Success Stories
Modern Homes, Inc.
Modern Homes, Inc., located in Lake County, Ill., is a family-owned business specializing in building quality, single-family homes and remodeling work. In business for more than 60 years, the contractor today runs its operations with less than 10 office employees and relies on subcontractors for the field work. It can be a daunting task to coordinate subcontractors needed for the company’s 30-35 new custom home construction projects and remodeling jobs performed each year.
To takeoff and estimate those jobs, Modern Homes used a manual process for 55 years. It was a challenge to rely on subcontractor numbers and costs and estimating with accuracy was always a concern. Brian Lolmaugh who is responsible for estimating and permits for the company decided that his “Excel on steroids” and calculator-based method for estimating was no longer doing an effective job. “It was difficult to keep track of all of the subcontractors and the varying prices,” said Lolmaugh. “We needed more uniformity and accuracy. We needed to automate our estimating process.”
Challenges
The contractor was using a manual process for takeoff and estimating. They found it a challenge to rely on subcontractors’ costs and varying prices. Plus they wanted more uniformity and better accuracy with their estimates.
Solution
Modern Homes utilizes Maxwell Systems™ ProContractorMX™ as its takeoff and estimating software solution to improve accuracy and speed of their processes. Using the software’s digital takeoff capabilities, Modern Homes can easily download plans, count and measure items for a fast takeoff, and then calculate what’s needed from subcontractors. Then they leverage the tailored cost databases and 3-D Visual Assemblies in ProContractorMX to save time and ensure accuracy of their estimates.
Results
A complete takeoff and estimating solution in ProContractorMX allows Modern Homes to have high accuracy and great details to produce on-target estimates.
Brian’s father who owns the business happened to attend a tradeshow where he saw Maxwell Systems demonstrate its seamless software solution for takeoff, estimating, and proposal management. This software, Maxwell Systems™ ProContractorMX™, can also be utilized as a complete, end-to-end solution with job cost accounting and project management capabilities. After considering their business needs and how the software was tailored for construction, father and son decided that ProContractorMX was the tool to streamline their processes and improve accuracy of estimates.

