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Paid $450 for a drone survey that I could have done with a ladder and a tape measure
Had a small site in Tulsa, only about 2 acres of grading work. I figured a drone mapping service would give me precise cut and fill numbers, so I shelled out $450 for their full report. Got the files back and honestly, my old paper plans and a bit of field math matched within 3%. That money went to a fancy colored 3D model that my crew never even opened. Now I just spend 20 minutes walking the site with a measuring wheel for anything under 5 acres. Has anyone else paid for high tech survey stuff on a small project and regretted it?
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simon_chen13d ago
And here I spent $450 on what basically turned into a digital paperweight with a nice gradient. I swear those drone guys must have a secret handshake that includes "how to upsell a small job." Next time I'll just hang a tape measure off my hard hat and call it a LIDAR system. Honestly, your crew probably got more use out of the ladder than they did that file. At least you can sell the drone map as a screensaver if nothing else.
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the_viola11d ago
I mean, @simon_chen, that drone file saved my crew a full day of measuring, so maybe it's just me but $450 felt worth it.
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