The experience has been great !! [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] is a life saver to start learning this software We set up a few morning meetings for about a month and after that, I was able to get a bid done by myself.. We have really tightened up our numbers and are starting to see ourselves be more competitive in this crazy plumbing bidding world. So a big thank you and a high recommendation to Wendes Software and [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] for all your efforts and continued help! Thank you!

Once everything is set up it’s pretty easy to use Just click and drag and everything is priced within that line

Set up has to be done and then you have to learn it.. as with any software program.

I have used Wendes duct estimating a long time ago. I am so impressed that they have a piping estimating program now.

The products are very user friendly, the take-off process flows very nicely. The help desk is always ready to help with any questions/problems.

I wish if you were transitioning from one size to another, that it would recognize and keep the size you are transitioning to instead of having to tell it to go to the new size.

the review above is based on Wenduct only, I purchased WenPipe a few years ago but honestly I don't use it. My piping estimator does not like the product at all and has the same dislike of their screen takeoff. I am considering switching to another software.

The support is outstanding but the program is very outdated and I have bee waiting for the new 64 bit program for years. I have been using the product for 15 years and have become very familiar with it.

Takeoffs tend to take too long due to a number of issues starting with the dislike of the screen takeoff and constantly needed to restart from freeze ups.

Since I've been using it, so far it has been a good overall experience. There are always bugs in everything that need worked out but it seems to always work and it gets us job.

It's accurate, it's quick. Seems to be straight forward on how you use it.

Getting into the program to change pricing is a little tough, finding out what your changes do to the program is sometimes time consuming. Seems to be a lot of windows to get into the system and maybe a few too many duplications. When you make a change it is sometimes hard to tell if it actually worked, especially on the labor / hours.

We've been using Wenduct for over 2 decades and have had great success with it. We actually realized about a year ago that we hadn't updated in years, but the product still worked very well. Now that we've upgraded, we have even more functionality. It definitely requires some training, but we've been able to on-board 4-5 employees on it relatively quickly (3-6 months with close training by a seasoned estimator).

The hardware fails from time to time, but the software has been pretty reliable. That said, setting it up initially takes a lot of legwork.

WenDuct and WenPipe material lists are very useful for sending out to vendors when we win a job.

It is easy to use and customer support is excellent. You talk to 2 different people and they respond right away.

would like to see an electrical program in the same format

Flexibility of input, material types for the takeoff, and data output for the takeoff in PDF, Excel, etc.

load multiple drawings into the estimating software at once. Currently one at a time, and not a big deal unless I have dozens of drawing to do takeoff

We would be a 5 man shop without it.

Excellent Customer Support, and the speed of my takeoff.

There are features i have not really used or explained to us.

Both programs are easy to navigate through and we can bid jobs twice as fast.

This software makes estimating so much faster and very accurate, When I have question or need an answer to anything on the program Gene and the whole crew at Wendes are there to help every time.

I haven't found anything I dislike about the software, I was hesitant at first estimating the old fashion way because I don’t like change but I’m very happy we purchased the soft ware.

Great software, it has our bids right where they need to be.

Easy to use and customizable enough to take off any project. Seems to be a very accurate way to bid small to very large projects.

Needs better real-time updates. Some of the equipment that we use on projects are not included in the software that I have found.

We love the product it is fast and efficient. Just a would like a bit more training as we are old school operators

This is a very easy to use product. We like ho it separates the labour and material costing from shop lab. to field. The additional material and lab is fantastic and we can compare poundage to actual cost

The updates could be more frequent and a confirmation of what was updated would help. We are a Canadian firm, so our costs are different from the world market. We deal in sheet stock so we are selling our metal as a 3rd person cost. Adjustments are frequently made with in the system. The system usually glitches and our estimates sometimes do not have the labour costs.

Easy to use. I like the screen takeoff. It saves from having to waste Paper and Ink.

Sometimes it freezes up and will try to have you put in all the job info again. There was supposed to be an improved version of WENDUCT 2 yrs ago. I have yet to see it.

I wanted to give it another try considering the money we have invested, set up a time to have another employee trained. Training went well, we were supposed to receive on line licensing and never received and have not been able to access the program we are paying for. Desire to put this program to use.

it seemed like it would be a good tool for quoting projects accurately, also saving time during the quoting process.

The lack of support, setting up the pressure files

great time saving accurate

easy to use you don't have to be a computer wiz to operate system

i like everything about the system from easy to use to its recap sheets

My name is Kerry McCann, I am the General Superintendent at Hawkeye Sheet Metal in Shreveport, LA. I have been in this trade since 1983. I got the opportunity to go to work for Hawkeye Sheet Metal in February 2012. We are a new sheet metal shop with all new equipment and a variety of capabilities. From ductwork, to welded exhaust, stainless and aluminum welding for counter tops, dog boxes, gas tanks, we do a variety of specialty work. We have a plasma table in shop and portable plasma machines. When it came time to look for an estimating program for ductwork I looked on the internet and selected the two top rated. To be fair I had a demo done with each company. I inquired with WenDuct and within 24 hours I got a call from Gene Kaplan at Wendes. We talked for about two hours along with a demo and after that I knew that Wendes was the estimating program for me. Gene walked me through the program and it honestly felt like it was custom designed just for me. Gene is a terrific instructor and a very straight forward guy with exceptional integrity. I picked up quite quickly and when I ran into a question, I just picked up the phone and spoke directly with the tech support guys. They basically dropped whatever they were doing and straightened me out. It is very easy to use, very acurate and very fast. So, now I am proud to say "look out guys, the game is afoot!"

My experience with wenpipe has been terrific thus far. I am able to pump out bids so much faster than before. And I'm just getting started with it I have been using it for 2-3 months now and i can honestly say it was an excellent decision to switch from McCormicks to wendes or at least it was for me.

Ease of use. Im not a tech kind of guy but this thing is so user friendly . Its exactly what i was looking for in a bid program.

Have found absolutely nothing i can complain about.

This software only needed a day of training, it gives fast results and accurate numbers it won’t let you make mistakes

I could not find any cons for this software at first I was confused with the quantity and length options

Being able to direct download drawings in program is very helpful to get process started to BID projects. Program has realistic labor hours and material schedules built in, that if needed can be tailored to your needs.

Older 32-bit technology, but is supposed to have newer version available soon.

My overall experience is Great!!!

Very easy to work with and I get a fast response when it comes to technical support when I need it.

There's nothing I don't least like about this program. I'm very satisfied with the program.

As I spend more time with the software I find more things that it can and cannot do. If you find a limitation you can call rep and they can help either find a way to get it done or can make changes to help expand the system for you.

The developers that created this estimating system are still working and supporting the software. As new plumbing, piping, and duct materials come available it is expandable to integrate these new systems into the software.

The windows 64 version of the Wenpipe Software is still in a Beta testing mode at this point and there seems to be some bugs to work out. They will eventually get this worked out.

Very easy to use Great support Accurate for Estimating

We do not have any cons to note currently for this product

It is easy to use without any real training.

Breakdown of estimating hours for equipment is not very good, wish it had AC/R piping included. I want one estimating software to open and quote a project. Come out with updates and don't share the password to download.

I am not at all tech savvy so I wanted something as easy to use as possible with a lot of help learning. I got the month trial and met with Gene several times to learn the ways the software would help me. He helped me work on jobs I was actually working on and didn't waste time showing me features that don't apply to me. I feel like I was able to get a basic handle on things after a couple of sessions and it's pretty straight forward and easy to use but I don't think I would have figured it out on my own. The support is great.

I'm still learning and getting used to it but so far the take off is really helpful. It's so much faster than my old pen, paper and scale rule way of doing things.

I'm still new to it so it wouldn't really be fair for me to complain about anything until I'm sure any problems are user errors.

We are a small organization in the industrial and commercial air conditioning business. My problem in the past was that I could not land any small commercial jobs because of people working out of their trucks. I learned that I had to stay away from them and go after larger jobs, which in turn called for zero mistakes. The larger companies were using software and their bidding was very competitive. That's where I needed to be. I hooked up with Gene and never looked back. I am still learning the WenDuct and WenPipe programs but when I turn in my bids I am definitely more comfortable about the project. When we land one and I turn it over to a supervisor we are confident in the data. Wendes has helped set us up for success. In today's market everybody is just trying to survive and one mistake will harm your company. You may wonder about the cost of software, like I did, but it was worth every penny.

The benefits we get from using this software are that we are placing more bids and our bids are more accurate and competitive for our generals and clients.

It is helping us bid future jobs more accurately. We are frequently contacted by general contractors stating we are top bidders. This is great!

Nothing so far. We do not have any cons to talk about the program. You do have to have Microsoft Office access for the reports, but that is not a Wendes issue.