Time is money and so is excess material. Saving on both is how Prairie Exteriors has thrived 60+ years in home construction.
Based in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, Prairie Exteriors provides high-quality exterior remodeling and painting for homeowners across the greater Madison area. They focus on siding, roofing, gutters, windows, decks, insulation, and soffit & fascia, and prioritize products that guarantee a real return on investment.
When Prairie gets a customer to invest in quality, they can’t afford waste – whether that’s in time or materials. And that’s where Hover comes in.
“We have to get everything we need on the initial order,” says Luis Madrigal, production manager at Prairie Exteriors. “We can’t be running around getting a vent, pipe boot or flashing that was missed.”
In his role, Luis oversees the entire process from material orders to scheduling to project management and final walk-throughs. He knows all too well how one mistake on a purchase order can result in work delays and material overages.
While Prairie’s sales team was already using Hover for measurements, Luis and his fellow production manager were spending hours per job to create a complete material takeoff. They would manually transfer measurements from Hover to a spreadsheet to create the final project material list, a process that could take up to two hours depending on the interruptions typical of a busy day.
“We had excess siding left on many jobs and most of it was product we couldn’t return,” explained Luis. “Our partner at ABC Supply encouraged us to try Hover’s new Material List solution. Comparing Hover’s Material List with our original spreadsheets seemed like an easy way to see what we were doing wrong.”
Any reservations Luis had about the accuracy of Hover’s numbers were quickly erased. To test it out, Luis compared the spreadsheet he used on already completed jobs versus Hover’s Material List, and any leftover material each produced. With Hover, the savings were significant.
“We’re seeing less waste and excess material, which is helping our bottom line,” added Luis.
Luis credits Hover for his ability to get more done. Between meeting roofing crews on the job at 7AM, driving between jobs, and fielding frequent customer calls, Luis values anything that saves him time.
Hover can produce an accurate Material List in minutes – whether it’s a standard roofing job or a complex siding job with multiple siding materials. Using Hover Material List, he can download a PDF that he can quickly and easily email to his supplier. And, with the ABC Supply integration, he can simply link to his local ABC Supply product catalog and pricing and place the order digitally – without having to use a new system or contact his local rep.
Luis admits to being surprised at how simple and easy it is to create a Material List with Hover. In the field, he relies on the Hover app to find a quick number or verify a measurement. In the office, he easily navigates between measurements, material takeoffs, and material orders. From simple downloads to seamless uploads, Hover removes the burden of manual inputs and calculations. Luis can now focus his time and efforts where they really add value.
“Saving time is huge,” concludes Luis. “As our company keeps growing and we take on more jobs, we’re all going to be more pressed for time. With Hover, I can put together an accurate material list in minutes, not hours, and get the right amount of materials every time.”