STACK - Avis

The Items & Assemblies feature of STACK Pro allow us to create estimates that are accurate and detail focused.

Although STACK has already started deploying hot keys in their estimating software, we would really like to see a "DELETE" hot key. We also think having the ability to move drawing tabs around in the plan screen (similar to how one can move Google Chrome tabs in their browser) would help keep drawings in-order if they have been opened out of sequence.

The customer support is top notch with instant and clear replies with real people. The learning curve for creating takeoff's is very user friendly.

The proposal generation is limited on what you can show or customize with the layout.

The trainer was knowledgeable and polite, but software itself was clunky and over complicated. Too many options with slight variations for the same things.

My experience with Stack’s customer service has been the worst I have ever encountered. I am a new business owner in the construction industry in Florida. We do have a good network of clients, but it is small, and I told the salesman that I only do a handful of new builds a year and I could not justify Stack’s high yearly rate. The “demo” for stack only comes with 10 measurements and he insisted I would see the value once I had full access the system. He also offered a 25% discount if I completed the sale with him on the phone (a tactic to push you into a rushed decision which I stupidly fell for). I said I would try it out and we went through the purchasing process. Again, feeling as though I was against the clock and trying to rush through while on the phone, I did not click the terms and conditions link. I was then set up for 3 trainings, each an hour long. A lot of training, for an easy-to-use program…After the first training it became abundantly clear this program would bring no value to my company. No harm no foul right? I contacted the Customer service rep and informed them that, as I thought, this program was not right for me, and I would like a refund. It was inside a week, and I had not produced anything close to a useable quote. I stay very busy, and do not have time to take classes on how to constantly update this software. I was contacted a day or so later by [SENSITIVE CONTENT] to inform me that, even though it is against their policy to issue ANY refunds

Uploading plans, maneuvering through plans, ease of takeoffs, tremendous support and creation of proposals.

They now have the ability to use on a cell phone, but it is an addt' fee and pretty steep. The software is already pricey (worth it) but the fact that you have to pay more for a feature it should come with is frustrating.

Anyone who can operate a computer can get into the program and start doing takeoffs immediately.

It would really be helpful for there to be a go-back/undo function. I wish there were some more filter options. Most all of these have been listed by our team on the feature requests.

The functions and takeoff procedures has really helped speed up my takeoff process.

The web based software sometimes leads to lags/glitches when zooming in and out. If you zoom in and do your take off then zoom out to continue your takeoff it does not start your take off right away, and you have to click twice to initiate the new takeoff.

Stack allowed us to quickly make the switch from more costly and out of date software. It's platform independence means we can access our files from the field anytime. The low learning curve means I can have assistants up and running in a day or two.

Dependence on Microsoft Excel for reports

The capability to pull any plan up from anywhere as long as I have internet connection. I have used it in several impromptu meetings with clients, Gc's, and our own crew. We aren't tethered to a specific computer source. A search tool in the plans makes finding the finicky details very easy.

No overlay option for addendum's and no Arch tool which is just time consuming make a ton of little clicks.

Fast, easy to set up and start using, very user friendly, fast knowledgable customer support

Is a bit more expensive than similar products, but you can be up and using Stack in less than an hour.

I purchased stack mainly for it's ability to produce quick estimates for construction projects, and it does just that. It is easy to measure and create estimates for large and small projects.

Breaking down the project by material cost and creating a proposal with all of the information has been the most difficult part of using stack. The process is complicated with many steps and I hope to gain more insight because this is a very important part.

We love stack for our takeoffs. Cloud service is an essential service as we like to open plans from multiple workstations and conference rooms. We also have multiple estimators who frequently work from home. This software is extremely useful for all of those circumstances. The software itself is intuitive and easy to use.

The only thing that really bothers me is just load speed of plans.

Foe years I had thought about utilizing a symbol based estimating take off software because we were moving from paper to the digital world. I randomly found this online about 9 months ago. It is everything I would have done. It makes sense because it stores all your basis of the estimate information electronically and you no lounger have to use paper. The cost of Paper alone pays for the service as I estimate in our business model that each contracts salesman was expending roughly $5,000 per year in document printing. The other benefit for us is that because it is electronically stored we no longer have to go through our offices every three months and disposed of all the paper on projects we did not get. Or God knows you deep six a project and the following week you get a call to review the project for contracting and other than your estimate spread sheet you have no visual layout to look at for reference. So you print it out again and then re lay out the devices and bulk materials.

For me it actually does everything I want it to do other than integration into actual building of estimates. I know that we have that capability but this a cost intensive project for each contractor. Obviously this is not a deal breaker though and perhaps in the future you could offer templates that are patterned after specific industries which would lower the cost of developing the complete estimating solution.

First and foremost, I enjoy the takeoff speed and accuracy Stack affords our estimating department. Simply by clicking a link on a plan exchange site, or quickly uploading plans, we can begin a highly detailed accurate takeoff in minutes if not seconds. Likewise, we can complete our takeoff much faster than traditional methods saving valuable time to analyze our bids post takeoff.

Like any good cost hawk, I would highlight price as my least favorite aspect of Stack Software; though I will say the product represents good value for the price! I would like to see Stack offer the complete product in one package, without the present tiered pricing.

Constant Upgrades, high level of customer service, user friendly and very detailed reports and takeoffs.

You cannot copy an entire project. Also, you can't download all the plans at once. You are able to export marked up files but if you want to download the entire plans that you have uploaded (in case you deleted the original files) you will have to select each plan to download; very time consuming.

I love how easy STACK is to use. I literally can hop on my computer and generate a takeoff and reports of a pretty complex drawing within minutes. I don't have to calculate anything, as this software does the math for me. Additionally, I haven't had to ever use technical support for STACK because it's always live and working when I am, but there is always a button to talk to a representative present on the screen in case I do run into trouble. Another thing I love, is that it's online browser-based, and I never have to worry about saving anything. It automatically saves wherever I have left off on a project. Speaking of projects, STACK also allows one to organize different projects on it's calendar very easily, and things can also be edited/changed/deleted efficiently. Without STACK my job would be a lot harder, and take a lot longer. I'm not even sure that I've taken advantage of everything that STACK has to offer, but as you can see, I am thrilled for what I use it for. I am fairly new to this application, and career, but as you can see, I love it. I'm sure it has paid for itself many times over.

Sometimes STACK can lag a bit, but I'm willing to say that it has to do with some of the drawings/prints that I have had to upload there, and not necessarily the fault of the STACK application.

Stack is a great product for doing takeoffs efficiently and at a great price. The features that come with it are great, and they are constantly adding new ones.
I love the fact that you get immediate attention from the developers whenever you have a question or comment. The only thing better than their product it the customer service!

It can be a little buggy when using different browsers. If I remember correctly , I was using Firefox and had problems, they told me to switch to Chrome, and when I started getting comfortable with Chrome I started having issues and they told me to switch to Firefox! I currently use Chrome, and there can occasionally be a little bug here or there (ex. trying to select one of my items to edit - hint: use the multiselect!).

The program is easy to use out of the box/ The real magic is in the custom assemblies. You can create anything you're looking for. At first, these custom assemblies are cumbersome to set up. But once they are set up, taking off a project is almost automated. Add in some nifty features like different scales on the same drawing page, multipliers for different layers, multitool select for deleting and copying... We are very happy with this product for on-screen take-offs. The new excel template recently released is also great.

Honestly, there's always going to be something an end user wants but most of the things we want are things that are too difficult to apply universally. For example, we would love to see the ability to alter pricing and structure of existing assemblies but the only way to do that is to make it custom. We understand why, because all users draw from these assemblies. What would be nice is to copy groups within a stack assembly.

I do somewhat like the software and will continue to use it. Autocount can be a great feature but is not worth it right now.

Uploading drawings they do not stay in the order of the original pdf. Printing takeoffs they do not EVER print in a logical order and I have to spend extra time to organize the drawings. No set Library, there needs to be a set library where I can edit things without being in a project. Autocount is a cool feature but has SO many bugs that it makes it not worth it. I have had a lot of issues with how long it takes to upload drawings lately and the software seems to run slow even when I am just doing a takeoff. The way reports export in excel makes it not even worth it to use that function. I understand every company is different with how they need reports so it would be nice if like other softwares you can pick exactly what you want to export or see on the report. i.e Quickbooks does great at this. I have stopped using chat because I always get the answer that the software had an upgrade or there are large amounts of people uploading documents. Hopefully as the company grows that can get fixed. I had 2 projects in one day not ever load.

Stack has made migrating to new construction a breeze. We were putting pencil to paper to measure off printed plans which was expensive and prone to errors which could make or break a winning bid. With Stack a lot of the human errors are erased from the mix.

I'm still trying to figure out how to compile a bid straight out of Stack.

I can get an answer quickly, when asked.

Read the review. It locks up, and I have to keep re-naming drawings that have downloaded.

Relatively short learning curve and ease of use. Like that it is cloud based.

Would like to be able to rotate drawings as sometimes we receive drawings in the incorrect viewing mode. Would also like to be able re-arrange the header drawing tabs in different order than in the sequence they are opened. Would like to see a double tiered drawing tab header instead of having to click and scroll to see additional opened drawings. Also would like to add to or modify the text within a header drawing tab to by right clicking to rename an opened drawing we reference frequently. Would like to see a separate storage area for projects we are actively bidding vs. those for which bids have already been submitted. Would like see a progress/status bar within the project name tab that a user could indicate current project and also indicate if the project bid have been complete and/or submitted.

Stack has a very simple learning curve. It's basically a point and click software that allows you to perform take-offs quickly and easily, no matter your experience level. The software also enables you to add pre-loaded or customized items and assemblies to your take-offs so you can create estimates as as you go, saving tons of time on each bid. Perhaps most importantly, their customer service is phenomenal. I have never had a problem getting ahold of a representative, and they usually answer my question or solve my issue within minutes of me reaching out.

Their estimating/proposal templates could be made more customizable rather than restricting you to only detailed labor and material pricing or unit pricing options, but they offer the ability to transfer any of your reports to Xcel where you can do that yourself, so it really isn't a huge issue.

Simple enough to work through takeoffs quickly, strong enough to handle breakdown and summaries, and customized categories and labeling.

We use Stack largely for takeoffs in conjunction with other software for preparing our final estimates. For those who may want functionality beyond takeoff and basic cost estimates that we utilize in the program, you will need to consult with the staff and evaluate that functionality for your own goals. For how we use it, it works well.

Ability to takeoff entire wall assembly by clicking the wall once.

Estimates work sheets could be improved, by having the ability to separate Categories.
Also ability to choose different ACT grids.

It's easy to use and it keeps all your work available to pull back up at a later date. Everything can be color coded and made as simple or as complex as needed.

I am not a fan of only being able to log one computer in at a time. There should be a business version that allows for multiple users on the same login or all have access to the same plans downloaded.