Key Takeaways

• The Challenge: FloorRight Couldn't Handle Commercial: As Sprague Floor Covering shifted to commercial healthcare projects, FloorRight's manual workflows made phased estimating and project communication increasingly difficult.
• The Solution: MeasureSquare 8, which simplified phased takeoffs, improved drawing clarity, and produced cleaner documentation for installers and operations.
• The Outcome: Greater Project Control, Smoother Handoffs. After decades in flooring, John Lombardi says the switch reduced mistakes, improved professionalism, and better supports modern commercial flooring projects.

From FloorRight to MeasureSquare 8: One Veteran Flooring Pro’s Comparison

After more than 30 years in the flooring industry, John Lombardi knows what it takes to keep projects moving.

He began his career in the flooring department at Sears in the early 1990s before moving to Sprague Floor Covering, then primarily a residential flooring company with several locations. After a brief hiatus, he returned to Sprague in 2016, just as the company was shifting its focus toward commercial work. Within five years, Sprague had become exclusively commercial, specializing in healthcare projects.

Today, as Senior Project Manger at Sprague Floor Covering, he helps oversee commercial flooring project management with a strong focus on healthcare facilities.

In healthcare facilities, accuracy and attention to detail aren't merely important, they're essential. And after shifting the focus to commercial work, the CEO of Sprague, Ted Sprague, was looking for something better, something new in commercial flooring estimating software.

So when Sprague adopted MeasureSquare 8, a flooring takeoff and estimating software, John had to flip a switch. "I had FloorRight burned into my brain," he said.

Over the years, the company worked through several estimating platforms as its business evolved. They started out with FloorWizard for tablet-based measuring, to RFMS, and eventually FloorRight (now owned by Cyncly). Along the way, ownership also evaluated platforms like Procore, Smartsheet, and other CRM solutions, always looking for ways to improve their workflow.

Outgrowing the Old Workflow

Although John had years of experience with FloorRight, some frustrations became more noticeable as Sprague's commercial projects became increasingly detailed. One of the biggest challenges involved phased projects.

Healthcare flooring projects are rarely completed all at once. Instead, work is often performed one section at a time while patients continue receiving care. In FloorRight, each phase required its own drawing tab. "It just gets a little clunky," John said.

Managing projects this way also made it harder to accurately calculate waste across multiple phases. Drawing preparation could also become increasingly manual as projects became more complex. Creating rooms with multiple cutouts, doors, and varying wall base conditions often required additional editing.

"Once you get into something with a lot more detail, a lot more rooms that's cut up more... yeah, it's way, way better," John explained.

Even everyday documentation presented small but recurring frustrations. Notes placed on drawings often required manual resizing before printing because they appeared much larger than intended. John also recalls that although FloorRight and JobRunner were designed to work together, the integration never fully lived up to expectations.

Those challenges didn't stop Sprague from completing successful projects, but they reinforced Ted Sprague's belief that there was room for improvement.

Learning a New System

Despite those frustrations, changing software wasn't easy. Although Sprague used MeasureSquare 8 for years, John admits he only started working with it seriously for a few months. And although he received the complimentary training with the Measure Square team, the software really started to click after he watched several YouTube tutorials.

"I use the YouTube videos [on the Measure Square channel]. Those are great because I have ADD, so I tend to space out and I can just rewind and pick up where I left off."

Today, he uses MeasureSquare 8 primarily for repair work and smaller projects, or to modify drawings prepared by Sprague's estimator. For John, the transition wasn't about learning an entirely new job; it was learning a different way to do the same work.

"It's like going from a standard transmission to an automatic transmission. You're still driving the car, but you still got to do the clutch and all that," John said.

MeasureSquare 8 vs FloorRight: Comparing Flooring Estimating Software

John doesn't point to one flashy feature. Instead, it's the collection of everyday improvements that makes the biggest impact.

Compared to FloorRight, MeasureSquare 8 allows Sprague to:

• Produce cleaner cut sheets
• Place legends directly on drawings
• Combine multiple drawing sheets onto a single tab
• Work with different drawing scales on the same sheet
• Move seams and tile patterns more easily
• Create clearer documentation for operations and installers

"It just makes things a whole lot easier and clear[er] for whoever's doing your work," John said.

The improvements carry through the entire project. One estimator completes the takeoff in MeasureSquare 8 before handing quantities to a salesperson, who prepares the proposal in JobRunner. If the project is awarded, operations reviews the drawings before installation documents and warehouse paperwork are prepared.

The result is clearer communication from estimating to installation, a difference that matters most on complex, phased flooring projects.

Built for Phased Commercial Flooring Projects

Healthcare work never happens all at once, so one feature John especially appreciates in this commercial flooring software is the handling of phased projects. Oftentimes, a hospital renovation has to be completed one section at a time while patients continue receiving care.

With MeasureSquare 8, Sprague can divide a project into phases, calculate material quantities for each stage, and better anticipate waste as work progresses.

"We can phase out all the different quantities... print off Phase One, hand it to the installer, hand it to the warehouse so they know how much material to send," John said.

FloorRight handled phased work differently. Rather than creating a separate drawing tab for every phase, MeasureSquare 8 allows Sprague to manage phased work within a single project while providing more accurate material planning.

With MeasureSquare 8, you can anticipate a waste factor for several phases so at the end you don't run out of materials.

Why Healthcare Flooring Installation Demands More

Healthcare projects demand a different level of communication than many commercial installations.

"A healthcare facility is like a hotel. The patients are the hotel guests and they're the number one priority," John explained.

Installers need to know where quiet zones begin, where containment is required, and exactly how work should be staged around occupied spaces. Unlike a vacant commercial jobsite, mistakes in communication can affect active patient care, making clear documentation just as important as accurate material quantities.

For John, the drawing tools in MeasureSquare 8 make that communication much clearer. "You can put very clear notes as to what needs to happen," John said.

One of the challenges with FloorRight was that drawing annotations often required manual resizing before they were ready to print. With MeasureSquare 8, large notes, arrows, and legends stay properly scaled on the drawing, making instructions easier for installers to follow while creating cleaner, more professional documentation.

Professional From Start to Finish

John believes MeasureSquare 8 doesn't just improve estimating; it improves how Sprague presents its work.

"I think they look a lot more professional. The drawings, the cut sheets, the seams. The whole presentation is, in my opinion from the user's perspective, a whole lot more professional," John explained.

For Sprague, that professionalism isn't simply about appearance. Clearer drawings help reduce unnecessary questions between estimating, operations, the warehouse, and installers before work ever begins.

"It definitely reduces mistakes because you can be very clear with your cut sheets and very clear with your notes on your drawings."

For a company working in occupied healthcare environments, that clarity matters.

Looking Ahead

John is still exploring the newer AI capabilities in MeasureSquare 8, but he already sees the potential. One tool that caught his attention is the AI Plan Analyzer, built into MeasureSquare 8, which can search architectural plan sets, locate specifications instantly, and allow users to copy architects' notes directly into project documentation, helping reduce interpretation errors and save time.

A quick overview of AI Plan Analyzer in MeasureSquare 8:

• Smart Scope Analysis: Quickly pinpoints relevant information, scopes, & pages. Decide if it is worth bidding in minutes, not hours.
• Material Extraction: Automatically identify finish schedules and generate project-ready materials, no manual entry required. 
• AI Takeoff Selected Pages: AI will assist in pinpointing the relevant plan pages and focus only on what matters to your bid. 
• Talk to your Blueprints: Chat with your plan sets; ask it questions and request information throughout your estimating and bidding.

What stands out to John isn't simply the AI itself, it's the breadth of easy-to-access resources and pace of innovation.

Throughout Sprague's software journey, the company has worked with several established flooring platforms. But John says what he sees from Measure Square today feels different, with regular webinars, educational resources, and new capabilities that continue expanding what MeasureSquare 8 can do.

For now, though, John doesn't need AI to know he's working in the right platform.

"If you're doing commercial work, this is something you really should have in your arsenal because between phasing, the clarity on the drawings, the cut sheets, and with the AI advancements, it's the only game in town,” John said.

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About Measure Square
Measure Square is a leading provider of takeoff, estimating, and project management software for the flooring and building materials industry. Based in Pasadena, Calif., we empower retailers, contractors, estimators, and sales teams to streamline every step of the project lifecycle. The Measure Square platform simplifies workflows, reduces errors, and improves efficiency, from first lead to project closeout. With integrated tools that drive smarter decisions and better results, Measure Square
helps you stay competitive in a fast-moving market.