Division 04 takeoffs — CMU, brick, stone and restoration — bid-ready in 24–48 hours
Masonry looks like the easiest trade to take off and is one of the easiest to get wrong. Counting block faces and calling it done skips the bond beams, the lintel block, the knockouts, the weep holes, the flashing, the scaffold duration and the grout volume — and those are the items that quietly erase the margin.
Prime Estimation quantifies the complete Division 04 scope from your drawings, deducts openings correctly, applies realistic waste factors, and prices everything to your project's ZIP code. You get a spreadsheet you can bid from and a marked-up drawing set you can audit.
Organised to CSI MasterFormat Division 04, with every special unit separated out.
| Deliverable | Format | Detail level |
|---|---|---|
| Masonry unit counts | Excel · EA | By type, size and shape — every special separated |
| Wall areas | Excel · SF | By wall type, thickness and location, openings deducted |
| Mortar | Excel · CY / bags | By mortar type and joint size |
| Grout | Excel · CY | By cell fill pattern and core density |
| Reinforcement | Excel · LB / LF | Vertical rebar, horizontal joint reinforcement, ties |
| Accessories | Excel · EA / LF | Flashing, weeps, anchors, control joints, lintels |
| Scaffold | Excel · SF / weeks | Area and duration, not a lump allowance |
| Labor hours | Excel · MH | By mason and labourer, by activity |
| Priced estimate | Excel + PDF | Material, labor, equipment, O&P as columns |
| Marked-up drawings | Colour-coded by wall type for audit | |
| Scope narrative | Written inclusions, exclusions, assumptions |
Also published as masonry takeoff services — quantities by wall type, floor level and elevation.
Five steps from the wall type schedule to a priced, auditable takeoff.
An estimator works through the wall type schedule, structural notes and Division 04 specifications before measuring. Wall assemblies, grout patterns, reinforcement schedules and finish requirements are logged first. An 8" CMU wall grouted solid at 16" o.c. and an 8" CMU wall grouted at 48" o.c. are entirely different numbers.
Quantities are measured in PlanSwift, Bluebeam Revu or On-Screen Takeoff, with each wall type on its own layer and colour. Areas are measured by wall, by floor level and by elevation so the output is traceable back to a specific location on a specific sheet.
Doors, windows, louvers, vents and blockouts are deducted. Jamb block, lintel block and sill block at each opening are added as separate counts — not absorbed into the general block number, which is where most takeoffs lose accuracy.
Mortar is calculated from joint size, unit dimension and mortar type. Grout is calculated from actual cell fill pattern rather than a blanket percentage. Waste factors are applied by material — breakage on face brick is not the same as breakage on standard block — and shown as a visible line rather than hidden in the unit price.
Material, labor and equipment priced against RSMeans adjusted to your ZIP code, cross-checked against regional supplier pricing. A second estimator reviews every takeoff before it ships. Excel and PDF in 24–48 hours.
Layered digitizing so every wall type stays traceable back to the sheet it came from.
Assembly-based masonry takeoff.
On-screen measurement, markup and revision comparison.
Layered digitizing on large commercial sets.
ZIP-code-adjusted unit pricing.
Labor productivity and crew modelling.
Final deliverable, formatted to your cost codes.
Quoted per project before work begins, based on scope, drawing complexity and turnaround.
Per-plan veneer packages, screen walls and entry features.
Typical fee $250 – $550
Retail, office and light industrial shell packages.
Typical fee $600 – $1,200
Schools, correctional, healthcare and multi-elevation work.
Typical fee $1,200 – $2,400
Repointing LF, replacement counts and access costs.
Typical fee $450 – $1,100
Monthly takeoff packages are available for a set volume each month — from $1,500/mo with priority queue placement.
Twelve items that are in the spec, rarely in the bid, and expensive to discover on site.
Different unit cost and different grout volume than standard block.
Priced higher and needed in specific counts per opening.
Blanket percentages miss solid-grouted walls badly.
Ladder/truss LF at every other course adds up fast.
Small unit cost, very large linear quantities.
Labour-intensive, frequently excluded and then argued over.
A three-week elevation and a nine-week elevation cost differently.
Tenting, heating and admixtures on winter schedules.
3–5% on block, often more on face brick with pattern work.
Always in the spec, frequently not in the bid.
Equipment line items, not overhead.
Required by spec on most commercial masonry work.
Masonry subs, restoration specialists, GCs levelling bids and suppliers confirming quantities.
Full Division 04 bid takeoffs with labor hours.
Repointing LF, replacement counts, access costs.
Budget checks and sub-bid levelling.
Per-plan veneer and site wall packages.
Pre-construction budgets before drawings finalise.
Cost feedback on veneer and wall assembly options.
Material quantity confirmation for quoting.
Independent third-party scope check.
Specials counted separately, grout by cell pattern, scaffold in SF-weeks.
| Item | Unit | Qty | Material | Labor | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8" standard CMU, load-bearing | EA | 14,280 | $ — | $ — | $ — |
| 8" bond beam block | EA | 1,140 | $ — | $ — | $ — |
| 8" lintel block | EA | 386 | $ — | $ — | $ — |
| Modular face brick, running bond | EA | 41,600 | $ — | $ — | $ — |
| Type S mortar, 3/8" joint | CY | 68 | $ — | $ — | $ — |
| Coarse grout, cells @ 32" o.c. | CY | 94 | $ — | $ — | $ — |
| #5 vertical rebar w/ laps | LB | 8,940 | $ — | $ — | $ — |
| Ladder joint reinforcement | LF | 12,400 | $ — | $ — | $ — |
| Through-wall flashing | LF | 1,860 | $ — | $ — | $ — |
| Weep vents @ 24" o.c. | EA | 930 | $ — | $ — | $ — |
| Tubular scaffold — erect, rent, strike | SF-WK | 24,600 | $ — | $ — | $ — |
| Mason hours | MH | 3,180 | — | $ — | $ — |
| Labourer hours | MH | 2,640 | — | $ — | $ — |
Quantities shown from an anonymised project.
What masonry contractors ask before sending a set over.
The complete Division 04 scope: every masonry unit counted by type and size, wall areas with openings deducted, mortar by type and joint size, grout by actual cell fill pattern, vertical and horizontal reinforcement, ties and anchors, flashing and weeps, control joints and sealant, lintels, scaffold area and duration, cleaning, and both mason and labourer hours.
From the unit dimension, joint thickness, mortar type and wall area — not a rule-of-thumb bag count. Site-batched and pre-blended mortar are reported separately because they price differently. Cold- and hot-weather admixtures are carried when the schedule calls for them.
From the actual cell fill pattern in the structural drawings — solid grouted, grouted at specified spacing, or spot-grouted at bond beams and jambs only. Applying a blanket percentage to a solid-grouted shear wall will underbid it substantially.
Yes, to the threshold in the project documents. Doors, windows, louvers and blockouts are deducted from wall area, and the jamb, sill and lintel units required at each opening are added back as separate counts.
It varies by material and is always shown as a visible line rather than buried in unit price. Standard block typically carries a lower factor than face brick; patterned brickwork, cut stone and thin veneer carry more. If you have your own historical waste factors, we use yours.
Yes. Repointing by LF or SF depending on the spec, selective unit replacement counts, cleaning SF, crack repair, helical tie counts, and the access equipment and protection those scopes require. Historic work with matched mortar analysis is included when specified.
Yes — area and duration, split by elevation. Scaffold priced as a lump allowance is a common source of loss on tall or long-duration masonry work.
Yes, with a documented accuracy band. Design-stage estimates use wall area and assembly benchmarks; every assumed quantity is flagged so you can see which numbers are measured and which are estimated.
Quoted per project before work begins, based on scope, drawing complexity and turnaround. You approve the fee in writing first.
24–48 hours for most scopes, 48–72 for large institutional or heavily detailed restoration work. Tell us your deadline when you upload and we'll confirm honestly whether it's achievable.
Either. Quantities-only if you apply your own unit costs, or fully priced using RSMeans adjusted to your ZIP. If you send your cost codes, we price into your structure.
Yes. Send a blank template or a past estimate and we'll return the deliverable in the same format so it imports without rework.
All 50, with ZIP-code-adjusted pricing. Masonry labor rates vary significantly between markets and national averages are not usable for bidding.
Yes. Request an anonymised sample estimate in the same trade and roughly the same scale as your project.
Yes. We'll sign your NDA before receiving drawings if you prefer.
Send your plans and tell us what's in scope. You'll get a fee quote and delivery date the same business day, and a bid-ready estimate in 24–48 hours.
