Measure door openings remotely, before the first visit.

A customer asks for a price, but you need to check the visible opening dimensions and whether a standard product may be suitable. Driving out to measure takes time, even when the inquiry does not become a job.

For a first number you rarely need everything. You need to know the rough size of the opening, whether the casing is standard, and if there is a step or a threshold that changes the product. Those are visible details, and visible details can be captured by the customer.

Sightimate is remote measurement software for contractors that moves that first look to your desk. You still go on site before you order. You just stop driving out to measure jobs you might not win.

1. Send the scan link. Create a job in your workspace and text or email the link. The customer opens it in the browser on their own iPhone or Android phone. No app, no account.

2. The customer follows the guided capture. A short sideways calibration sweep, then guided photos of the door. It takes a few minutes. Nobody enters a reference measurement and no card or sheet of paper needs to be held up; scale is worked out automatically.

3. You measure in the measurement workspace. When processing finishes, open the scan, pick two points on the photos and read the length with its ± range. Confirm the points in other photos when prompted.

Capture tips to pass on for doors

• Open the door fully if the frame or jamb matters, and leave it closed for a clean view of the casing.

• Turn on the room lights and avoid shooting straight into a bright glass door or sidelight.

• Stand far enough back that the whole opening, including the floor and the top of the casing, is in frame.

• Include the floor on both sides of the threshold, so the step can be read.

• Move the phone slowly and steadily during the sweep; do not rush it.

From a good capture you can pick points on any edge that is clearly visible. For door work that usually means:

• Opening width and height between the visible edges of the frame or jamb.

• Casing and trim: outside width of the casing, trim width, and the space to a nearby wall or corner.

• Threshold step: the height difference between the floor inside and outside, when both are in view.

• Clearances around the opening, such as the distance to a light switch or an adjacent window.

Sightimate is designed for preliminary quotes. The target is about ±⅝ in over a span of roughly 6½ ft (±1.5 cm on 2 m), and every length is shown with its own ± range. Lengths that are hard to see in the photos will show a wider range or be flagged, and you can check them in another photo before you use them.

Limits: check these in person

• Squareness and plumb. A scan can hint at an out-of-square frame, but racking and plumb need a level on site.

• Hidden frame and wall depth. Jamb depth behind casing, rotten sill wood and the rough opening behind trim are not visible in photos.

• Floor level and hardware. Floor slope, the existing hinge side and lock prep should be confirmed at the door.

• Final order sizes. Verify final dimensions on site before ordering or installing.

Picture an exterior door captured by a homeowner in the afternoon. In the measurement workspace you pick the inside corners of the casing and read the width, then the height from the floor to the head casing, then the step from the porch to the hallway floor. Each value comes back as a length with a ± range, for example 35¾ in ± ⅝ in. That is an illustrative value, not a customer job.

With those three numbers you can tell the customer whether a standard pre-hung unit is likely, give a preliminary price range, and book the site visit for the jobs that move forward. You can print or share the measurements as a report. Then you measure again on site before ordering.

Working on windows or fences too? See window measurement software and fence measurement software.

Plan the whole inquiry with the remote site survey workflow and preliminary estimate checklist. For measurement methods and their limits, read measuring from a photo.