Framing contractor software, shown on a fictional framing company

Open the demo and you are inside Studwhistle Framing, a fictional framing company running the real product: click anything, nothing changes.

See pricing — it's public · Why SelfConstruct

What works today for a framing company, and what is not available yet

The demo's welcome card says the same. The names, people, jobs and prices in this demo are illustrative.

The framing jobs in the demo

Each with what its estimate covers and how it is billed:

• Hartwell residence frame, 2-story, 3,400 sf — Frame, labor and lumber package, 3,400 sf (Fixed Price)
  Job notes: Labor and materials. Builder's superintendent on site most mornings; lumber drops at the north curb.
• Ploverhythe Meadows Lot 8 frame, Plan 2150 — Production frame, Plan 2150, labor only (Fixed Price)
  Job notes: Builder purchase order per phase: frame, backframe, punch.
  Schedule: Floors and walls → Truss set with the crane → Roof sheathing → Backframing and blocking → Punch after the builder's walk.
  Daily log: “Crane set 22 trusses on Lot 8. Walls were plumbed and lined before the set; sheathing tomorrow.”
• Kessler addition frame — Two-story addition, labor only (Fixed Price)
  Schedule: Tie-in, floor system and subfloor → Walls, both floors → Trusses and roof sheathing → Openings and punch.
  Daily log: “Second floor walls stood. The homeowner moved the bedroom window; reframed it on an extra-work ticket and the remodeler approved it.”
• Tansywold Market Square retail building frame, 8,600 sf — Wood-frame retail building, labor only (Fixed Price)
  Job notes: We bill the general contractor monthly by pay application and they hold retainage. Their certificate-holder wording for our insurance certificate is in the subcontract.
  Schedule: Preconstruction meeting with the general contractor → Mobilize and layout → Wall panels and shear walls → Truss set with the crane → Roof sheathing → Backframing and blocking → Frame walk with the general contractor.
• Solvang truss set and roof sheathing — Truss set and roof sheathing (Fixed Price)
  Schedule: Truss set with the crane → Roof sheathing.
  Daily log: “Crane set 26 trusses and the gable ends. Bracing per the truss layout; owners watched the set.”
• Kowalczyk deck framing — Deck framing, time and materials (Time & Materials)
  Schedule: Ledger, posts, beams and joists.
  Daily log: “Ledger flashed and bolted, posts and beams set, joists hung. Homeowner asked for picture-frame blocking at the stairs.”

Walk through one framing job: Hartwell residence frame, 2-story, 3,400 sf

Its schedule, in order:

1. Layout, sill and anchor bolts
2. First floor system and subfloor
3. First floor walls and shear walls
4. Second floor system and subfloor
5. Second floor walls and shear walls
6. Truss set with the crane
7. Roof sheathing
8. Windows and exterior doors
9. Backframing, blocking and stairs
10. Frame walk with the builder's superintendent
11. Frame inspection
12. Inspection corrections and punch

Change orders on this job: “Beam pocket and post at the great room”; “Extra blocking for cabinets”.

Purchase orders on this job: “Lumber package, Hartwell residence”; “Roof trusses, Hartwell residence”; “Crane for the truss set, Hartwell”.

To-dos on this job: “Photograph the shear nailing and hold-downs before the frame walk”; “Order the cabinet blocking once CO-2 is signed”.

From its daily log:

• Crane set 34 trusses before noon. Temporary bracing per the truss layout; permanent bracing started in the afternoon. Weather: Clear and calm in the morning.
• Roof sheathing on the back slopes. The builder's superintendent walked the house and asked for extra blocking for the upper cabinets and the TV wall; CO-2 sent to the builder. Weather: Sunny.
• Stairs set and the first floor backframed. Shear nailing and hold-downs photographed for tomorrow's frame walk. Weather: Partly cloudy, windy after two. Delays: Waiting on the builder's answer to CO-2 before adding the cabinet blocking.

A framing proposal in the demo: Framing bid, 12 townhomes in 3 buildings

Studwhistle Framing sent it to a lead. The scope reads:

Frame three wood-frame townhome buildings of four units each: sill and anchor bolts, floor systems and subfloor, walls and shear walls with hold-downs, truss set and roof sheathing, stairs, backframing and blocking, windows and exterior doors set, punch after the frame walk. Labor and the lumber package.

The notes on that lead:

• Invitation to bid with plans, truss layouts and addendum 1
• Walked the site with the superintendent; pads are poured on two buildings
• Sent the bid and scope letter with the lumber price-basis date

Other framing leads in the demo

• Custom home frame, 4,100 sf: Owner-builder referred by Elkmere Custom Homes; plans sent by email; Takeoff started: two floors, vaulted great room, three-car garage
• Plan price list, Ploverhythe Meadows phase 2: Purchasing asked for per-plan prices on four plans for thirty lots
• Fellowship hall, wood frame: Asked whether we frame for churches; their general contractor is not chosen yet

What goes on a framing estimate in the demo

From Studwhistle Framing's price list, without the prices:

• Mobilization and layout
• Sill plate and anchor bolts
• Floor system, joists and rim
• Subfloor, glued and fastened
• Exterior walls, 2x6, labor
• Interior walls, 2x4, labor
• Shear wall nailing
• Hold-down installed
• Beam or post set
• Stair flight
• Truss set and bracing
• Roof sheathing
• Backframing and blocking
• Window or door opening, install
• Deck framing
• Crane with operator
• Telehandler day
• Carpenter, time and materials
• Foreman, time and materials
• Inspection-correction return trip
• Cleanup to the builder's roll-off container

Framing cost codes in the demo

Studwhistle Framing's own cost codes:

• Mobilization & layout
• Sill & anchor bolts
• Floor system
• Subfloor
• Exterior walls
• Interior walls
• Shear walls & hold-downs
• Beams, headers & posts
• Stairs
• Trusses set & brace
• Stick roof
• Roof sheathing
• Backframing
• Window & door install
• Decks & porches
• Inspection corrections & punch
• Extras / T&M
• Crane
• Telehandler
• Lumber package
• Hardware & fasteners
• Supervision
• Safety & fall protection
• Cleanup
• Remobilization / standby

Questions about SelfConstruct for framing work

Is there a framing version of SelfConstruct?

Not as a separate product. Studwhistle Framing opens with the business type “Framing & structural carpentry”, so its menus are set for that trade. In a customer's company today, the menus are the same whatever the trade.

Can a framing job be fixed price or time and materials?

Both are in the demo: Studwhistle Framing's “Hartwell residence frame, 2-story, 3,400 sf” is a fixed-price job, and “Kowalczyk deck framing” is billed time and materials.

Does SelfConstruct have “On-site signatures and signed extra-work tickets” for framing companies yet?

Not yet. It is on the list the demo's welcome card shows under “Not available yet for your trade”.

See it working right now

Pricing is published on the site: $299/mo per company before sales tax, unlimited users, 50 GB of storage included.

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