AI · Steel Fabrication

From drawings to estimates in minutes.

Steel Estimator reads your structural PDFs and produces accurate material and labor cost quotes — automatically. No more hours spent on manual takeoff.

Back to home

The Problem

Manual takeoff takes too long

Reading drawing sets page by page, tallying members, and looking up prices takes half a day per job. That's time you're not spending on the work itself.

One mistake can cost you the bid

Underquote and you lose margin. Overquote and you lose the job. Manual estimating has no good way to catch errors before the quote goes out.

How It Works

Step 1

Upload your drawings

Upload a PDF drawing set and the app reads every page using AI, pulling out all structural members automatically.

Step 2

Review the results

You get an editable list of every member found. Make any corrections before generating the quote. You stay in control.

Step 3

Generate your quote

Get a full cost breakdown across multiple estimation methods. Pick the one that fits the job.

Step 4

Export to Excel

Download a formatted spreadsheet ready to send. No reformatting needed.

Why It Works

Speed

Hours down to minutes

Submit more bids without burning more time.

Accuracy

Human review built in

AI does the heavy lifting, you catch anything it misses. Better than either alone.

Flexibility

Configurable to your business

Set your own labor rates and material prices. The tool works the way you do.

Convenience

Email a PDF, skip the login

Email a drawing set to a dedicated address and a new job is created automatically.

Built With

Backend

Python · FastAPI · PostgreSQL

Frontend

HTML · HTMX · No build step

AI

Claude AI Vision

Infrastructure

Railway · Managed Postgres

Export

Excel · Email integration

Status

Deployed · In active use

Interested in Steel Estimator?

If you're a steel fabricator looking to speed up your workflow, I'd love to talk.

Message me on LinkedIn