Spike Stories: Architecture Firm Speeds Up Renovations With Spike

Parsippany, New Jersey-based Aric Gitomer Architect, LLC is a one-man architectural firm, run by Aric Gitomer himself, that mainly focuses on the residential market for renovations and additions. As the sole practitioner, Aric, a 33-year architecture veteran, fulfills all roles in the company, which keeps him busy, he says. Anything that can help Aric work more efficiently and quickly in the field is valuable to his business model, particularly when it comes to measuring.

Because Aric doesn’t work with existing blueprints, he needs to capture all the necessary measurements for his plans in the field. For each project, Aric starts by sketching the interior floor plans and taking measurements with a basic laser, he says. Aric then moves to the exterior and measures all sides and projections of the house. This involved, lengthy process is tedious and takes away time that Aric could spend in other areas of his business.

Looking for a better way to measure the exteriors of his projects, Aric discovered Spike, a smart laser measurement solution, and he instantly thought the device could help him improve his workflow, he says. Unlike his basic laser measurer, the Spike device works in conjunction with a smartphone or tablet camera and the Spike mobile app.

Aric now simply attaches Spike to his iPhone and takes a picture of each exterior side. From that photo, Aric can calculate heights, widths and lengths of exteriors that he uses to draw the existing conditions. Aric then overlays his proposed designs on the document. In addition, Aric can access the photos with the saved measurements at any time if he needs more measurements.

“Considering that I’m on my own, I need any time-saving tool I can get,” Aric says. “I do everything from going out and meeting with the clients to putting together proposals, measuring, and creating design and construction documents, so that takes up all my time. Spike looked like a promising investment, so I decided to give it a try.”

In fact, since incorporating Spike into his workflow, Aric estimates that the device has helped him reduce the time it takes for him to measure a house’s exterior from an hour to 10 minutes. Aric typically spends a few hours at each house for a survey, so cutting that much time helps him work more efficiently.

“This time savings allows me to pass it on to my clients by lowering their fees and, in turn, keeps me competitive amongst other professionals in my area,” Aric says.

As a bonus, Aric finds that Spike also makes for a better work environment.
“You walk around the house, take your pictures, and you’re done,” Aric says. “You don’t have to crawl around and get dirty while you’re trying to measure, and if it’s cold outside, you can quickly get the measurements you need and get back inside.”

Aric has used Spike for almost three years now, and he’s pleased with how Spike has improved his workflow. For any other architects looking to work more efficiently in the field, Aric says Spike is the way to go.

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