Pictometry

user182

Have any of you guys used Pictometry?

They have a program available for CertainTeed Contractors.

I just went out to measure a cut up hip roof with an 11:12 pitch, about 50 squares.

It was too difficult to measurer from on the roof. I did climb on the roof with my Cougar Paw Boots but could not walk around enough to get all the measurements.

I am thinking about using one of these services for this type of roof estimate. Not to replace the onsite visit but to make it easier to get the measurements.

I got a free sample from Eagleview that I thought was good.

How would you say Pictometry compares to Eaqgleview?

Ed the Roofer

Until another one re-opens up after they have had to sue another vendor for using their company name in promotional materials, for the time being I would recommend GEO-Estimator.

They have a less expensive alternative and you can buy bulk quantity discounts.

But, very shortly, the other vendor will re-materialize.

By the way, Eagle-View uses the photos from Pictometry, but they have additional resources for some areas too.

Ed

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user182

Does Geo-Estimator give you the square footage for each side of the roof like Eagleview?

I took a brief look at Pictometry and it looked like you have to outline the area using your mouse. I don’t want to invest my time doing it manually; I’d rather have the provider give me the squarer footage. I’m referring to a cut up hip roof with 20 or more sides.

If it was a gable roof I would just measure it myself.

Broken_Roofer

Geo-Estimator is a much more robust utility compared to Eagleview. Eagleview is a great tool, however, we've run into numerous times when Eagleview came back to us and said they couldn't digitize the image due to overhead obstructions, etc. One of them was the owners house, which I know for a fact has one tree overhead that covers a small portion of the Southwest side of the house.

With Geo-Estimator you will get the report in a day or two, download it to your local computer or network, open the file in their program and begin verifying the information. They want you to verify two items - 1) Roof pitch for ALL roof planes, 2) a reference line. It is incredibly accurate, as is Eagleview; however, Eagleview doesn't allow you to modify their dimensions if they happened to make a small mistake.

Pictometry, on the other hand, is great for flat roofs. I tried for two weeks to navigate that program and get accurate results, on the same house that I measured four times with that tool, I got four different results. Why is it good for flat roofs, if it's not that accurate? Easy, you don't have to try and determine roof pitch on a flat roof - all you need is the slope, which you'll field verify when you make your core cuts.

With any of these systems you still need to go and verify pitch, layers, penetrations, site conditions, etc... that is not why these tools are useful. They allow your salesmen to be more effective and cover less ground in their vehicles, less time having to visit and revisit a jobsite, and also less time figuring, refiguring, calculating, recalculating a job.

So far in the two dozen houses we've used on Geo-Estimator the largest variance we've seen in actual field dimensions was two feet. Which isn't a big variance with respect to the overall project.

FLRoofPro

I use Pictometry combined with Roof-Logic. Pictometry is an excellent tool. I ran comparisons with field measurements prior to signing up and it was very accurate. Great for commercial buildings and works well for residential if the fly-over picture is good. Residential use is more hit and miss due to shadows and trees that may obscure the view needed to do an accurate take-off. I would say I have been able to use it for 60-70% of residential bids, 90-95% of commercial bids.

I give Pictometry a

will@eagleview

Ed,

You say GeoEstimator has a less expensive alternative. Have you tried an Economy report from EV? It's basically the same as either of Geo's products. With all the reports the client enters the pitch and then square footage is calculated.

GeoEstimator's price ranges from $24.95 to $89.95 (with up to a 25% discount for volume) for this service depending on how many regions a roof has and how much detail (ridge and valley lengths for example) you want on the report.

EagleView's price for an Economy report is always $35.00. Subcription price for an Economy varies on volume but ranges from $20.00 to $27.00. That is a flat price for all reports.

If your suggesting Geo's Complete reports are less expensive than EV's Premium report I'd say it's pretty equal, with all discounts figured in for each company depending on the size of the roof Geo's Complete report would cost anywhere from $22.46 to $67.46. EagleView's Premium report would cost anywhere from $20.00 to $60.00. Not to mention EagleView's Premium product is the only report to include pitch. Making it the most accurate and widely accepted report available.


Broken Roofer,

In the rare occasion EagleView makes a "small mistake" just call us up and we'll verify the mistake and get it fixed for you right away. The idea is no matter who hands you an EagleView report (homeowner, adjuster, roofer, etc) you can always trust it's accuracy. We don't allow our clients to go in and change our measurements after the fact.

Imagine an insurance adjuster with GeoEstimator's report he "feels the measurements were too high" so he goes in and manually overrides all the square footage totals to what he thinks they should be. That costs you money and we won't stand for it. I'm not making this story up either, we occasionally have clients call us and tell us that they think our measurements are off because they measured the house across the street and it was bigger/smaller. Or because they think the house is bigger/smaller without actually having been on the roof. We don't want anyone changing our measurements based on their feelings, our measurements have been tested and verified 98-100% accurate time and time again.

That's why insurance companies will always accept an EagleView report, but we've heard from some of our clients that some insurance companies won't except Geo reports because they can be tampered with.

Ed the Roofer

Now that the industry is expanding, there are sources, based on volume pricing, that offer these measurement services for between #3.00 to $5.00 per roof measurement from what I have discovered.

Now, can they remain viable and profitable at that price point to remain in existence?

Time will cull the herd.

Also, if someone wanted their own proprietary software, just for their own use, it can be had for less than $1,000.00

One thing i have not checked into, is Google Earth Pro version, because of the fee just to subscribe to it, which if I recall correctly, was $490.00

But, with Google Earth Pro and Sketchup, you can create your own CAD drawings with the measurements and I believe the Pro version grants higher resolution, if that is the correct term, so that would be interesting to find someone who wanted to use that for themselves.

Ed

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Roof Estimates, Roof Repairs, Roofers, Roof Leak Help, Elgin, Carpentersville, East Dundee, West Dundee, Sleepy Hollow, Algonquin, South Elgin, Huntley, Lake In The Hills, Illinois

carson3

Have you guys tried Skytek Imaging for roof measurements? they seem to be really to the point and very affordably priced.

carson3

Will, that's not true, Eagleview is not the only report to provide pitch. Skytek's reports provide pitch also.

Ed the Roofer

I would if the blonde from the site contacts me.

I briefly spoke with Wendy over the phone when she was at the IRE this past winter.

Ed

__________________
Just Wait A Minute, I Will Be Right Back With A Link For That.
http://www.rightwayroofingcompany.com/ www.rightwayroofingcompany.com
Roof Estimates, Roof Repairs, Roofers, Roof Leak Help, Elgin, Carpentersville, East Dundee, West Dundee, Sleepy Hollow, Algonquin, South Elgin, Huntley, Lake In The Hills, Illinois