For mechanical & HVAC contractors
Hydronic design and estimating, done before you bid.
Send me the plans. You get the load calcs, the tubing layout, the piping and control schematic, a full material takeoff and a bid-ready number. Your crew installs it, and I’m available for questions through rough-in and startup.
Designed in Littleton, Colorado · Denver metro & the foothills
Load calcs on every job
A bid-ready number, not a guess
Denver Steam and Hot Water Supervisor certificate CERT00010568
Denver Hot Water contractor license LIC00254926
Jefferson County Class A Master Mechanical license 1044527
Who it’s for
Shops that win hydronic work but don’t have a designer on staff
HVAC contractors
Forced-air shops that get asked for a boiler, radiant floor or snowmelt job and want it designed right the first time.
Plumbing & mechanical contractors
Crews who can install hydronics but need the design and the number turned around while the bid is still open.
Overflow estimating
Busy season, too many takeoffs. I work as your outsourced design and estimating department, one job or a standing arrangement.
What you get
A design package your crew can build from
- Room-by-room heat-loss calculation
- Snowmelt load by area and ASHRAE class
- Tubing layout: loop count, lengths and spacing
- Boiler or heat-pump sizing, derated for altitude
- Piping and control schematic
- Equipment schedule: boiler, pumps, manifolds, controls
- Complete material takeoff from a maintained price book
- Labor-hour estimate and a bid-ready number
- Design-criteria sheet you can hand to the GC or owner
- Written sequence of operation for startup
A ByDesign piping and control schematic from a real church boiler plant
How it works
Three steps from plans to bid
01
02
03
Send the plans and scope
Floor plans, the areas to heat or melt, fuel type and your bid date. Rough sketches are fine for retrofits.
I design and price it
Load calcs, layout, schematic and takeoff, priced from a maintained material price book.
You bid and build
You get the package and the number. I’m available for questions through rough-in, pressure test and startup.
How I design
Standards behind every number
Zone pumping by default
A dedicated ECM circulator per zone, with hydraulic separation between the boiler and the system.
Right fluid for the job
Propylene glycol mixed to the application: stronger for snowmelt, lighter for space heating.
Boiler protection
Conventional boilers are piped to hold a safe minimum inlet temperature, so they don’t condense and rot out.
Numbers you can defend
Every estimate states its design criteria: design temperatures, load source, R-values, loop count, test pressure and balancing targets.
The design basis from a real ByDesign snowmelt estimate
Getting started
What to send for an estimate
- Floor plans or a site plan. PDFs or phone photos are fine.
- The areas to heat or melt, and the finish flooring or surface.
- Fuel type, and any existing equipment you want to reuse.
- Your bid date, and who the end customer is.
FAQ
Questions contractors ask
Do you install, or only design?
Both. On this service your crew installs and I design and estimate. For builders who want one contractor for design and install, see For Contractors.
What jobs do you take?
Residential and light commercial: boiler replacements and new boiler plants, radiant floors, snowmelt and domestic hot water, across the Denver metro and the foothills.
How is it priced?
Per job, quoted after I see the plans.
Have a hydronic job to bid?
Send the plans and your bid date, and I’ll tell you whether I can turn it around in time.
Denver Steam and Hot Water Supervisor certificate CERT00010568
Denver Hot Water contractor license LIC00254926
Jefferson County Class A Master Mechanical license 1044527