WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:08.120 One of the primary tools that an estimator has is understanding the geometry of a building. 00:08.120 --> 00:12.360 The first thing that I do when it comes to a quantity takeoff is I first validate the 00:12.360 --> 00:14.400 scales and make sure they're correct. 00:14.400 --> 00:19.360 In reference to the plans, note that if you're inside of the main house and you're walking 00:19.360 --> 00:26.040 into this new guest room and music room, this is the image that you would see as an elevation. 00:26.040 --> 00:30.760 So we have the curved roof, we have the width of the music room, we have the structure 00:30.760 --> 00:31.920 beneath it. 00:31.920 --> 00:38.240 But beyond it, there are plaster walls that have not been identified with this section. 00:38.240 --> 00:42.480 As good as the drawings are, it didn't take into account that the estimator might not 00:42.480 --> 00:47.160 actually see that there's plaster that's going to occur on that side of the building 00:47.160 --> 00:49.640 around the music room. 00:49.640 --> 00:54.480 So what you see in this image is there's additional takeoff information that's not shown 00:54.560 --> 00:56.760 on the actual drawings themselves. 00:56.760 --> 01:02.360 Since it doesn't have an elevation, I needed to identify the total area of plaster on the 01:02.360 --> 01:05.280 exterior of the building that was not shown in an elevation. 01:05.280 --> 01:11.160 Also at the very top, notice that it's a bit darker, I have another takeoff, and that's 01:11.160 --> 01:13.920 for the other side of the parapet. 01:13.920 --> 01:19.560 My task here is to find out how many square yards of plaster is there, whether it's shown 01:19.560 --> 01:20.880 or not. 01:20.960 --> 01:25.840 I refer to these as hidden conditions, and even if it's not identified in an architectural 01:25.840 --> 01:32.040 set of drawings, it's important that the contractor or the estimator still pick these up. 01:32.040 --> 01:35.320 It's our responsibility as estimators to make sure that we have every square foot of 01:35.320 --> 01:37.920 every finish, every surface area covered. 01:37.920 --> 01:42.760 So in this case, I took it upon myself to quantify those areas, whether the architect 01:42.760 --> 01:44.800 provided them for me or not. 01:44.800 --> 01:49.360 If they're not provided for whatever the reason may be, it's still a responsibility of 01:49.400 --> 01:54.560 the estimator to quantify everything required to build that project at a given price. 01:54.560 --> 01:58.960 I had to go through a number of certain drawings, including a floor plan, to identify what 01:58.960 --> 02:02.320 the total width of that elevation of that view might be. 02:02.320 --> 02:06.960 On the same floor plan, I identified the width of the walls to the left and to the right 02:06.960 --> 02:08.120 of the bridge. 02:08.120 --> 02:12.360 I had to look at similar elevations to find out how tall the walls were and where they 02:12.360 --> 02:13.520 meet the ground. 02:13.520 --> 02:17.960 This was tricky because the slope of the ground changes from view to view. 02:17.960 --> 02:22.200 So it's a combination of looking at other sections that might offer more information. 02:22.200 --> 02:26.040 If you look at the Long Tutorial section where it goes through the entire music room, 02:26.040 --> 02:30.680 restroom addition into the house, you'll quickly identify what the overall height is going 02:30.680 --> 02:31.840 to be. 02:31.840 --> 02:35.800 You could relate the parapet in this elevation right here that you see at the top of 02:35.800 --> 02:41.480 the room with a detail that's also being utilized for the other three sides. 02:41.480 --> 02:46.560 It's safe to assume that the parapet would be no different on this side of the building 02:46.560 --> 02:52.920 and therefore plaster on the inside of the parapet on the roof itself should be quantified 02:52.920 --> 02:55.360 as the other three sides. 02:55.360 --> 03:00.480 That in itself will give you a number of options to choose from to come up with the overall 03:00.480 --> 03:02.680 quantities required. 03:02.680 --> 03:06.840 So even a construction set of documents may not have all the information required. 03:06.840 --> 03:10.240 Now technically you could reach out to the architect and say, hey Mr. Architect, could 03:10.240 --> 03:13.160 you go ahead and provide me an elevation for this? 03:13.160 --> 03:17.080 Or you could go ahead yourself and actually figure out what's going to be required. 03:17.080 --> 03:22.160 This will speed up the entire process of your estimate and not have to put it aside and 03:22.160 --> 03:25.840 wait for a response to come back from your architect. 03:25.840 --> 03:30.480 Understand that as we mentioned earlier with estimates or with estimating, it is an assumption 03:30.480 --> 03:34.720 based on the information available at the time that you build the estimate. 03:34.720 --> 03:39.040 So even though it's not drawn, it's not shown there's too many other items within the 03:39.040 --> 03:44.240 drawings themselves that clearly spell out what's going to be required for this elevation. 03:44.240 --> 03:49.840 So take it upon yourself as an estimator to quantify the areas that are still not shown. 03:49.840 --> 03:55.120 Bottom line is it's a quantification that is identified throughout the entire project 03:55.120 --> 03:58.480 even if this one elevation doesn't provide what you need.