Login

u/bgillett2026

r/Software_Finder r/alternativeto r/ConstructionMNGT r/ConstructTech r/estimators r/Concrete r/ConstructionManagers r/u_bgillett2026 r/TakeoffSoftware r/MSProject r/Formwork r/AskContractors r/quantitysurveying r/aluminiumformwork r/cranes r/LinkedinAds
▲ 4 r/u_bgillett2026+3 crossposts

Why do we accept monthly subscriptions for software that one person uses on their own?

I spent 55 years supervising construction, mostly hi-rise concrete. Over the last few years I've watched more and more of the tools I used go from a one-time purchase to a monthly fee. Scheduling, estimating, and project tracking are all like that now.

I can see why a subscription makes sense when several people edit the same thing at once, or when the company wants cloud sync and IT support. But a lot of the work is one person with one file. A superintendent building a schedule and issuing it to the trades every week doesn't need a server.

A tool that runs in the browser, that you buy once, and that keeps working on your computer even if the maker disappears, seems reasonable to me for that kind of work. What am I missing?

Do you prefer to pay monthly? If so, what do you get for it that a one-time purchase can't give you? And if you'd rather buy once, what would make you trust a small, one-person maker enough to do it?

reddit.com
u/bgillett2026 — 13 days ago
▲ 3 r/ConstructionMNGT+3 crossposts

Why does "runs in your browser" still make people nervous?

Retired CM, 55 years — carpenter apprentice through construction manager, mostly concrete and high rise, both sides of the fence.

Since retiring I've been building scheduling tools, so I have a dog in this fight and I'd rather say so up front. What I can't work out is the hesitation around anything that runs in a browser. It isn't price and it isn't features. It's the delivery itself.

My guess is people hear "browser" and think "cloud" — data on somebody else's server, gone when you stop paying. But that's a guess.

For those of you who've evaluated scheduling or PM software: when you passed on something browser-based, what actually stopped you? Where the data lives, whether it'll exist in five years, that it doesn't feel like something you own, or something else?

reddit.com
u/bgillett2026 — 1 month ago
▲ 8 r/aluminiumformwork+3 crossposts

Site Built Precast Stairs

Wanted to share a forming system we used for site-built precast stairs on two high-rise jobs in Victoria, BC — The Falls (twin 14-story towers) and PARC Residences (12-story condo).

Instead of building a new timber form for every floor, we built one adjustable form with interchangeable nosing inserts that got reused across all 26 storeys of scissor stairs. Cut cycle time a lot and eliminated the repetitive build/strip that usually comes with site-built precast stairs on a high-rise.

Happy to answer questions on setup, adjustment mechanism, or stripping sequence if anyone's dealing with repeat precast stair pours.

Full walkthrough here if it's useful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPyyrNVsUMo

u/bgillett2026 — 3 months ago
▲ 3 r/Formwork+2 crossposts

Adjustable Precast Stair Forming System for High-Rise Concrete," about the system used on The Falls (twin 14-story towers) and PARC Residences (12-story condo) in Victoria. Here's a draft body for the post:

Wanted to share a forming system we used for site-built precast stairs on two high-rise jobs in Victoria, BC — The Falls (twin 14-story towers) and PARC Residences (12-story condo).

Instead of building a new timber form for every floor, we built one adjustable form with interchangeable nosing inserts that got reused across all 26 storeys of scissor stairs. Cut cycle time a lot and eliminated the repetitive build/strip that usually comes with site-built precast stairs on a high-rise.

Happy to answer questions on setup, adjustment mechanism, or stripping sequence if anyone's dealing with repeat precast stair pours. trac2.ca

u/bgillett2026 — 3 months ago
▲ 15 r/Formwork+3 crossposts

55 years in high-rise concrete — I built my own takeoff + CSI estimating program, and finally recorded a full walkthrough (12-storey condo, start to finish)

Carpenter's apprentice to construction manager across Western Canada — and for most of those years I kept wishing the takeoff sheet and the estimate lived in one place. So I built it myself: concrete/formwork takeoff (imperial and metric) feeding a CSI MasterFormat estimate, 16 and 50 division, with an estimate-vs-actual efficiency report — because knowing where the job is bleeding matters more than the bid.

Just finished putting it through a full test: a 12-storey, 120-unit condo priced start to finish, takeoff quantities through to a $45.9M project total.

Would genuinely value feedback from working QSs — what's missing, what you'd change. Estimating tools are usually built by software companies; this one was built by the guy who had to stand behind the numbers. Happy to share the walkthrough video if anyone's interested.

u/bgillett2026 — 3 months ago
▲ 10 r/Formwork+3 crossposts

Concrete takeoff flowing directly into CSI estimating

I’ve spent decades on hi‑rise concrete projects, and the biggest improvement in accuracy came from linking takeoff → estimating → summary so nothing gets re‑typed.

Every quantity flows forward automatically from the takeoff sheet into the CSI layout.
It eliminates double handling and keeps the workflow predictable.

Curious how others structure their takeoff → estimate flow.
Do you link your sheets or keep everything separate?

u/bgillett2026 — 3 months ago
▲ 0 r/ConstructionMNGT

Concrete takeoff linked directly into estimating — no re‑typing

I used this workflow on hi‑rise concrete projects for years because it eliminated the biggest source of estimating errors: double‑handling quantities.
Everything flows forward automatically from takeoff → estimating → summary.

Curious how others handle their takeoff and estimating workflow.
Do you link your sheets or keep them separate?

u/bgillett2026 — 3 months ago
▲ 0 r/estimators

How I structure a concrete estimate so nothing gets missed

I spent decades running hi‑rise concrete projects across BC, Alberta, and Ontario, and the biggest error‑reducer I found wasn’t a fancy software—it was the way the estimate itself was structured.

I use a CSI‑style layout (16 divisions) with concrete, formwork, and related trades broken out in a way that matches how the job actually runs. Every quantity flows forward from takeoff into the estimate—no re‑typing.

Curious how others structure their concrete/formwork estimates. Do you use CSI, your own layout, or something else?

reddit.com
u/bgillett2026 — 3 months ago