Estimating & Material Optimization

Order what you use. Use what you order.

Send us the DXF set your drafter already exports. We frame the house stud by stud, buy it the way an estimator should, and hand back the takeoff, the 11x17 maps and a 3D model your super can open on a phone.

Book a pilot See the numbers

Exploded 3D framing model of a two-storey house: foundation walls, floor systems, wall framing and roof pulled apart level by level

Built inside a working home builder Every piece placed, not guessed We don't sell a single board

How it works

From your drafter to your site

About 2 days for a new plan. About 1 day for a revision.

01
Upload
The DXF set your drafter already exports. SoftPlan today, more programs on the way.
02
Your standards, once
Corners, waste rates, stock lengths, spacing and your supplier's prices become rules every plan follows.
03
Framed and bought
Every stud, plate, header and sheet laid out, offcuts carried to the next cut, POs split by delivery.
04
On site
Stud and sheathing maps on 11x17, the 3D model on the super's phone. Deliveries checked against the map.

What you get with every model

All built from one list, so they never disagree

Takeoff and POs by delivery

Every line tied to what's drawn, split the way your yard delivers it.

11x17 stud and sheathing maps

Every stud at its position, every sheet numbered, rips and openers lettered. The map is the order.

3D framing model

Orbit the house, isolate a floor, tap a header. In your login, shareable with the super.

Header and sill cut lists

Which stock board each piece comes from, so nobody buys the same cut twice.

Code and drawing flags

Short studs, unspannable headers and copied areas raised before they cost money.

Re-run for every lot

A plan on file re-runs for each lot, option or price change, usually in a day.

The real output · from a real job, names removed

What lands on your desk and in the super's pocket

3D model showing only the main floor walls, with a corner post selected and its card listing level, size, length and the stock it is cut from — **3D framing model.** Isolate a floor, tap any member: size, length, and the stock board it's cut from.

Corner of an 11x17 stud map: studs drawn at their spacing and coloured by type, with header sizes and rough openings at each window and door — **Stud map.** Every stud at its spacing, coloured by type, with the header and sill called out at each opening.

Wall sheathing elevation with each sheet numbered by course, rim bands shaded and recessed faces hatched — **Wall sheathing.** Numbered sheets by elevation and course, with rim bands and rips called out.

One roof plane unrolled to true slope, with numbered sheets and the pieces cut from earlier drops shaded green — **Roof planes.** Unrolled to true slope. Green pieces come out of an earlier sheet's drop.

Framing details for a three-stud corner and a T-wall, showing which plies are laid flat for backing — **Your framing standards.** Corners and T-walls drawn once, then counted the same way on every wall.

Your estimator isn't a carpenter. Your carpenter isn't an estimator.

The estimator counts boards they've never cut. The framer cuts boards they never counted. The waste lives in the gap. Panorama is both.

The usual way

Linear feet, a rule of thumb and a blanket waste factor
Studs ordered 19% over what's drawn
Shortfalls found mid-wall, then a top-up delivery
Extras left on the lot or in the bin

The Panorama way

Every piece counted and placed in the model
A stated 5% on studs, not a guess
Every board bought at the cheapest length that cuts clean
Offcuts planned as blocking and cripples before anything is cut

Proof · One house, taken off twice

C$2,900 back on every start

Panorama against an experienced estimator's manual takeoff on a real 2-storey plan, priced at the builder's own supplier.

Lumber the budget over-buys

C$1,898

Roof framing pack · 33 fewer sticksC$919

Studs · 116 fewerC$565

Plates · 46 fewer sticksC$355

Roof sheathing · 5 fewer sheetsC$57

Headers · 3 fewer sticks, still 3-ply to specC$2

203 fewer sticks · 21% less lumber spend

The costs no budget shows

C$1,025

Variance POs and the top-up deliveryC$250

One less binC$275

Leftover cleanupC$100

A day of estimatingC$400

Conservative, per start. Swap in your own numbers.

Caught before a board was ordered

Garage studs 29¾" short on 40.9 LF of tall wall
A 16'-4" door header that 12' stock can't span
A roof area copied from another model: 2,063 SF against 1,926.9 SF measured
About 400 SF of rim left unsheathed: 12 sheets short on site

Where both measured, they agreed: decks to the square foot, frost wall 124.0 vs 123.8 LF, 18 of 18 door slabs.

Figures come from one anonymized plan, priced at that builder's supplier. Your savings depend on your plans, standards and prices. See the accuracy disclaimer.

Who it's for

One job, four people, same numbers

Owners

Lumber cost and waste you can see per house, and per model across every start.

Estimators

Stop measuring and start buying. A takeoff you can check line by line.

Site supervisors

The 3D model on a phone and deliveries checked against the map.

Framers

Maps on 11x17, cut lists for headers and sills, fewer trips to the pile.

Become a founding builder

We're taking on a small group of builders for the pilot. Send us one plan you build often and put our takeoff beside yours.

Pays for itself on the first house. We'll reply within one business day.