Control and site prep
Control points and benchmarks, clearing limits, silt fence, tree protection.
StakeTally · survey staking estimator
Drop the plans in. Get the staking proposal out. With the math shown.
StakeTally reads a civil plan set or a plat, counts every construction staking need, prices it with your firm’s own rate card and volume discounts, and writes a client-ready proposal, an Excel workbook and a CSV. A Windows application from the makers of VDC Custom CAD Tools. No account, no sign-in, nothing phones home.
Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit. Unzip and run; nothing installs to Program Files. Trial outputs are marked TRIAL, NOT FOR PROJECT USE.
The proposal it writes
A sample, from the sample estimate the app ships with. Your header and logo, the scope by item, the price with the discount and mobilization lines, then assumptions, exclusions, items to confirm and signature blocks on page two.
The grid you confirm
Every line shows the quantity, the stakes it becomes, both prices, where it came from and how sure the reader was. Yellow cells are yours to edit; the summary recomputes as you type.
What it reads
| Source | What you get | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| LandXML (Civil 3D, Carlson, Trimble Business Center export) | Alignment lengths and curve points, parcel and unique lot-corner counts, storm and sewer structures and pipe lengths | High |
| PDF plan set with a text layer | Distinct structure labels, lot numbers, numbered hydrants, valves and cleanouts counted once across the set, pipe callouts by material, sheet index, scale bars. Counts from the overall sheets when the set has them, so matchlines never double count. | Medium, lengths Low |
| Scanned PDF or image, read by Claude on your own API key | Whatever the sheets show, returned against the catalog with the sheet and label as evidence | Low or Medium, always confirmed by you |
| Point file (PNEZD) | Existing computed points or a stake list, grouped by code | High |
| Civil 3D export from VDC Custom CAD Tools | Everything the drawing knows | High |
| Typed by hand | Anything | Yours |
Every quantity carries its source, its confidence and the evidence it came from, and lands in a grid you confirm before anything is exported. A line you typed is never overwritten by a reader. Whatever a reader could not resolve becomes an item to confirm on the proposal.
The staking catalog
Forty staking items, from control points to house boxes, each with the plan feature that drives it, the unit, the default stakes per unit, field productivity and office minutes. A storm structure is a center stake plus two offsets with cut; curb is one stake every 25 feet plus radius points; lot corners are counted once when lots share them. Edit every number to match how your crews work.
Grading and ponds
Rough grade grid, pads, blue tops, swales, retaining walls, ponds with top of bank, toe, outlet and riser.
Boundary and roads
Property and lot corners, front lot stakes, easements, centerline, right of way, curb, edge of pavement, sidewalk, islands.
Storm and sewer
Structures, pipe, flared ends and headwalls, yard inlets, manholes, mains, services and cleanouts, pump stations.
Water and buildings
Mains, valves and fittings, hydrants, services, commercial corners with offsets, house boxes, piles.
Trips and allowances
Mobilizations by phase or crew day, a restake allowance, terrain factors, office calculation time.
Two prices, side by side
Unit rates is how most firms quote: per stake, per structure, per lot, per foot. Crew time is the check: stakes per crew hour by item, terrain, trip minimums, office hours, your crew and office rates. StakeTally computes both on every estimate and warns you when they disagree by more than a fifth, because that is where a rate card stops covering the crew.
Volume discounts, surcharges, minimums
Tier tables by total stakes, by lots or by dollars, with the tier that applied printed on the workbook. Surcharges for phased work, traffic control, wetlands, rush and night work. Mobilization per trip. A minimum charge. All yours to set.
What comes out
- Proposal PDF: your header and logo, the project, a scope table by item, the price summary, assumptions, exclusions, items to confirm, terms, documents used, signature blocks.
- Excel workbook: Summary, Takeoff, Pricing (both modes), Discount, Assumptions, Sources. Every number with its inputs beside it.
- CSV: one row per item for your proposal or job-costing software.
Pricing
Per user. Pick a year at a time or three years up front.
StakeTally
$490
per user per year
Every reader, every export, the catalog and the rate card. Offline license key, no account. When the term ends StakeTally keeps running for 14 days while the renewal goes through, then exports wait for the renewed key; your saved estimates always open.
StakeTally, 3 years
$990
one user, three years
The same license for three years at a third off the yearly price. One key, no renewal to think about until 2029. Offices with several users: ask about seat pricing.
A 14-day trial is built in. To buy, email Support@newrootsdevelopment.co with your firm name and seat count; pay by PayPal, bank transfer or Bitcoin and your key follows within one business day of payment.
Reading scans and images uses Claude on your own Anthropic API key at Anthropic’s published per-page rates; everything else runs on your computer with no usage cost.
Renewing
Email Support@newrootsdevelopment.co with your license id (Help > License in the app shows it) and seat count. Renewals are discounted.
Estimates are estimates
StakeTally organizes quantities read from documents and applies your catalog, rates and discounts. It does not perform a survey, does not verify plans, and does not decide the scope of your staking service. Field conditions, plan revisions and the surveyor of record govern. Every proposal, workbook and CSV says so.
Privacy: no analytics, no telemetry, no account. The only network call is the vision reader, on your own key, when you ask for it. Privacy policy.