The founding job
One backyard office, 19 cost lines, and a permit clock.
How an owner-builder in the Texas Hill Country ran a 21-day accessory build — and why the software exists at all.
6/6
INSPECTIONS FIRST-PASS
18/19
LINES IN OR UNDER BAND
+$440
ONLY BAND BREAK (WINDOWS)
The job: a 500-square-foot accessory building — office, storage, three mini-splits, slab-as-floor. The constraint: a 2–4 week plan review running head-to-head against a 3–4 week window lead time. Order too late and framing finishes around holes in the wall.Every line was estimated as a band before bids went out. The windows were flagged at estimate time as the likely line to break band — they did, by $440. Everything else held or came in under. The projected-at-completion number never surprised anyone, which is the entire point.
FROM THE DECISION LOG
JUN 12 — structure: wood, locked — metal bid track dropped.
JUL 2 — HVAC: 3 single-zone heat pumps, owner-supplied — central closed.