What contractors ask before they send a bid.
Straight answers. If yours isn't here, email me and I'll add it.
Do I have to change how I price bids?
No. Price the job where you price it now. Buildertrend, a spreadsheet, Word, paper. It doesn’t matter.
When you’re done, send me the file. There’s nothing to connect and nothing new to learn.
I already make proposals in Buildertrend. Does this replace it?
No. Keep pricing the job in Buildertrend. When the estimate is done, export it and send me the file.
What comes back is a page about the job that your customer can read on a phone. Your prices stay exactly as you wrote them.
Can it get my prices wrong?
No. The AI never writes a price. Every number comes from your file or from you.
Each subtotal is checked against yours, to the cent. If something doesn’t add up, it stops and tells you first. You can change any number yourself.
Can I change it before it goes out?
Yes. You read it before your customer does. Change any word, any number or any photo.
Nothing is sent to your customer until you send it.
Will it look like everyone else’s?
No. It has your logo, your colors, and your own photos and reviews.
You also pick how the cover is laid out and how the pages look. I set all of that up with you, so it looks like your company.
Is this the contract?
No. It’s the proposal. It explains the job and the price so your customer can decide.
It ends by saying the full contract comes next. There’s nothing on it for them to sign, so you send your own contract the way you do now.
What if I send something with a mistake in it?
Before it goes out, you can have it read through. It points out things like a word spelled wrong, or one page saying something is included when another page says it isn’t.
It only points. It doesn’t change your words, and you decide what to fix. I read each of your first five myself too.
What does my customer need to open it?
A phone or a computer. It’s a web page they open from a link. They don’t need an app or a login.
There’s a PDF button on the page if they want one. You can still email them the PDF yourself.
My customers are older. Will they open a link?
If they can open a text or an email, they can open it. It’s a web page, so there’s nothing to install and no password.
If they’d rather hold paper, there’s a PDF button on the page and it prints on regular paper. You can also print it and hand it over yourself.
Won’t this mean more back-and-forth with my customers?
They can ask about any part right on the page. Their questions come to you in one email, with the part they asked about, so you know what they mean.
You answer the way you always do, by phone or by email.
What do I have to set up?
Nothing. Send me your website and a few old proposals. I set it up myself: your logo, your colors, the words you always use.
There’s no form to fill in, and you don’t have to sit through a call.
I’m not a computer guy. Can I use it?
Yes. I set it up and build your first five myself. You read them on your phone or computer like any web page.
If you want to change something, click on the words and type.
Who do I talk to when I get stuck?
Me. I’m Paul, and I built Finishwork. Email contact@cresalto.com and I’ll write back myself.
How long does it take?
You get each proposal back within three business days of sending the file. Usually sooner.
What kind of work is it for?
Bids for whole projects that get compared: general contractors, remodelers, concrete, framing, foundations. Jobs that take some explaining.
It isn’t for service calls, repairs, or quotes that are one line and a number. If that’s your work, you don’t need this.
What happens after the five?
You keep using it. The five are the ones I build for you by hand. After that the account is yours to work in, and it stays free the whole time we’re in beta.
If you’d rather I built the sixth one too, send it.
What does it cost?
Nothing while we’re in beta, and there’s no card. If the five don’t make a difference, walk away with the PDF of every one I built.
You’ll hear about a price from me before you hear it anywhere else. The first companies in keep this setup for good. So when there is a price, it won’t be yours.
Something else? Write to contact@cresalto.com. I read every one.