Drop in the square footage and RootControl returns the full bill of materials, wastage and compaction included. AI estimate lines stay locked to your real catalog SKUs.
Plant work has a stable mental model: install, mow, prune, fertilize. Hardscape doesn't. Every job rewrites the materials list, and every materials list has a substrate you can't see in the final photo. That's where margin disappears.
The estimator types the paver line from memory, forgets the 4–6″ of compacted base under it, and now the foreman has to ask the customer for a change order on day two. Margin gone, trust frayed.
"Add 15%, that should cover it." Sometimes it does; sometimes the cut pattern is unforgiving and you eat the pallet. Other times wastage is over-padded by 40% and the proposal loses to a competitor who didn't pad as hard.
Belgard, Techo-Bloc, Unilock all have their own SKUs, their own coverage rates, their own pallet quantities. The supplier-name string gets typed differently every time. AI estimating tools that don't know your real catalog will happily invent SKUs that don't exist.
The catalog does the math. The AI assists. You stay in the loop on every line that ships.
One click loads a starter library: 15 SKUs across Belgard, Techo-Bloc, and Unilock, plus generic base aggregate, bedding sand, and polymeric sand. Pricing is blank by design so you set it once for your region. Already have a master spreadsheet? Drop in a CSV; the same SKU re-imported skips cleanly, so no duplicate rows.
Enter the project area on any material and the calculator returns every layer the install needs: surface units, base aggregate (compaction factor built in), bedding sand, and polymeric sand. Wastage is capped at 50% with a warning over 25%, and wall blocks and cap stones skip the paver prep layers automatically.
Ask the AI to draft hardscape lines and it can only pick SKUs that exist in your catalog: no invented part numbers, no spec drift. The lines drop in as drafts, tagged as AI suggestions so you can tell what came from the assistant and what came from you.
When the estimate has a paver line, the scrubber checks three patterns: missing base, missing bedding, excessive wastage. Each flag is advisory and surfaces on the estimate review panel. Add the missing layer and the warning clears instantly, no spinner.
An illustrative bill of materials returned by the takeoff calculator. Numbers below are a worked example with a generic Belgard-style paver; your own catalog's coverage rates and prices drive the math when you run it.
Coverage 0.95 sqft/unit · base depth 4″ · compaction factor 1.25 · 10% wastage
| Layer | Quantity | Unit | Subtotal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paver surface (Belgard-class) | 278 | units | $1,946 |
| Base aggregate (4″ depth, compaction included) | 3.7 | cu yd | $148 |
| Bedding sand (1″ depth) | 0.74 | cu yd | $44 |
| Polymeric sand | 4 | bags | $140 |
| Materials subtotal | $2,278 |
Per-material takeoff PDF available from the same modal. Foremen take the PDF to the job; estimators send the catalog PDF as a leave-behind.
All wired together so the hardscape side of your business runs out of one place: catalog management, takeoff math, AI estimating, scrubber rules, PDF outputs, landscape lighting design, and water feature tracking.
A catalog scoped to your shop: manufacturers, coverage, base depth, bedding depth, wastage percent, pack size, and pricing. Seeded with Belgard, Techo-Bloc, and Unilock starter SKUs plus generic prep materials.
Area times material in, full bill of materials out. Surface units from the SKU's coverage rate, base aggregate with compaction built in, bedding sand, polymeric sand. Wastage capped at a sane number so a typo doesn't ship.
Ask the AI to draft hardscape lines for a job. It can only pick SKUs that exist in your catalog: no invented part numbers, no catalog drift. Lines drop into the estimate as drafts you accept or reject.
Three checks fire when a paver line is on the estimate: missing base, missing bedding, excessive wastage. Each is advisory (you decide what ships), but the omissions surface on the review panel so they don't make it out the door.
Two PDFs from the same catalog. The full catalog grouped by category for handing a customer a menu, and the per-material takeoff with surface, base, bedding, polymeric sand and the materials subtotal.
Download a header-only template, the full current catalog as a CSV, or upload a CSV to bulk-import. Re-importing the same row twice skips the duplicate cleanly, so a spreadsheet is a safe source of truth.
Design low-voltage lighting systems on properties: build wiring plans, place fixtures from your catalog, and let the calculators verify transformer load and voltage drop before anyone pulls a cable.
Ponds, fountains, and waterfalls become serviceable property assets. Track equipment, flag what needs attention, and let RootControl create the maintenance jobs automatically.
Manage the full permit lifecycle for hardscape jobs: retaining walls, drainage tie-ins, footings. Track status, schedule inspections, get expiration alerts, and optionally block work from starting until the permit is approved.
When a hardscape job completes, RootControl automatically creates a workmanship warranty and one manufacturer warranty per brand on the estimate. Default terms are configurable for your company and per manufacturer. Customers see their coverage in the Client Hub and can file claims directly.
Want to see a takeoff turn into a full bill of materials? Book a demo.
"AI estimating" is a crowded category. Most of it doesn't survive the first hardscape proposal.
The hardscape catalog, takeoff, AI estimate lines, lighting plans, water-feature tracking, and auto-created warranties are on every plan: Solo, Crew, Professional, and Enterprise. Job permits and water-feature maintenance scheduling are Professional features.
Area and the chosen material drive a full bill of materials. For pavers, each layer is one row on the BOM with quantity, unit, and computed subtotal:
Wall blocks and cap stones skip the paver prep stack because their installation profile is different: you don't pour a polymeric sand layer under a wall.
No. The empty-state on the Hardscape Catalog page surfaces a Load Starter Library button.
When a paver line is present, the scrubber checks for three patterns:
All three flags are advisory; you still control what goes out.
Yes, two of them.
30-minute walkthrough. Bring a real project area and a real paver you'd quote it in. We'll load the starter library, run the takeoff, and ship the AI-drafted lines through the scrubber before the call ends.
Prefer to explore on your own? Start your 15-day free trial, no charge today.