Walk the backyard, speak the job into your phone, and FastEstimateMaker builds a professional client portal estimate - with a PDF backup - before you're back in the truck. Square footage by material, railing by the foot, stairs by the riser, the deposit collected at signing.
No credit card required. Built for deck and patio builders.
You measured the footprint, counted the risers, and talked through composite versus wood with the homeowner. You know exactly what this deck costs. But now you're sitting in the truck typing it up while the next walkthrough waits - and the client is collecting two other bids.
FastEstimateMaker lets you build and send a professional deck estimate while you're still in the backyard.
No laptop. No office. Just your phone and your voice.
Measure the footprint, count the risers and railing feet. Note the material - pressure-treated, composite, pavers - and what comes out.
"Tear out the old 12 by 20 deck, rebuild in composite, five-riser stair, 40 feet of aluminum railing, include the permit." AI formats the line items with your pricing.
Review and tap send. The homeowner gets a branded client portal link via text - before you leave the backyard.
The homeowner reviews and accepts digitally. You get a notification. Convert to invoice with one tap. Or share your booking link and let them pick a time for the site visit - it lands on your Google Calendar automatically.
FastEstimateMaker's AI understands deck and patio terminology and pricing structures. It knows square footage by material, footings and posts, railing per linear foot, stairs per riser, demolition and haul-away, paver base prep, and permits - and it maps every one onto your own Price Book.
Speak or type something like: "240 square feet of composite, tear out the old wood deck, five-riser stair, 40 feet of aluminum railing, permit included" - and the estimate is built, priced, and ready to send.
Deck quotes happen in the backyard. The homeowner is right there, they have pictures on their phone of what they want, and they are collecting three bids. That's your window to close - the first written number with the deposit link wins more often than the lowest one.
With FastEstimateMaker, you can create and send the estimate from your phone in the time it takes to walk back to your truck. Voice input means you don't need to type - just speak the specs and let AI do the formatting. Text the estimate link to the homeowner's phone right there. They tap it, see a branded professional estimate with your logo and line items, and can accept on the spot.
Every deck builder knows the pattern: quiet winter, then the first warm weekend hits and suddenly you've got 15 walkthroughs booked. That's when leads slip through the cracks - no follow-up, no record of who said "call me back," and a competitor gets the deck.
FastEstimateMaker's CRM catches every estimate you create and tracks it through your pipeline. Filter by status - sent, viewed, followed up, accepted - so you always know which leads need attention. Urgency flags highlight quotes that have been sitting too long. Combined with automated follow-ups, you can handle peak season volume without hiring an office person.
When a homeowner accepts your deck estimate, convert it to a branded invoice with one tap. Same line items, same pricing, same client info - nothing to re-enter. Send it by email or text, and your client can pay online through Stripe or Square directly from the invoice page.
If you've connected QuickBooks or Wave, the invoice syncs to your accounting software automatically. No double-entry.
Composite, railing systems, and stone are ordered to the job, not pulled from stock. Set a deposit as a term of the estimate - a flat amount or a percentage of the job - and it prints on the quote the homeowner reads before agreeing to anything. When they sign, they are prompted to pay it through your own Stripe, PayPal, Square, or Venmo, so the composite and the hardware are covered before you order them. Split the rest into progress and final payments on the same schedule. Included in the $29.99 Solo plan.
Learn more about invoicing & payments →
Learn more about accounting sync (QuickBooks & Wave) →
Decks are a neighborhood business. When one backyard gets a new deck, the neighbors see it from their own. FastEstimateMaker's canvassing mode lets you work a subdivision systematically - knock, log the conversation, and drop a pin so you know who to come back to.
Before the spring push, use the map view to plan canvassing routes by geography around every deck you finish. Every interaction is logged and every interested lead can get an on-the-spot estimate.Text them your booking link right from the canvass popup - they pick a time, and the appointment is in your pipeline.
Draw sales territories on the map and every pin dropped inside a boundary is stamped with it automatically, so two crews never work the same street and you can compare which subdivisions actually convert. Then let the weather tell you where to go: when NOAA logs hail, high wind, or a tornado inside a boundary you drew, a same-day storm alert names the territory that got hit and how many doors you have mapped inside it. Wind wrecks railings and lifts boards - repair and replacement work, and you want to be the first bid on that street. Canvassing, sales territories, and storm alerts are on the Canvass plan at $59.99 per month, plus $19.99 per month for each sales rep.
Learn more about canvassing software →
Learn more about sales territories & storm alerts →
A deck bid is mostly material, and composite boards, pressure-treated lumber, railing systems, and hardware do not hold still. Turn on live material pricing and your quote uses this week's numbers for the boards and the fasteners instead of a price you remember from the last job - so a quote that sits for three weeks is still a quote you can build.
Your own Price Book still wins wherever you have set a number - composite per square foot, railing per foot, stairs per riser, demo, permit - so the live prices fill the gaps, never override your rates, and the materials deposit is collected the moment the homeowner signs.
"Spring hit and I had 20 deck walkthroughs in two weeks. Normally I'd lose half of them just because I couldn't quote fast enough. With FastEstimateMaker I quoted every one from the backyard and collected deposits on eight of them before the composite order went in."
- Brandon M., B&M Decks & Patios, Denver COYes. Our AI is trained on deck and patio terminology - square footage by material, composite and pressure-treated lumber, footings and posts, railing per linear foot, stairs per riser, demolition and haul-away, paver base prep, and permits. Say the job the way you would to a customer and it maps every piece onto priced line items from your own Price Book.
Yes. The pricing catalog lets you save your go-to line items - wood and composite per square foot, railing per foot by material, stairs per riser, demolition per square foot, paver patio per square foot, and the permit line. Browse or search them while you build, so a routine quote is three taps.
Absolutely. FastEstimateMaker is mobile-first. Speak the job details, review the estimate, and text it to the homeowner - all from your phone while you're still on site.
You get a notification immediately. The lead status updates in your CRM. You can convert the accepted estimate to an invoice with one tap and send it by email or text.
Yes. Attach your own contract template to the estimate - permit and inspection terms, materials deposit, HOA approval, change-order language, whatever your jobs need - and the customer signs it on their phone. The signature is stored with the signer's name, timestamp, IP address, and a signing certificate, and both of you get a copy by email. Contracts and e-signature are part of the $29.99 Solo plan.
$29.99/month for the Solo plan - AI estimates, CRM, follow-ups, invoicing, and accounting sync, with no per-estimate fees. Door-to-door canvassing, sales territories, and storm alerts are on the Canvass plan at $59.99/month. 14-day free trial, no credit card required. Seasonal business? Switch to a $5/month Off-Season plan in your slow months - your customer list and booking page stay live, and you resume in one tap.
Not sure what to charge? See our deck building pricing guide for current rates, job benchmarks, and a free pricing calculator, or print the free deck and patio price list PDF and keep it in the truck.
Every hour you spend writing estimates is an hour you're not building. FastEstimateMaker gets the estimate done in 60 seconds so you can get back to the work - and collect the deposit while the homeowner is still in the backyard.
Build a real estimate freeNo credit card required. No contracts. Cancel anytime.
