# Bid a paving job from the aerial

> The Paving section takes a parking lot or driveway from an address to a signed proposal, a scheduled job and a paid invoice, with a takeoff on the aerial.

The **Crewtavo - Paving** app adds a **Paving** section to the menu. It walks one job through five steps on one page: **Takeoff**, **Estimate**, **Proposal**, **Schedule** and **Invoice**. Each step uses the same quote, job and invoices as the rest of Crewtavo, so nothing is typed twice.

:::tip
Don't see **Paving** in the menu? An owner or admin can open **Apps**, choose **Crewtavo - Paving** and choose **Install**. Any business can install it, whatever its trade, and Roofing too: your trade in **Settings → Company** only picks your starter prices and terms. **Uninstall** takes Paving out of the menu and keeps every takeoff and estimate. See [Install and manage apps](https://crewtavo.com/docs/connections/apps/).
:::

## 1. Start a takeoff

1. Open **Paving** and click **New takeoff**.
2. Pick the client, or type a new name and choose **Create … as a new client**.
3. Pick the property, or choose **Add an address**.
4. Give the project a name if you like, such as "Lot sealcoat and restripe", and click **Start the takeoff**.

The measuring map fills the page at the property, ready to find the paving (see below), with **Takeoff items**, **Shapes** and the totals in the panel on its right. The arrow at the top of the panel hides it for more map; **Takeoff** in the corner brings it back. On a phone the panel is under the map.

## 2. Measure the lot

Pick an item in **Takeoff items**, then draw it on the map. Everything you draw is that item until you pick another one, and each item has its own color.

- **Pavement:** **Asphalt**, **Concrete** and **Gravel** are areas. Click each corner, then the first one again to close it.
- **Sealcoat and repair:** **Sealcoat area** (only when part of the lot is being sealed; otherwise all the asphalt is), **Patch**, **Mill and overlay** and **Crack seal** (draw along the cracks).
- **Striping:** a **Stall row** is a line along the front of a row of stalls. It counts one stall every 9 ft and the 18 ft lines between them, so a row of 40 stalls is one line, not 40 taps. Tap single **Stall** and **ADA stall** spaces, draw **White**, **Yellow**, **Blue** and **Red lines**, **Crosswalks** and **Stop bars**, and tap **Arrows** and **Stencils or symbols**.
- **Curb and site:** **Curb** is a line; **Wheel stops**, **Bollards**, **Speed bumps** and **Drains** are counts. **All items** shows the ones that aren't listed yet.

Use **Cut out** to leave islands and buildings out of the asphalt. Each item's total shows in the list, in square feet or square yards (**SF** and **SY**). To change what a shape is, pick another item in its row under **Shapes**.

### Let Find paving outline it

**Find paving** outlines the pavement for you, free and with no account. It's the first tool on the left of the map (**Find**, with the sparkle, or press B), and a new paving takeoff opens on it:

1. Click two corners of a box around the lot. The map still moves as usual between clicks.
2. Drag the box's corners to fit, if you like.
3. Press **Outline**, on the map under the box (or press Enter). The outline follows the lot's edges inside the box, parked cars included, with buildings left out.

It outlines as the item shown on the banner over the map (**Asphalt** unless you picked another), and the banner has what you need to get the outline right:

- **Add**: tap anything it missed, and it's added to the same outline. For a drive or sidewalk, a tap on it is often all you need.
- **Take out**: tap an island, a building or anything else that doesn't belong, and it's cut out. Holding Option (Alt on Windows) while you tap does the same.
- **Box**: put another box round a lot; **Clear box** takes one away to start again.
- **Smaller** and **Bigger** swap the last tap for the model's next guess.
- **New outline** finishes this one, so the next box or tap starts another.
- **Done** (or Esc) finishes and switches to **Edit**, so you can drag any corners that are off.

**Find paving** under **Takeoff items** starts it too. Under it, **Find everything in view with fal.ai** outlines all the asphalt and concrete on the map at once and counts stalls, at about half a cent per thing it finds. See [Find paving with fal.ai](https://crewtavo.com/docs/connections/fal/).

Where OpenStreetMap has the parking lot mapped, one tap outlines the whole lot, and buildings mapped there are cut out of every outline (a grey roof looks a lot like pavement). Find paving runs on your own computer, tablet or phone, so the aerial isn't sent anywhere; it only asks OpenStreetMap what's mapped around the view. The first time, it downloads a model of about 60 to 75 MB once your first box is drawn, and the model then stays in the browser.

:::note
Find paving is quickest in a browser that can use the graphics card (WebGPU): Chrome, Edge, and Safari 26 or later. There, each box takes under a second. In other browsers it runs on the processor instead and takes about 10 seconds for each, and the banner says so.
:::

Check every outline against the imagery. A row of cars parked along a curb can end up just outside the outline, and a cluster of parked cars can come out as a cutout: tap it with **Add** to put it back, or drag the corners.

Click **Save measurement**. The saved picture becomes a **takeoff sheet**: the drawing on the aerial with a graphic scale bar marked in feet, a north arrow, your business, the project and address, the date, the imagery credit, and a legend with every item's quantity. The scale bar stays true however the sheet is printed. Then click **Next: Estimate**.

## 3. Price the estimate

The **Estimate** step lists the services in your price list whose formula reads what the takeoff measured, each with its quantity and price.

1. Under **What's the asphalt getting?**, choose **Sealcoat it**, **Pave it** or **Neither**, so sealcoat or new hot-mix (and its stone base) is suggested, not both. For paving, set the **Depth (in)**.
2. Tick each service to put it on the estimate, or click **Add all … to the estimate**.

The estimate shows each line's quantity, price, cost, total and margin, then the cost, price, profit and margin of the whole job. If the takeoff changes, click **Update quantities from the takeoff**. For discounts, optional add-ons, deposits and notes, click **Adjust on the quote**.

:::note
Each service prices from a formula in **Settings → Price list**, like `sealcoat_sqft` for sealcoat or `stripe_ft` for striping. **Paving → Price book** adds the standard paving services your price list is missing, with starting prices and costs to change to your own. **Using formulas** on the price list shows every value a takeoff gives.
:::

### Offer two or three options

Once the estimate has lines, you can offer packages side by side, like a sealcoat and restripe next to a mill and overlay. Click **Offer options** in the bar above the services and pick packages you've set up under **Settings → Packages**. The estimate as it is becomes option 1, and each package becomes another. See [Offer Good, Better and Best options](https://crewtavo.com/docs/sales/good-better-best-options/).

Each option is then a tab. The services you tick go on the option you're looking at: beside "What you tick goes", choose **Only on** that option or **On every option**. The totals are for the option you're looking at.

## 4. Send the proposal

Turn on **Show the takeoff sheet on the proposal** so the client sees exactly what you're bidding. **Preview what the client sees** opens it as they will. Click **Send the proposal**: the client opens it on any phone or computer, chooses one of the options if you offer them, picks any optional items and signs, with no account needed.

## 5. Schedule and invoice

Once it's signed, click **Create the job**. The estimate's lines become the job's scope; with options, the lines of the option the client chose. If a client with options said yes another way, click **mark it approved on the quote** and pick their option first. **Schedule the visits** puts it on a crew's day.

Under **Invoice**, **Create an invoice** opens the job's invoice options: a deposit, progress or final invoice. Clients pay online from their link, and each invoice shows here with its status.

## Projects

**Paving** lists your open projects with what was measured, the price and the stage: **Estimate**, **Ready to send**, **Proposal sent**, **Changes requested**, **Won**, **Job** or **Done**. **All** shows lost and finished ones too. A project that offers options shows how many, and its price from the cheapest one ("From $12,400") until the client chooses.

For how these takeoffs compare with paid aerial takeoffs, see [Free paving takeoffs](https://crewtavo.com/free-paving-takeoff/). Everything else Crewtavo does for a paving company is on [Paving and sealcoating software](https://crewtavo.com/paving-software/).

Source: https://crewtavo.com/docs/measuring/paving-takeoffs/ (last updated 2026-11-04)
