The #1 Encircle Floor Plan mistake (and how to avoid it)

If you haven’t tried it for yourself yet, you have likely heard the buzz about Encircle’s latest feature — Encircle Floor Plan. Maybe you have heard people talking about how easy it is to use, how fast the floor plan is delivered, or how accurate the measurements are.

But here at Encircle, we like to keep it real. So real, that we want to call out the #1 mistake that Encircle Floor Plan users are making.

This error may surprise you…It isn’t how the device is being held, or how quickly people are walking through a property. (Users receive warnings as they capture to help correct their technique, so details like this aren’t the issue.)

The #1 mistake made while using Encircle Floor Plan is capturing every room individually. In other words, people underestimate just how easily they can capture an entire property (up to 10,000 sq ft) with this seemingly magical technology!

Side note: Since you’re charged by individual floor plan, doing each room separately means you’ll have extra, unintended charges on your Encircle account. Make sure you keep reading to learn how this can be avoided!

Old habits die hard

Up until now in this industry, solutions for sketching/mapping out properties have required people to capture areas by individual rooms. 360/3D cameras and their tripods need to be moved from point to point to capture each room in a property. It can be quite tedious and time consuming, especially with larger properties that have unique features.

So it isn’t completely surprising that people assumed a similar, time-consuming capture process with Encircle Floor Plan.

But we at Encircle are on a mission to offer easier and faster field documentation solutions

Just. Keep. Scanning.

Because Encircle Floor Plan uses video instead of photos, you can capture an ENTIRE property (or desired area), in ONE go.

All you have to do is walk around the perimeter of each room, WITHOUT stopping as you move from room to room. Keep that video rolling as you walk through hallways, and even up and down stairs between floors.

Sound too good to be true? We promise, it’s not! Our customers are loving just how easy it is to capture properties, and how much time this saves their teams in the field.

Will I be charged for each floor I scan?

Encircle charges per scan video that we process. So as long as you capture the property all in one scan, you will only be charged once for that floor plan, even if it has multiple images/floors.

When you scan multiple levels in a property with Encircle Floor Plan, we will return individual image files per floor back into your job file (see example below).

You can then use any of your floor plan images to create individual room sketches or moisture maps of your drying chambers.

The same principle applies when using Encircle's Verisk integrationto import your floor plan into an instant Xactimate sketch. You will only be charged the import fee once for each overall floor plan, regardless of how many levels are captured within it. Each level of the imported floor plan will create an Xactimate sketch, separated as tabs in your Xactimate sketch file.

What are you waiting for? Try floor plan yourself, for free!

Want to learn more about Encircle Floor Plan? Check out these resources:

→ How Encircle's 2D floor plan can help your restoration business

→ Get a 2D floor plan within 6 hrs with Encircle Floor Plan

→ 3 Key advantages of using Encircle Floor Plan for CAT work

→ When to use what: Hand sketching, 2D floor plans, and 3D tours