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Shower Estimates & Estimate Versions

This guide covers two things that work together when you estimate a bathroom:

  1. How shower estimates are built — including the full Schluter Kerdi waterproofing system and the quantity rules that keep numbers realistic.
  2. How estimate versions work — the difference between the original estimate (V1) the AI generated and the working copy (V2) you edit.

Tile Showers and the Schluter Kerdi System​

When your scope describes a tile shower, ContractorScope AI no longer drops in a single generic "waterproof membrane" line. Instead it builds the complete Schluter Kerdi system the way a tile professional would actually install it, so the estimate reflects real materials and real labor.

A tile-shower estimate now includes:

  • Kerdi shower base (pan) — the sloped, ready-to-tile shower floor.
  • Kerdi curb — the waterproofed threshold at the shower entry.
  • Kerdi drain — the bonding-flange drain that ties into the membrane.
  • Kerdi waterproofing kit — the Kerdi membrane and band that waterproof the walls and seams. Waterproofing is integrated into the system, not billed as a separate guess.
  • Schluter trim/edging — the finished metal edges at exposed tile transitions.
  • Backerboard — the tile substrate behind the membrane.
  • Wall and floor tile, plus grout — the finished surfaces.
Why this matters

A real tile shower is a system. Pricing it as one generic membrane line under-scoped the job and led to surprises during the build. Building the full Kerdi assembly means the estimate you send is the estimate you can actually deliver on.

Shower Quantities That Make Sense​

ContractorScope AI reads your scope notes and applies the quantity rules a seasoned estimator would use, so a single shower never balloons into a whole-room number:

  • Shower dimensions like "34x34" are read as inches, not feet. A 34x34 shower is a ~34-inch by 34-inch pan, not a 34-foot room.
  • Shower-pan items use a small pan minimum. A shower pan is priced against the pan's real footprint, not the room's minimum floor area — so a compact shower stops being charged like a full room.
  • Scope items no longer inflate lump-sum or area lines. Quantities only scale the lines that should scale. Fixed-scope items (for example, a waterproofing assembly) stay at their correct quantity instead of being multiplied per scope item — the fix that prevented runaway material totals.
  • Whole-room flooring is not added to a shower-only job. If your scope is just a shower and you did not ask for new room flooring, the AI will not quietly add a full room of LVP or other flooring. Ask for flooring explicitly when you want it.

Demolition Notes​

If your scope says the space is already "to the studs" or "already gutted," ContractorScope AI recognizes that demolition is already done and suppresses the demo line items. You are not charged to tear out a bathroom that has already been torn out. If demo still needs to happen, just describe the existing finishes to remove and the demo line items return.

tip

The more accurately you describe the existing conditions — gutted vs. finished, shower size, whether you want new room flooring — the closer the first estimate lands. These notes feed directly into the quantities and the line items the AI selects.

How Prices Are Determined​

Every unit cost on your estimate comes from the best source available, checked in order. ContractorScope AI walks down this ladder and uses the first source that has trustworthy data for that item:

  1. Professional cost book — A maintained, industry-standard cost book of labor and material (Craftsman costbook data), adjusted to your region. This is the primary source ContractorScope AI prices from, and it applies to both labor and material, so the whole line reflects real, local pricing.
  2. Your own actuals — As you log real jobs (5 or more samples for an item), the platform collects your actual, real-world costs so pricing can be tuned toward the way you price for items the cost book does not cover.
  3. Region-adjusted baseline — A seed price adjusted for your geography when the cost book does not cover the item.
  4. Market index — A pricing index used to keep baseline numbers current.
  5. Provisional fallback — A last-resort catalog price, flagged for you to verify, used only when nothing better exists.

Because the professional cost book sits at the top of the ladder, your estimates start from real, current, regionally-adjusted pricing. See Understanding Your Estimate for how that unit cost then flows into markup, client price, and totals.

Estimate Versions: Original (V1) vs. Working (V2)​

Every estimate now has a clear, two-state version model so you never lose the number you first quoted.

V1 — The Original​

When you generate an estimate, that first result is saved as Version 1 (V1). V1 is:

  • Immutable — it is locked exactly as it was generated and never changes.
  • Always viewable — you can pull up the original at any time to see what the AI first produced.
  • The source of record — it is the clean, pinned baseline for the job.

V2 — The Working Copy​

The first time you edit an estimate — adjust a quantity, change a price, add or remove a line — the platform automatically forks a new Version 2 (V2). From then on, your edits live on V2 (and later versions) while V1 stays untouched.

This means:

  • Your original AI estimate is preserved no matter how much you revise.
  • You can compare the working estimate against the original to see exactly what you changed and why.
  • The number you started from is always recoverable.

Viewing and Comparing Versions​

You can review the full version history and compare any two versions side by side:

  • All versions — the list of every version of an estimate.
  • A single version — open any specific version, including the locked V1 original.
  • Compare — a side-by-side view that highlights what changed between two versions.
Versions vs. revisions

The V1/V2 split here is about the original generated estimate versus your working copy. When you revise an estimate after it has been sent to a client, that is tracked as a client-facing revision (V2, V3, and so on) with the client notified — see the Versioning section of Understanding Your Estimate. Both systems exist to give you a clear, recoverable history.

Next Steps​