---
title: "How One Contractor Cut Estimating Time and Improved Margins"
url: "https://pro.houzz.com/pro-learn/blog/how-one-contractor-cut-estimating-time-and-improved-margins"
datePublished: "2026-11-13T16:57:52+0000"
dateModified: "2026-11-13T17:53:38+0000"
author: "Houzz Pro"
topics:
  - "Pro Success Stories"
  - "Construction"
---

Houzz Pro Learn > Pro Success Stories > Contractors

# How One Contractor Cut Estimating Time and Improved Margins

For more than 30 years, Elevated Edge Construction of the Bay Area has been adapting as the tools of the trade have changed. Over time, the contracting firm found itself using nearly 10 apps to manage a single project. Today, the team manages projects from start to finish in Houzz Pro. The change has helped them send bids out sooner, track project costs more closely and improve their profit margins.

## Faster Estimates, Earlier Bids

George Shafazand, the owner of Elevated Edge Construction, was frustrated by how long it took to put together an estimate. In a highly competitive market, slow estimates lead to slow bids, which lead to missed opportunities and lost contracts. Houzz Pro changed the game.

“Houzz Pro is very efficient in creating an estimate,” he says. “One for a kitchen remodel would take us maybe five hours. On Houzz, it’s 30 minutes. No other software that I’ve seen can do that.”

## Closer Cost Tracking, Better Margins

Before switching to Houzz Pro, Shafazand and the Elevated Edge team expected healthy margins on a few projects, but budgeting errors left them with little or no profit.

With Houzz Pro’s budgeting tools, the team can compare estimates with actual costs while keeping track of expenses, invoices and payments in one place. Having a clearer view of each job’s finances has paid off in higher profits and better margins, Shafazand says.

“Forget about anything else. Grab Houzz Pro,” he says. “It has everything you need.”

[https://www.youtube.com/embed/5vte7hdIXrY](https://www.youtube.com/embed/5vte7hdIXrY)

Houzz Pro is the all-in-one tool for marketing, project and client management built specifically for remodeling, build, and design professionals.

## More From Houzz Pro Learn

- [3 Ways Houzz Pro 3D Floor Plans Sell More Projects](https://pro.houzz.com/pro-learn/blog/3-ways-houzz-pro-3d-floor-plans-sell-more-projects) — Software