Richmond, VA
WINDOWS ESTIMATING.

## Window Estimating in Richmond Moves Fast — Your Bids Need to Keep Up Richmond's housing stock is one of the most varied in the mid-Atlantic. You're quoting historic single-family homes in The Fan and Church Hill one week, new construction in Short Pump and Midlothian the next. Each job carries different scope demands: wood-frame replacements with strict architectural review in historic districts, vinyl or fiberglass installs on postwar ranchers, and commercial glazing on the Scott's Addition adaptive reuse projects that haven't slowed down. That range means your estimate can't be a copy-paste from last week's job. Labor hours shift. Glass specs shift. Virginia's energy code requirements push you toward specific U-factor and SHGC ratings that have to be documented for permit. ## What Makes Window Estimating Different Here **Historic district compliance adds scope every time.** The City of Richmond's Commission of Architectural Review covers large portions of Church Hill, Jackson Ward, and Carver. If your customer is in a locally designated historic district, you're often restricted to wood or aluminum-clad wood replacements — no standard vinyl. That changes your material cost line significantly, and it changes your labor estimate because fitting period-accurate frames takes longer. **Virginia's Energy Conservation Code sets the floor.** The 2021 Virginia Construction Code, adopted statewide with local amendments, requires fenestration to meet IECC 2021 climate zone 4 thresholds. For window contractors, that means U-factor ≤ 0.27 and SHGC ≤ 0.40 in most residential replacement scenarios. You need to document the spec in your proposal for the permit application — Estimate.Pro lets you attach those specs directly to your scope line items. **Permit fees and timelines vary by jurisdiction.** A window permit in the City of Richmond proper versus Henrico County versus Chesterfield County is a different process, a different fee schedule, and a different inspection timeline. Chesterfield, for example, is one of the faster-processing jurisdictions in the metro. The City of Richmond's Department of Planning and Development Review has longer queues, especially in Q1 and Q2 when spring renovation demand stacks up. ## How Estimate.Pro Works for Window Contractors You open the app on a job site. You walk the building. The AR measurement tool — powered by an ONNX-assisted live AR engine on supported devices — captures rough opening dimensions in real time. On older jobs where you're working from photos, measurements are flagged as estimates so your customer sees exactly what's confirmed versus what needs field verification. From the walkthrough, the AI builds a scope of work: unit count, rough opening sizes, frame type, install method (nail-fin, retrofit, full-frame tear-out), and any ancillary work like trim repair or interior stool and apron replacement. That scope feeds directly into your priced estimate using your saved material cost workspace — your supplier pricing, not generic national averages. Median time from walkthrough to a sendable bid: 8 minutes. You're not filling out a spreadsheet. You're not dictating notes to transcribe later. You're walking the job and leaving with a proposal. ## Pricing That Fits Your Operation - **Free tier** — no credit card, no expiration. Good for solo operators testing the workflow. - **Pro — $39/seat/month** — full estimating suite, saved cost workspaces, AR measurement. - **Elite — $79/seat/month** — adds Stripe Connect invoicing with 0% platform fee, invoice exports for QuickBooks or your accounting stack. - **Crew — $399/month flat** — covers your whole crew, no per-seat math. The Free tier carries a 3% Stripe Connect fee on collected payments. Pro and above: 0%. ## Built for 25 Trades, Deep on Windows Estimate.Pro supports 25 trades. The window and glazing workflow includes line items for rough opening prep, shimming, flashing and weather barrier integration, interior trim, and disposal. If you sub out interior finish work, you can split the scope and send a sub-scope without exposing your full margin. Richmond window contractors are quoting against regional and national window companies that have dedicated estimating staff. You don't need more staff — you need a faster process. An 8-minute bid turnaround means you can quote the same day as the walkthrough, which closes more jobs before the customer gets a second opinion. Start free. No credit card. If the first bid doesn't save you time, you haven't lost anything.