JFJosh Fordinbidferra.com·4h ago · 11 min readHow to read and take off steel joists and joist girderstldr: A steel joist designation tells you the depth, the series, and either a chord section or the load the joist carries. For an estimator, that's only the start. You still need the weight per foot, 00
JFJosh Fordinbidferra.com·Oct 6 · 13 min readSteel tariffs in Canada: what the surtaxes mean for your next steel bidtldr: Steel tariffs between Canada and the US have changed several times this year, most recently in September. For a fabricator, the risk is simple. You price a bid on one steel number and buy the st00
JFJosh Fordinbidferra.com·Sep 4 · 17 min readWhat a structural steel takeoff service costs, and when it is worth paying fortldr: Published 2026 prices for a structural steel takeoff service run from around \(150 for a small set to \)2,500 and more for a large one, and a monthly package brings the per-set figure down. Divi00
JFJosh Fordinbidferra.com·Aug 21 · 15 min readSteel fabrication software in 2026: a structural steel fabricator's guide to the four categoriestldr: If you fabricate structural steel, most search results for "steel fabrication software" are about sheet metal job shops and will not help you. The software that matters for your trade splits int30
JFJosh Fordinbidferra.com·Aug 20 · 14 min readTekla PowerFab vs STRUMIS vs FabSuite: an honest comparison for steel fabricators (2026)tldr: If you are comparing Tekla PowerFab, STRUMIS, and FabSuite, you are choosing between two systems, not three, because FabSuite became PowerFab after Trimble bought it in 2018. Both are serious st00
