A real number before you upload anything

The first question every builder asks us is some version of "what does this cost?" Until now the honest answer was "submit your plans and we will tell you in a few hours." That is fast compared to the alternative, but it is still a form to fill out before you learn anything.

So the estimate moved to the front. On the homepage, three fields, square footage, stories, and a ZIP code, return a priced range in a few seconds.

#Where the number comes from

It is not a rule of thumb multiplied by your square footage. The request goes through the same pricing engine that produces a committed quote:

• The fabricator is chosen the way a real job is routed. Gage finds the nearest shop that is accepting work and can take a job of that size, then prices from that shop's rates.
• Freight is priced from their origin to your ZIP, including the truck count the load actually needs.
• The range reflects real uncertainty, not a padded guess. Three fields tell us less than a plan set does, so the band is wider than the one you get after upload. It narrows when we can see the geometry.

The result names the shop's city and how far it is from you, because distance is most of what separates two quotes on the same house.

#What it does not replace

A quick estimate is not a quote. Nobody commits to it, and it does not reserve capacity. The assumptions it made are listed underneath it, and on most projects at least one of them will be wrong in a way that matters: an unusual roof, tall walls, a floor system that is not what we assumed.

The point is to answer the first question at the top of the funnel rather than at the bottom of a form. When the number is in the range you expected, submit the plans and get the real one.