Houston, TX
IRRIGATION / SPRINKLER ESTIMATING.

## Bidding irrigation work in Houston is not like bidding it anywhere else Houston sits on expansive clay — the kind that shifts 2 to 4 inches seasonally and turns a routine head-spacing calculation into a liability question. You have to account for soil infiltration rates that vary block by block across Harris County, municipal water pressure that drops during summer peak demand, and a City of Houston backflow prevention requirement that adds a line item to every commercial bid. Most estimating tools treat irrigation as a flat unit-cost exercise. That is not how this market works. Estimate.Pro is built for the 25 trades where field conditions drive the number — irrigation is one of them. ## From walkthrough to sendable bid in 8 minutes Open the app on a supported device. Walk the property. The AR measurement tool uses ONNX-assisted live detection to capture distances, grade breaks, and zone boundaries as you move. On older phones or for photo uploads, measurements are flagged as estimates — you always know what was field-verified and what was calculated from imagery. By the time you are back at your truck, the scope-of-work is drafted. The AI pulls your saved material costs — Hunter, Rain Bird, Weathermatic heads and valves at whatever your current supplier pricing is — and assembles a line-item estimate. You review, adjust, and send. Median time from first step on the property to a client-ready bid: 8 minutes. ## What the calculator covers for Houston irrigation jobs **Zone design inputs.** Enter square footage, plant type, and soil type. The app applies standard precipitation rate math so your nozzle selection and run times are defensible if a customer asks. For Houston clay, slower application rates and longer cycle-soak scheduling are the default assumption. **Backflow and pressure loss.** Every bid in Houston that touches a potable tie-in needs a backflow preventer. The City of Houston requires TCEQ-licensed irrigators to install and test backflow assemblies per Texas Commission on Environmental Quality rules. Estimate.Pro lets you add the assembly, the annual test, and your licensed irrigator labor as distinct line items — not buried in a lump sum. **Drip vs. spray vs. rotor breakdown.** Commercial bids across the Houston Medical Center corridor, Midtown mixed-use projects, and HOA common areas typically require zone-by-zone breakdown before a property manager signs. The estimate builder outputs that format by default. **Material cost workspace.** You store your own pricing — PVC schedule 40, poly pipe, swing joints, wire, controllers — in a saved workspace. When supplier costs move (and in Houston's post-freeze supply environment they do), you update one number and every open template reflects it. ## Licensing and compliance context Texas requires a licensed irrigator (LI) of record for all new irrigation system installations. The license is issued by TCEQ. Houston does not issue its own irrigation license on top of the state credential, but the City does require a permit for new systems and substantial modifications — routed through Houston Permitting Center. Backflow assembly testing must be performed by a TCEQ-licensed backflow prevention assembly tester (BPAT), and the test report goes to Houston Public Works. When you build a bid in Estimate.Pro, you can note the LI-of-record and BPAT line items as separate cost and compliance callouts. That transparency shortens the approval conversation with commercial clients who have facilities managers reviewing your scope. ## Payments and invoicing Pro and Elite plans include Stripe Connect for direct client payment. On the Free plan, the platform fee is 3%. On Pro and above, it is 0%. Elite adds invoice export formats for clients who require QuickBooks or PDF submittals through a vendor portal — common on large HOA and commercial property accounts in the Houston market. ## Pricing - **Free** — no credit card, no time limit. Good for running solo on residential work. - **Pro** — $39 per seat per month. Removes platform fees, adds full AR measurement and cost workspace. - **Elite** — $79 per seat per month. Adds Stripe Connect invoicing and export workflows. - **Crew** — $399 per month flat for unlimited seats. Built for shops running multiple crews across Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties. ## Who this is built for in Houston If you are a two-truck residential irrigation shop working Memorial, Katy, or Sugar Land subdivisions, the Free and Pro tiers get you out of spreadsheets and into consistent bids. If you are running commercial maintenance contracts across the Energy Corridor or bidding HOA common areas in The Woodlands, the Crew plan gives every project manager the same estimating tool without per-seat math. Houston's irrigation market is active year-round — the freeze events of 2021 put repair and replacement work on nearly every lot in Harris County. Contractors who bid fast and accurately are winning more of that volume. Estimate.Pro is built to help you do that without adding headcount.