Use Sketch Templates to save time and increase production

Using templates can save you time.  Templates can be created for all diagrams or a part of a diagram.  An example would be a hail assignment when you had a lot of roofs to diagram.  You could create your most common diagrams and reuse them as needed.  You can adjust the dimensions after loading a template as needed from claim to claim.  For the example below we created a simple roof with a 20' ridge and 10' slopes or 400 sf for the first claim and saved it has a template.

 Now that we have the roof created we need to make it template so we can use it on the next claim that has a gable roof.

To do this we highlight the roof area by clicking it. Once it is active the save template icon becomes active, as shown in the image below.

 We click the "Save Template" and give our template a name.

Then when we have a claim with a gable roof we just load the template into the new claim and adjust  the measurements.

After you click the Load Template icon you will see a list of your templates.

Load it and change the dimensions to match your scope for the current claim.  You can do this in several ways.  I like to use the properties window and change the rafter length to get it to match my measurements.  But you may have another way, use the method that works best for you.

BTW, using the dimensions tab in the properties area (you can get there by selecting properties from the right click menu) is a good way to to check your settings and adjust them if needed.  For example if you draw the same (20' X 10") roof shown above and your sqs do not equal 4 then you may need to check the Rafter Length area above.  While your dimensions on your diagram may show a slope of 10' when you check the rafter length as shown above you may see 9' 11 5/8 in the left and right face boxes, just change this to the actual length and you should get the correct squares. 

For this example we used a simple roof but the real time saver comes when you have more complicated roofs or diagrams.

We plan to start a template exchange here on CADO where you offer your templates for free or a fee.

5/28 Edit, added the images beow that show a gable with two different slopes.

The image below shows the properties.

Comment

Collapse Expand Comments (7)

cajunadj · 5/27/2007 3:52:22 PM

If you have a roof that is 20 ft. on one slope and 16,3 on the other, will the rafter measurements figure the square. I have asked all that I know about separate and unequal roof widths and have been told that there is no way in Xactimate to do a gable roof with the different slope measurements..Thanks

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host · 5/28/2007 9:07:28 AM

Yes it can, I have added two images at the end of the blog as an example. While the red text is a little hard to read it shows one slope is 16'3 and one slope is 20', the ridge is 40', this is a 4/12 roof.

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cajunadj · 5/28/2007 10:46:17 AM

Thanks for the input. You are the first one to explain how to do this. I have talked with reps from the ins. cos. and my team leaders and they have not been able to explain. This will save alot of time as I will no longer have to figure manually. Thanks again...

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PC · 10/8/2007 8:28:58 PM

you can also graphically estimate a template. if you do and then retrieve it the line items come with it and you can alter the entry by: clicking on the entry in the item list in sketch, choosing FF or fine tune by feature and altering the item and then choosing okay. if this is roofing, it will recalculate and round up to the proper bundles per square

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pc · 10/9/2007 4:25:12 PM

another really good way to do different rafter lengths on a gable is to pay attention to the eave heights. sketch builds from the ground up put in the perimeter of the roof and while on the roof measure the eave height. these will vary if the roof has incongruent rafter lengths. When you look at it in 3d you'll see that the ridge has stayed aligned if you use this method and you can also vary the slope or pitch.

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schrome · 4/21/2008 10:33:02 PM

A friend of mine emailed me a scope (.esx) and I have saved to my desktop. When I try to do a data transfer it says operation failed. Anyone have any ideas?? Also, in microsoft explorer when I saved I also saved the file extension. It shows the file and there is data but I can't get it to retrieve w/o getting this "operation failed" statement.

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Roy · 4/22/2008 12:51:09 PM

schrome,<br><br>Be sure you are using the right section of Xactimate to retrieve the ".esx" file. If you are using XactCentral then try using Xactimate. Please see this forum thread for more info.<br>http://www.catadjuster.org/Forums/tabid/60/forumid/26/postid/3697/view/topic/Default.aspx

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