Masonry Takeoff Services

Whether you’re bidding on a renovation project or are looking to apply for new construction, masonry work is there in almost all projects. From foundation to walls, you got to undertake accurate masonry takeoff from blueprints. That’s where masonry takeoff services come in handy in terms of bidding on more projects and boosting your business.

Being a contractor, it’s important to get your masonry estimates correct the first time around. Depending on the project’s specifics, there might be different types of masonry, like clay bricks, concrete blocks, clay tiles, natural stone, or artificial stone. Apart from the material cost, your bid needs to factor in the operating expense, labor cost, as well as equipment cost.

As the material prices are soaring, you need to keep an eye on material prices and keep up with the suppliers. Labor cost is also a critical factor in defining the overall cost of the project. However, factoring these costs into your bid is tedious work. At the same time, you can’t compromise on your profit margins as that’s the only thing you’re working for. So, if you’re new to masonry works and don’t have any thorough market data, you might struggle to make a project-winning bid.

That’s why it makes sense to hire a masonry takeoff service when you want to ensure accuracy on your job site and win projects repeatedly on reasonable profit margins:

How to Estimate the masonry work?

The masonry work in a building is not just about calculating the number of masonry units on the basis of total square footage. You also need to take into account the wall reinforcement, mortar, cement, lintels, and flashings. When you’re doing masonry work, all these elements are a part of your project.

Estimating the masonry area

The most basic method to takeoff masonry work is determining the total square footage of each wall in the building. After that, you can divide the surface area by the area of a single unit. The size of a masonry unit varies a lot from project to project. The most common size of masonry units is 8x8x16 in inches. However, masonry units can be of different widths like 4”, 6”, 8”, 10”, and 12”. So, make sure you use the right size while calculating the number of masonry units.

For bricks, we take the measurements from the drawing in terms of square footage and divide the figure by 27, as we need 27 bricks per cubic foot of brickwork.

Working with the materials

In terms of materials like reinforcement, cement, sand, and mortar for laying masonry units, you can use coverage rate. For that, simply divide the square footage of total masonry by the preset coverage rate for a specific project.

Including the labor

Estimating the labor is also a tricky part. You need to evaluate the complexity of the project to set a low or high value of masonry charge. Typically masons charge between $45 to $85 per hour with a minimum of $250 to $450 for a few hours of work. For a square foot basis, the labor charges are between $26 to $48 per square foot.

Know the project requirements

Precision in masonry work, whether interior or exterior, requires careful measurements and the use of data from several different sources.

The masonry project for residential building walls will be pretty different in approach as compared with masonry work for landscaping or stone work. Landscaping masonry involves more precision and complexity. So, it is pretty important to properly understand the project requirements before submitting the final quote.

Also, in masonry work, you need to keep in mind the deductions because of the openings like doors, windows, and ventilators. If you don’t have blueprints for a particular project, you can prepare rough drawings on the job site to estimate brickwork. This will ensure you won’t miss any detail.

Here’re some of the projects that have different methods for estimating material, labor, and overheads:

– Brick Masonry work

– Stone Masonry work

– Concrete blocks masonry work

– Brick fence project

– Brick wall for garden

– Boundary wall

– Glass unit masonry

– Granite takeoffs

– Limestone takeoffs

– Clay unit masonry takeoffs

– Architectural and glazed masonry

– Slate &

Marble takeoffs

– Masonry Flashing Takeoffs

– Mortar and grout takeoffs

– Brick Veneer Takeoffs

– Masonry Anchorage Takeoffs.

Factor in wastage, profit margin, and extras

For most masonry works, contractors are used to having a 10% cushion in their estimates not just for the wastage but also to cover last-minute add-ons or any problem while executing a masonry job.

When it comes to adding in overheads and profit margins, there’s no hard and fast rule. You need to figure out your business expenses as well as how much you’re willing to make without losing a bid. If you’re new in masonry work, you can start roughly with a 4-6% profit margin. But once you’re all set in, you can hit a 10% profit. It’s all about finding the perfect balance between costs associated with business operation and the number of projects you’re winning in a season.

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Benefits of outsourcing your masonry takeoff work

Being in masonry work, you’re already under enormous pressure to deal with technical matters and operating business, meet clients, and work through the project issues at the site. That’s why we always recommend outsourcing your estimation work to reputable masonry takeoff services, as offered by Construction Estimating services.

We’re a team of highly skilled individuals who’ve been helping a number of masonry contractors not just win projects but also help boost their profit margins and cut down their expenses. We’ve got an in-house market analytics team who’s always ready with useful insights about the market condition and how it is going to impact your future projects.

Whether you’re undertaking a residential, commercial, or industrial masonry project, we’ve got you covered. We’re here to quantify each of your masonry detail work. All of our masonry estimates are as per the CSI Division 4 format in various sections.

Our estimates are not just figures; they’re like your resume to land a job in a perfect manner.

We use Planswift Software to do Digital Takeoffs

So, if you’re looking to take off your residential or commercial masonry project, you require a helping hand. That’s where software like Planswift can be pretty helpful. It let you quickly determine the required area of finish but has specific built-in tools to make your paint takeoff easy as ago.