Chicago, IL
FENCING ESTIMATING.

## Fencing Estimates in Chicago Move Fast — Your Bidding Should Too Chicago's construction season is compressed. You get roughly six solid months — April through October — before frozen ground and sub-zero wind chills shut down installs. That means every lead in spring matters, and slow bids lose jobs to the next contractor who showed up with a number. Estimate.Pro gets you from walkthrough to a sendable bid in 8 minutes. For fence contractors working residential fencing in neighborhoods like Lincoln Park or Logan Square, commercial perimeter fencing in the suburbs, or ornamental iron work along lakefront properties, that speed is the difference between winning and chasing. --- ## What Makes Fencing Estimating Different in Chicago **Frost depth drives material choices.** Chicago sits in USDA Hardiness Zone 5b and the frost line runs 42 inches deep per local building codes. Post holes have to account for that depth. If your estimate doesn't price the extra concrete, the extra labor hours, and the right post gauge for frost heave conditions, you're eating that cost on every job. **Chicago Department of Buildings permit requirements add line items.** Fences over 5 feet in the front yard or over 6 feet elsewhere require a permit from the City of Chicago Department of Buildings. That permit fee, plus time for plan review, belongs in your bid — not as an afterthought when the invoice goes out. **Material costs here aren't national averages.** Cedar, chain link, aluminum, and vinyl all price differently out of Chicagoland suppliers versus national indices. Estimate.Pro lets you build and save a local material cost workspace. Set your actual costs from your actual suppliers — US LBM, ABC Supply, or whoever you're pulling from — and every estimate reflects what you're paying, not what a national database says you should be paying. **HOA restrictions are common.** Neighborhoods from Naperville to Oak Park have active HOA covenants that limit fence height, material, and color. Noting this in your scope protects you and signals to the homeowner that you know the territory. --- ## How Estimate.Pro Works for Fence Contractors **Walk the job, measure with AR.** On supported devices, ONNX-assisted live AR measurement lets you capture fence run lengths directly on-site. Camera and photo measurements are flagged as estimates. Either way, dimensions go straight into the scope — no paper, no re-entry. **AI scope-of-work generation.** After your walkthrough, the app drafts a line-item scope: post holes, concrete footings, post depth, panels, gates, hardware, cap rail, labor. You review, adjust, and approve. The 8-minute median target is real. **Priced estimate, ready to send.** The finished bid is client-ready. On Pro+ plans, the platform fee on payments collected through Stripe Connect is $0. On the Free tier, it's 3%. --- ## Plans That Fit How You Work - **Free forever** — no credit card, no trial clock. Good for solo operators testing the workflow. - **Pro at $39/seat/month** — full estimating, AR measurement, saved material cost workspace. - **Elite at $79/seat/month** — adds Stripe Connect, invoice exports, and advanced workflows. - **Crew at $399/month flat** — for fencing crews running multiple estimators under one account. --- ## Built for 25 Trades, Including Yours Estimate.Pro supports 25 trades. Fencing is one of them — not bolted on as an afterthought. The material categories, labor line items, and scope templates are built around how fence contractors actually bid: by linear foot, by gate count, by post spacing, by material type. If you're a Chicago fence contractor tired of rebuilding the same spreadsheet for every job, or losing bids because your turnaround is two days behind a competitor's, the workflow is here. Start on the Free tier. No credit card. Walk a job today.