea
| $9,774.00 |
Vinyl siding with housewrap, 1,400 SF
| $7,938.00 |
Alternate 1: covered deck, 12 x 16 ft, 192 SF
| $8,486.40 |
21 more lines of your own work
| $36,350.78 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Excavation and backfill
| $6,300.00 |
Plumbing and HVAC
| $15,800.00 |
Electrical
| $7,700.00 |
Roofing, shingles and flashing, allowance
| $7,800.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Supervision, lead carpenter
| $10,080.00 |
Portable toilet and fence rental
| $1,098.46 |
Building permit
| $2,300.00 |
Engineer's review and layout survey
| $1,300.00 |
Dumpster swaps
| $2,375.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Own work
| $96,982.88 |
| Excluded lines, not counted | $8,486.40 |
| Subcontractors | $37,600.00 |
General conditions
| $17,153.46 |
Direct cost
| $151,736.34 |
Contingency
| $10,621.54 |
Fee
| $24,353.68 |
| Subtotal before the bond | $186,711.56 |
Bond
| $0.00 |
Insurance
| $933.56 |
Bid total
| $187,645.12 |
See it in Bidfident
Coming soon Ask your estimate anything. Claude first, ChatGPT to follow. See how it will work
Questions
Can I price concrete in cubic yards and framing in square feet on one estimate?
Yes. Each line has its own unit, as free text. Bidfident doesn't convert between units, so price each line in the unit its rate is in.
Can the boom truck be charged for fewer hours than the crew?
Yes. Give the line's equipment its own hours per unit. Leave it blank and it runs for the crew's hours.
Do general conditions update if the job runs longer?
Yes. Link a weekly or monthly item on the General conditions tab to the job duration and it follows it. Part weeks work too, such as 14.5.
Can I carry the building permit as one amount?
Yes. Add it as a lump sum on the General conditions tab, and it's carried as it is.
Can I price a deck the homeowner hasn't decided on?
Yes. Price it, then switch the line off. It stays on the sheet, struck through, and isn't in the bid total until you switch it back on.
Does it read the wall and roof square footage from my addition plans?
No. Measure the framing, sheathing and siding SF yourself and type it in, or copy and paste it into the sheet from a spreadsheet.
Does Bidfident work with Claude or ChatGPT?
Not yet, but it's coming. You'll be able to connect Bidfident to your own Claude or ChatGPT account and ask about your estimates in plain English. The answers will come from Bidfident's own figures, so they match the estimate. It will use the account you already have: Claude first, ChatGPT to follow.
Price your next addition in Bidfident
Enter your email and Bidfident sends you a sign-in link. New companies start with a starter rate library. Who runs Bidfident, and what it keeps about you.