It started with a stack of quotes on a truck dashboard.
Visual Estimate began with a working deck builder. Most evenings ended the same way—at the kitchen table, measuring tape and a legal pad out, turning the day’s site visits into quotes long after the crew had gone home. The homeowners he met wanted a number that night. By the time a typed-up estimate landed in their inbox two or three days later, half of them had already signed with whoever answered first.
That bugged us. A fair, honest quote shouldn’t be the thing that loses you the job—and a homeowner shouldn’t have to wait a week and chase three contractors just to learn whether a project is even in their budget.
He wasn’t better. He was just faster to a number.
So we built the tool he wished he’d had: a visual estimator that turns a real project—material, size, railings, stairs, the works—into an itemized number in about a minute, using the same pricing a contractor would. For homeowners, that means an honest range with no phone tag and no pressure. For contractors, it’s a branded quoting machine that works on their own website while they sleep, and turns every late-night “what would this cost?” into a tracked lead waiting in the morning.
We’re still building it the same way we started—next to the people who do the work, with numbers we’d stand behind on our own homes.
Three things we build around.
Honest numbers
A realistic range, shown plainly—no bait pricing, no surprises after the visit.
Real craftsmanship
Built with working contractors, using the materials and options they actually quote.
Tech that gets out of the way
Fast, simple tools—so the focus stays on the work, not the software.
A real number, no phone tag.
Price your project, see the breakdown, and reach out to local pros when you’re ready.
Quote 24/7, lose no leads.
A branded estimator on your site and every quote tracked as a lead.
Visual Estimate works nationwide.
From the first deck quote to the latest, we serve homeowners and contractors across all 50 states.
Browse locations →Built by people who do the work.
Joshua Harden · FounderJoshua Harden
Deck builder · 18 years on the tools
“I wanted homeowners to get the same honest number I’d give a neighbor—without the week of phone tag.”
Joshua started Visual Estimate after years of quoting decks by hand. Every feature traces back to a real jobsite problem—which is why the pricing, the options, and the breakdowns all read like a contractor wrote them. Because one did.
Fluxent Technologies
Our engineering partner—they keep the estimator fast, the pricing protected, and the dashboard reliable, so the team can stay focused on the trades.