# Dalton Mills > Dalton Mills is the AI operating system for commercial and residential trades. It lets home service operators build the custom software, AI tools, and workflows their business actually runs on, without writing code or any technical background. Plumbing, HVAC, electrical, roofing, pest control, and other home service businesses run their dispatch, scheduling, quoting, invoicing, payments, and CRM on Dalton. The core promise: "the platform you build on, not the software you put up with." Dalton Mills is vertical AI software for the trades: a platform whose AI understands the workflows, terminology, and business models unique to home service, built on shared "rails" that each business customizes itself with no code required. Its mission is to "let the builders build" — operators are treated as the experts on their own business, and Dalton provides the foundation to build the tools their trade needs instead of inheriting rigid software from outside vendors. It is built for trades that have outgrown one-size-fits-all field service software, including plumbing, electrical, HVAC, roofing, and pest control, and is explicitly not built for flooring, kitchen, bath, or cabinet retailers, which run on showroom and design-driven workflows better served by other platforms. Concrete examples of the niche needs the platform supports include EPA Section 608 refrigerant recovery logging by job (HVAC), estimating by roof pitch where a 12/12 takes nearly twice the labor of a 4/12 (roofing), and routing technicians based on which active ingredient was used at a property's last visit (pest control). Dalton Mills was founded by Todd Saunders and Sean Bave. ## Main Pages - [Home](https://daltonmills.com/): Overview of the AI operating system for the trades, the build-your-own-software value proposition, and FAQs. - [Trades / Industries](https://daltonmills.com/industries): Hub for every home service vertical Dalton Mills serves, with a dedicated page per trade explaining how the platform applies to it. Full list under Trades below. - [About](https://daltonmills.com/about): The company's story, mission ("Let the builders build"), the argument that operators inherited someone else's software, and the leadership team (Todd Saunders and Sean Bave). - [Blue Collar Builders](https://daltonmills.com/blue-collar-builders): A private community of home service operators, technicians, and trade business owners shaping software for the trades together, covering the network, events, product roadmap influence, and shared insights. - [Tools](https://daltonmills.com/tools): Free calculators and generators for field service contractors — pricing, labor rates, job estimating, local search rankings, and business benchmarking. No sign-up required. - [Contact / Apply for Early Access](https://daltonmills.com/contact): Application to join Dalton Mills and tell the team how your business runs, what slows you down, and what you want to build. ## Trades A dedicated page for each vertical, covering how Dalton Mills applies to that trade's workflows, terminology, and business model. ### Featured trades - [HVAC](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-hvac): Build tools around how a team manages memberships, schedules installs, and upsells service. - [Plumbing](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-plumbing): Workflows that flex with the job, the crew, and the customer, since plumbing jobs don't run on a fixed script. - [Electrical](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-electrical): For electrical businesses running on a system that was never built for electrical work. - [Garage Door](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-garage-door): AI across the quoting, scheduling, parts, and service details garage door work depends on. - [Chimney Sweep](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-chimney-sweeping): AI grounded in how chimney sweep work actually runs rather than a generic template. - [Roofing](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-roofing): Build the workflows a roofing business needs instead of inheriting someone else's. ### All other trades - [Alarm Systems](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-alarm-systems): Organize the work around how the team completes each job on critical systems. - [Appliance Repair](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-appliance-repair): First-call resolution depends on having the right information before the job starts. - [Auto Repair](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-auto-repair): For shop owners done relying on third-party software to keep the shop running. - [AV Systems](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-av-systems): Workflow built around how projects are scoped, staged, and delivered. - [Commercial Dock and Door](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-commercial-dock-and-door): For work spread across job sites, facilities, and service calls that rarely fit a fixed box. - [Commercial Services](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-commercial-services): Accounts, contracts, and processes no generic platform was designed for. - [Concrete Contractors](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-concrete-contractors): Job-specific details a one-size-fits-all platform cannot handle properly. - [Custom Home Building](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-custom-home-building): Builders shouldn't have to work around software built for someone else's job. - [Fencing](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-fencing-contractors): AI made specifically for a fencing business, by the business itself. - [Fire and Life Safety](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-fire-and-life-safety): Tools that make sure a missed inspection or expired certification never happens. - [Food Equipment](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-food-equipment): Move the work cleanly from call to repair without slowing the technician down. - [Gutter Contractors](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-gutter-contractors): Handle the rush, the slowdown, and the seasonality without forcing it into a generic system. - [Handyman Services](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-handyman-services): Tools flexible enough for jobs that never look the same, without adding admin work. - [Home Cleaning](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-home-cleaning): Build tools that fit the business's own process rather than someone else's software. - [Irrigation](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-irrigation): Build the AI workflows, agents, and tools an irrigation operation runs on, no code required. - [Janitorial](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-janitorial-services): Someone else's workflow shouldn't become the default for the business. - [Junk Removal](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-junk-removal): Build tools around the way the operation already works. - [Landscaping](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-landscaping): A workflow that comes from how the job is already run, on relationships and repeat work. - [Locksmith Services](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-locksmith-services): Create the workflow the operation actually needs instead of one built around someone else's process. - [Painting](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-painting): A painting estimate carries more variables than any dropdown menu accounts for. - [Pest Control](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-pest-control): AI tools that run treatment plans, follow-ups, and licensing the way the business does it. - [Pool Services](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-pool-services): Route density, chemical tracking, customer communication, and the back-end work behind them. - [Property Maintenance](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-property-maintenance): Accounts, schedules, and site details managed the company's own way. - [Remodeling Contractors](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-remodeling-contractors): Keep overlapping trades, shifting timelines, and customer decisions from turning into chaos. - [Restoration Jobs](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-restoration-jobs): For operators who manage every aspect of restoration work themselves. - [Septic Services](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-septic-services): Scheduling, compliance, and risk management too specific for a generic system. - [Siding Contractors](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-siding-contractors): Material choices and site conditions that standard software leaves little room for. - [Snow Removal](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-snow-removal): Scheduling and dispatch that don't fit software built for year-round service companies. - [Water Treatment](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-water-treatment): Testing, reporting, and follow-up processes standard software cannot always match. - [Window Cleaning](https://daltonmills.com/industries/ai-for-window-cleaning): A workflow that extends how the business runs rather than a platform with no input. ## Tools Free calculators and generators built for field service contractors, filterable by Business, Electrical, HVAC, Plumbing, and Roofing. All are free to use with no sign-up required. ### Pricing, labor rates, and business - [Hourly Labor Rate Calculator](https://daltonmills.com/tools/hourly-labor-rate-calculator-better-financial-planning): Find the break-even and target billable rate a business needs to hit its profit goal. - [HVAC Labor Rate Calculator](https://daltonmills.com/tools/hvac-labor-rate-calculator-contractors-need): Break-even and target billable rate for an HVAC company to hit its profit goal. - [Plumbing Labor Rate Calculator](https://daltonmills.com/tools/plumbing-labor-rate-calculator-for-profit-optimization): Break-even and target billable rate for a plumbing company to hit its profit goal. - [Electrical Labor Rate Calculator](https://daltonmills.com/tools/electrical-labor-rate-calculator-higher-profits): Break-even and target billable rate for an electrical contractor to hit its profit goal. - [Service Price & Profit Margin Calculator](https://daltonmills.com/tools/service-price-and-profit-margin-calculator): Price a job to hit a target profit margin, or check the actual margin a given price delivers. - [Parts Markup Calculator](https://daltonmills.com/tools/set-profit-margins-parts-markup-calculator): Find the selling price from a part's cost plus a desired margin or markup. - [Service Business Grader](https://daltonmills.com/tools/business-grader-for-business-performance-evaluation): A 10-question scorecard across pricing, marketing, scheduling, retention, and financials. - [Business Valuation Calculator](https://daltonmills.com/tools/business-valuation-calculator-accurate-estimates): A rough valuation range for a field service business based on its SDE and multiple. - [Field Service Software ROI Calculator](https://daltonmills.com/tools/field-service-software-roi-calculator-for-trades): Estimate the revenue lift and payback of field service software from adjustable published industry benchmarks. - [Invoice Generator](https://daltonmills.com/tools/invoice-generators-for-accurate-invoicing): Build a printable contractor invoice and download it as a PDF. - [QR Code Generator](https://daltonmills.com/tools/qr-code-generator): Generate a QR code for a review link, business card, or door hanger, downloadable as PNG or SVG. ### Local search and marketing - [Local Search Results Checker](https://daltonmills.com/tools/local-search-results-checker-for-businesses): See what Google shows for a keyword in any US city, state, or ZIP code, without moving and without a VPN. Builds location-targeted Google links — either ordinary web results or the Local Pack — covering the first five pages of results, which the user opens in their own browser. ### HVAC and refrigeration - [HVAC Load Calculator](https://daltonmills.com/tools/estimate-temperature-needs-hvac-load-calculator): Estimate the heating and cooling BTU capacity a building needs, plus suggested system tonnage. - [Air Flow / CFM Calculator](https://daltonmills.com/tools/cfm-calculator-for-proper-indoor-airflow): Find the required CFM for a room, or check the ACH a given airflow actually delivers. - [HVAC Duct Sizing Calculator](https://daltonmills.com/tools/hvac-duct-sizing-calculator-better-hvac-performance): Get a round duct diameter and equivalent rectangular sizes for a given airflow. - [SEER Upgrade ROI Calculator](https://daltonmills.com/tools/seer-upgrade-roi-calculator-for-energy-savings): Annual savings, payback period, and lifetime savings from a higher-efficiency AC upgrade. - [Refrigeration BTU Calculator](https://daltonmills.com/tools/refrigeration-btu-calculator-better-cooling-control): Estimate the cooling load (BTU/hr) for a walk-in cooler or freezer box. ### Plumbing and piping - [Pipe Volume Calculator](https://daltonmills.com/tools/pipe-volume-calculator-liquid-volume-calculation): Find the liquid volume held in a pipe run, in gallons, liters, and cubic feet. - [Pipe Thermal Expansion Calculator](https://daltonmills.com/tools/pipe-thermal-expansion-calculator-piping-trades): Find how much a pipe run grows or shrinks between install and operating temperature. - [Flow Rate Calculator](https://daltonmills.com/tools/flow-rate-calculator-for-accurate-fluid-measurements): Find the volumetric flow rate (GPM / L/min) in a pipe from velocity, or from a fill time and volume. ### Electrical - [Electrical Load Calculator](https://daltonmills.com/tools/electrical-load-calculator): Estimate residential service demand load and recommended panel size using a simplified NEC 220.82 calculation. - [Wire Size Calculator](https://daltonmills.com/tools/wire-size-calculator-for-professional-electricians): Find the correct copper or aluminum AWG wire size for a load over a distance, checking ampacity and voltage drop. ### Roofing - [Roofing Area Calculator](https://daltonmills.com/tools/roofing-area-calculator-for-professionals): Turn a building footprint and roof pitch into roof area, squares, shingle bundles, and underlayment. ## Resources - [All Resources](https://daltonmills.com/resources): Hub for blog articles, field notes, and videos on AI, home service software, and the trades. - [Blog](https://daltonmills.com/resources/blog): Articles on AI, home service software, and the changing field service industry. - [Field Notes](https://daltonmills.com/resources/fieldnotes): Founder and team notes, product updates, and platform thinking on how AI is changing field work for the trades. - [Videos](https://daltonmills.com/resources/videos): Tutorials, interviews, and demos covering AI, home service software, and the field service industry. ## Contact - [hello@daltonmills.com](mailto:hello@daltonmills.com): General inquiries. - [getinvolved@daltonmills.com](mailto:getinvolved@daltonmills.com): To get involved or request early access. - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/dalton-mills-ai/): Company page on LinkedIn. - [Careers](https://jobs.gem.com/daltonmills): Open roles at Dalton Mills. - [Blue Collar Builders Facebook Group](https://www.facebook.com/groups/bluecollarbuilders/): Community group for trade operators. ## Optional - [Privacy Policy](https://daltonmills.com/legal/privacy-policy): How Dalton Mills handles data. - [Terms of Use](https://daltonmills.com/legal/terms-of-use): Terms governing use of the platform.