Faster Septic Design and Clearer Estimates with Carl Preusser of Landplan.io

A homeowner asks for a septic estimate. Before you can give a useful answer, you need to understand the property, the soil, the system options and what the work could involve. For excavation and septic contractors, that planning time matters, especially when you are competing for a job you have not won yet.

Carl Preusser, CEO and cofounder of Landplan.io, joined Scott Andreasen to discuss a practical way to tackle that bottleneck. His browser-based septic design and land-planning software brings property information, drawing tools, calculations and estimates into one workflow. The goal is to help experienced people move from scattered information to a clearer plan.

This is not a story about software replacing a designer, skipping fieldwork or approving its own plans. It is a conversation about making the preparation more efficient while keeping professional judgment where it belongs. For contractors, the opportunity is a better starting point for site visits, more specific proposals and a clearer explanation of the work ahead.

Built Around the Work Septic Contractors Actually Do

Carl's background helps explain the approach. He began working as a health inspector in Northeast Ohio in 2006, started doing septic designs around 2009 and moved into design full time around 2017. The software he developed for his own work, originally called New Septic, evolved into Landplan.io.

In the interview, he describes a familiar contractor problem: you may need to show a homeowner what could work before you have a signed contract. That preliminary effort has value, but it still takes time. Bringing the drawing and planning process together is intended to make that early legwork more practical.

The distinction is important. A preliminary layout can support a conversation about the project. It is not the same as a verified, approved design. Keeping that distinction clear protects both your estimating process and the customer's expectations.

Start With Property Data, Then Verify the Site

Landplan lets a user begin with an address, parcel ID, coordinates or a phone's GPS location. Carl demonstrated how a project pulls together available parcel information, aerial imagery and elevation contours. Other available layers can help identify planning concerns such as floodplains, wetlands or nearby sewer infrastructure.

That gives a contractor context before arriving on site. You can consider where a system might fit, how the terrain affects the layout and whether the homeowner's plans for a pool or other improvements need discussion. Instead of treating every visit as a blank slate, you have a starting point to investigate.

But a detailed map does not make the underlying records more accurate. Carl describes a hierarchy of accuracy: begin with available geographic information, then improve the plan with survey information, soil evaluation and field measurements.

“It does not replace a boundary survey or actual survey data.”

That is Carl's warning, not a footnote. County parcel records can differ from surveyed boundaries. Soil survey information is not a substitute for the site-specific soil evaluation required for a project. Terrain and property conditions may also have changed since the available data was collected. If a layout depends on a precise property line or elevation, verify it rather than relying on the screen.

Turn a Layout Into a More Complete Plan

During the demonstration, Carl walked through placing a building, a sewer line, tanks and a mound system. The software includes a treatment train tool for arranging a series of tanks, with reusable combinations that can be drawn to scale.

The product information matters beyond the picture. Carl showed tank dimensions and volume information, along with pump selection and dosing calculations. Reports can bring together the map, cross-sections, a hydraulic profile, calculations, construction notes and a materials estimate.

For a contractor, those connected details can make the handoff between planning and installation clearer. They also give a reviewer more than a generic sketch. However, the user still needs to check the inputs, the selected equipment and the output. A calculation based on an incorrect elevation or unsuitable product is not made reliable by a polished report.

Carl also made clear that system selection still involves human decisions. An experienced installer or designer considers the site, the soil findings and applicable requirements. The tool supports that judgment rather than assuming responsibility for it.

What Carl's Time Example Actually Means

Carl uses the software in his own septic design work. He estimates that he can draft a plan in roughly 15 minutes, while his total time, including drive time and fieldwork, is usually about an hour and a half at most on the plans he described.

Those are Carl's personal estimates from an established workflow, not a promised result for every contractor or property. They do not mean a complete site evaluation, professional review and permit approval happen in 15 minutes. Project complexity, data quality and local requirements still affect the work.

The useful takeaway is to separate drafting time from the whole job. If you evaluate a planning tool, consider the time spent gathering information, verifying the site, preparing the plan and making revisions. Faster drawing can help without eliminating those other responsibilities.

Clearer Estimates Need Your Own Pricing

Landplan's estimate tools connect the drawn components with materials information and allow labor to be added. Carl also explained that users can maintain their own price book, with their pricing reflected on their designs.

That is a meaningful distinction because the demonstration did not show live distributor inventory or real-time supplier pricing. Product selections came from Landplan's own database, and Carl said distributor integration remained a gap they wanted to close.

“There is a disconnect between us and distributors right now.”

For contractors, a database price is a starting point, not a current supplier quote. Confirm product availability and actual costs before treating an estimate as a firm proposal. Keep your price book current and account for the labor and site conditions relevant to your business.

A plan can also make the customer conversation more specific. Showing where components may go and how the layout relates to a future pool is more informative than a single unexplained number. Describe what is preliminary and what still depends on verification so clarity does not become an unintended promise.

AI Helps, but It Does Not Approve the Work

Carl draws a distinction between AI and traditional software automation. He described using AI to help track regulation changes and update planning configurations, as well as to write scripts and refine interfaces. The design workflow itself uses the program's tools, calculations and configured rules, not an autonomous AI agent taking a project from request to approval.

Requirements vary by jurisdiction, including who may prepare or submit a design and when licensed professional involvement is required. Contractors must confirm current state and local rules, required evaluations and the permitting process with the applicable authority. Software settings and automated checks do not guarantee compliance or replace required review.

Make the Next Customer Conversation More Useful

One of Carl's clearest goals is preparation: “That's the goal, is to make every site visit really matter.” Better preliminary information can help you arrive with focused questions, then strengthen the plan with what you actually find on the property.

To explore the software or ask about a demonstration, visit Landplan.io or contact Carl Preusser at carl@landplan.io.

Better planning is one part of building a stronger business. Reaching the right homeowners and explaining your value matter too. Send us a message today to find out how Excavation Marketing Pros can help excavation and septic contractors market their businesses. Schedule a conversation with EMP.