Home or project walkthrough
Walk the house with the contractor and talk room by room. The template gives you separate headings for what you saw, what they suggested and what you agreed.
Start with one room, site area, or project section.
What you end up with
A reviewed visit note that distinguishes what you saw, what was proposed, and what was agreed.
Before you start
- Agree that the visit may be recorded and photographed.
- Use area names and photo labels that everyone can recognize.
- Bring the current plan or scope document so changes have context.
Capture each area distinctly
Away from the Mac, use your usual portable recorder, then import the audio into Gorp. Say the area name aloud when you move: “Kitchen, west wall.” Take photos in the phone's camera separately, and say each photo label during the recording.
Gorp’s own iPhone recorder is coming. This workflow works with exported audio from another recorder.
Keep facts separate from proposals
Say whether an item is an observation, an idea, an estimate, or an agreement. Ask someone to state any actual measurement aloud. Record who will confirm a price or a scope question instead of treating an offhand number as final.
Attach and review on the Mac
Import the audio, use the walkthrough template, and attach photo copies or plans with Add → Attach file…. In My notes, pair each filename with its area and approximate recording time. Photo timing is manual.
Check transcript numbers and proposed work against playback. Do not let a generated summary turn “maybe” into “approved.”
Confirm a shared scope
Send a reviewed note and chosen photos for the other person to check. Track later visits as separate dated notes in the same folder. Keep final scope and approvals in the documents you use for that purpose; Gorp does not turn the note into a contract.
Questions to try
Use these as prompts, then follow the conversation.
- Which area are we describing?
- Is this an observation, a proposal, or agreed work?
- Which measurement did we actually take?
- What needs a written estimate?
- Who will confirm the next decision?
Avoid turning a suggestion into a commitment
What you put in My notes
Kitchen — west wall photo-03-kitchen.jpg, around 09:40 Proposal: move the outlet; not approved yet. Contractor will confirm feasibility and send an estimate. No dimensions measured during this visit.
What you are aiming for
A room-specific note with a photo reference and a clearly unapproved proposal.
Your starter template
In Settings → Templates → Browse starter templates…, add an editable copy of this template and save settings. Or create a Blank template. Name it “Home or project walkthrough”, paste the outline and guidance below into their matching fields, and save settings. Choose the template in your note; use Insert outline if My notes is empty. The download is a text worksheet you can keep, not a one-click import file.
Download the starter worksheet ↓Outline
## Visit and purpose ## Areas and observations ## Photos and measurements supplied ## Proposed work ## Decisions actually agreed ## Questions and estimates still needed
Note-writing guidance
Organize the walkthrough by area. Keep observations, proposals, estimates, and explicit agreements separate. Do not convert a suggestion into approved work. Only include dimensions, costs, dates, and responsibility when supplied; never infer measurements from photographs. Reference provided photo filenames and stated audio moments without inventing automatic links. Preserve uncertainty and competing options. This note is a reviewed record of a conversation, not an inspection, contract, or safety assessment.
Newer tools worth trying
These are in the current Mac preview. Nothing is shared or added to Reminders until you review it and say so.
On the Mac, check each photo caption and linked audio moment. Save a reviewed chapter for one room or area with only the selected passages and photos. Review all selected audio, including nearby voices, before exporting the portable folder.
Use Plan… on a confirmed follow-up to record who owns the estimate, which due day you chose and what it is waiting on. Reminders is an explicit separate copy, not automatic task synchronization.
Project history… in the library sidebar or Edit menu shows confirmed decisions, actions and noted questions in a folder or tag you choose. Open or listen to the source, search planning details, and copy the shown history. Repeated statements keep their dates and source notes; discussion does not automatically complete actions or replace earlier decisions.
What still needs your judgment
- Photos are attachments, not automatic audio markers or measurement tools.
- A generated visit note is not a professional inspection or an agreed scope of work.
For processing choices and data flow, see the privacy setup guide.