About us
Better bids start with visible math.
FieldBid Tools builds free estimating tools that help field service contractors turn production rates, crew time, and real business costs into clearer bids.
Who builds this
Built by Jordan Voss
FieldBid Tools is built and maintained by Jordan Voss, a tools developer focused on turning estimating math into calculators that contractors can actually edit and trust. Jordan is not a painting contractor. The production rates, labor benchmarks, and formulas on this site are compiled from published industry labor guides, contractor associations, and direct feedback from painting contractors who use the calculators and report back what their real numbers look like.
That distinction matters: every default value on this site is labeled as a starting benchmark, not a guarantee, and every calculator is built so a contractor with real jobsite experience can override the defaults with their own numbers in seconds. The goal is not to claim field expertise FieldBid Tools doesn't have. It's to make the math transparent enough that someone who does have that expertise can quickly check it and correct it.
Why we built FieldBid Tools
Many service estimates begin with a price copied from another contractor or an old job. That can hide costly differences in prep, crew productivity, labor burden, overhead, materials, access, and schedule restrictions. Our tools make those assumptions visible so contractors can adjust them using their own experience.
Where we are starting
The first category is painting because labor hours, production rates, and bid margins are common pain points. Future categories are only added once there is a dedicated calculator and methodology for that trade, not as a placeholder.
Our principles
Calculations run locally in your browser, inputs are not stored by us, and the method behind each result is explained in plain language. We provide practical planning estimates without pretending that one formula can replace a jobsite visit or professional judgment.
How the site is funded
FieldBid Tools may display advertising in the future. Advertising helps keep the tools free, but advertisers do not influence our calculations or educational content. Sponsored content, if ever published, will be clearly identified.
Who this site is for
Built for small contractors who need clear estimating math
FieldBid Tools is designed for owners, estimators, and crew leaders who need a practical way to check labor assumptions before sending a quote. The site focuses on the steps that often get skipped in quick bids: production rate, crew size, labor burden, overhead, materials, and profit.
We start with painting because it is a common service category where small changes in preparation or access can strongly affect labor. The same approach can later support other field service trades, but each category should have its own method instead of reused generic pages.
Review approach
How new tools and guides are added
Every tool on FieldBid Tools is expected to expose the assumptions behind the result. A page should not only show a number; it should explain the inputs, the formula, the limits, and the field conditions that can change the answer. This is why the site includes calculators, worked examples, methodology notes, production-rate guidance, and estimate checklists.
When a calculator is added, we look for three questions: what job decision does it support, what assumptions can a contractor edit, and what should the contractor verify before using the result in a proposal? Pages that cannot answer those questions do not belong in the estimating library.
The site does not claim to replace a professional estimator. Its value is in making the estimating conversation more concrete: how many hours, what production rate, what loaded labor cost, what material allowance, what overhead recovery, and what scope notes should be reviewed before a price leaves the contractor's desk.