# Blueprints..



## Al Taper (Dec 16, 2007)

Is there a easy way of doing Residential work( take off) off prints? I get prints once in awile to give a price. And I give them a ballpark number. And tell them I can do better once its framed up. 
One guy told me get the W & L of the building and get the sf of the floor space and samething(?). Then figure in ur sf price and there is your ball park.:whistling2:


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## VANMAN (Jan 14, 2011)

*pricing*



Al Taper said:


> Is there a easy way of doing Residential work( take off) off prints? I get prints once in awile to give a price. And I give them a ballpark number. And tell them I can do better once its framed up.
> One guy told me get the W & L of the building and get the sf of the floor space and samething(?). Then figure in ur sf price and there is your ball park.:whistling2:


 Hi ther over here we work by sqm. If i have a plan 2 price i get the floor area (sqm) And depending on the job (Difficult or easy) Multiply sqm by anything from £10 a sqm up to £15 a sqm:thumbsup: Its the easiest way i have found and u can price a plan in about 10 mins


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## uwing (Jan 13, 2011)

What if there's more wall & ceiling space than floor space?


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

uwing said:


> What if there's more wall & ceiling space than floor space?


Isn't that always the case? 

I think what they're saying is that they've gathered a little bit of experience and can extrapolate rough numbers from floor footage based on previous situations. Then again, I could be wrong and they have no idea what they're talking about.


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## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

one way is to multiply the floor area by 3.75 if it is 8 foot high.4.00 if it it is 9 ft high,this will give you a rough estimate on the count.Then pretend you are using nothing but 8 footers on the the whole house,you can get a fast count that way.then try to do a exact count with the proper sheets you want to use.visualize in your head what any complicated rooms,roof lines,joist runs in your head.Us men are suppose to be good at doing that.Now that will give you 3 counts to work from,if the three counts all end up around the same number,then you can feel safe on the square amount to charge for.
then when the house is ready,you can go do your accurate count with the proper rock sizes you want to use ,and you can feel safe that you should come up with the proper amount of square from your estimates .At this time watch for any changes from the prints,and address them then and there.
then on a foot note, i found the guy that could use the tape measure the least could get the faster count off. You learn to count studs, use the plywood on the floor to get dementions etc... all i used my tape for was split sheets , closet depths and heights


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## uwing (Jan 13, 2011)

SlimPickins said:


> Isn't that always the case?
> 
> I think what they're saying is that they've gathered a little bit of experience and can extrapolate rough numbers from floor footage based on previous situations. Then again, I could be wrong and they have no idea what they're talking about.


I can see if its cookie cutters. We use to do sqft floor cost. But we would be painting 50-200 of the same plan type. When doing jobs that are not similar experienced or not a floor sqft can burn you. I don't like getting burned, it hurts so I just do the work and snap my lines, takes like 15 to 20 min on the CPU bout 30 mins off a hard copy. Rough estimates in general can hurt you, what if you were to low. Now you got go back to the owner or GC's potentially messing up their budget, or your lose your azz. It takes work to protect your self and your clients.


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## [email protected] (Dec 23, 2008)

Don't forget the garage! 2.5 x's usually


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## Al Taper (Dec 16, 2007)

2buckcanuck said:


> one way is to multiply the floor area by 3.75 if it is 8 foot high.4.00 if it it is 9 ft high,this will give you a rough estimate on the count.Then pretend you are using nothing but 8 footers on the the whole house,you can get a fast count that way.then try to do a exact count with the proper sheets you want to use.visualize in your head what any complicated rooms,roof lines,joist runs in your head.Us men are suppose to be good at doing that.Now that will give you 3 counts to work from,if the three counts all end up around the same number,then you can feel safe on the square amount to charge for.
> then when the house is ready,you can go do your accurate count with the proper rock sizes you want to use ,and you can feel safe that you should come up with the proper amount of square from your estimates .At this time watch for any changes from the prints,and address them then and there.
> then on a foot note, i found the guy that could use the tape measure the least could get the faster count off. You learn to count studs, use the plywood on the floor to get dementions etc... all i used my tape for was split sheets , closet depths and heights


 Thanks .. right after i posted the first post. I was Talking to a old timer. And he said 3.7 on floor space. I guess what I can do is give a ball park on price. And Tell the GC that I can do better on price when It is all framed up. :yes: I dont want to bid to low.


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

uwing said:


> I can see if its cookie cutters. We use to do sqft floor cost. But we would be painting 50-200 of the same plan type. When doing jobs that are not similar experienced or not a floor sqft can burn you. I don't like getting burned, it hurts so I just do the work and snap my lines, takes like 15 to 20 min on the CPU bout 30 mins off a hard copy. Rough estimates in general can hurt you, what if you were to low. Now you got go back to the owner or GC's potentially messing up their budget, or your lose your azz. It takes work to protect your self and your clients.


I wasn't defending their method, I thought I was answering your question. I'm not worried about getting a take-off done quick, I'm worried about getting it done right. Granted, I don't want to waste time on it, but I try and make sure I'm covered....perhaps that's why I never get my bids:laughing:


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## PrecisionTaping (Feb 2, 2012)

Anybody care to measure some plans for me?
I'm in a rush to put in a bid for this job and I don't have the time or experience to measure a house this size based off of prints alone.
I've done smaller bungalows and such and have been pretty accurate with my sheet counts, but apparently my bid needs to be pretty tight on this job.

Whoever's interested in measuring this out for me will be compensated for their time.
Just PM on here and I can send you a PDF of the drawings and we can talk a little more.

oh btw, it's a 1,6million dollar house. So, it's a fair size foot print.


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## thefinisher (Sep 2, 2011)

Sometimes if you are wanting to get a really quick estimate on board count you can do it a couple of different ways. Say the house is 3,256 square feet. A really quick way is to take off the last number so: 325 sheets. You can also divide by 11 which would give you 296 boards. Using my other method which I don't generally give out I came up with 305 sheets. All of these are relatively close depending on how high the ceilings are and such. Honestly if it were a pretty basic 9' ceiling house and nothing special then it would take about 285.


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## Arey85 (Jan 2, 2010)

Funny PT, I did a 1.6 mill house last summer. It was 503 sheets. That was easy and I didn't even need to see the plans. Good Luck buddy


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## kcchiefsfan1982 (Oct 4, 2011)

PrecisionTaping said:


> Anybody care to measure some plans for me?
> I'm in a rush to put in a bid for this job and I don't have the time or experience to measure a house this size based off of prints alone.
> I've done smaller bungalows and such and have been pretty accurate with my sheet counts, but apparently my bid needs to be pretty tight on this job.
> 
> ...


 
I don't know if I want to bid it for you, but I would like to see the pdf files, nonetheless. I use On Center OnScreen take-off to perform my commercial bids. Wouldn't mind looking at it through there. Im use to bidding framing, drywall, itch, acoustical ceilings, etc.

But, a house where I only have to figure gyp and itchulation would be fairly simple.


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

Brian ..Your best bet Is Disanto...He can figure it right down the the last screw :yes:..


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## PrecisionTaping (Feb 2, 2012)

Arey85 said:


> Funny PT, I did a 1.6 mill house last summer. It was 503 sheets. That was easy and I didn't even need to see the plans. Good Luck buddy


Good on ya bro. I just don't have that much experience bidding off of prints. Like I said, I've done a few, but when they're bigger Im scared I'll miss something and screw myself. lol
I typically just measure my job sites when the walls are up.



kcchiefsfan1982 said:


> I don't know if I want to bid it for you, but I would like to see the pdf files, nonetheless. I use On Center OnScreen take-off to perform my commercial bids. Wouldn't mind looking at it through there. Im use to bidding framing, drywall, itch, acoustical ceilings, etc.
> 
> But, a house where I only have to figure gyp and itchulation would be fairly simple.


Send me PM with your e-mail address and I'll send you a copy of the prints. I already got a footage count, but if you're interested in seeing the prints anyways, be my guest.



thefinisher said:


> Sometimes if you are wanting to get a really quick estimate on board count you can do it a couple of different ways. Say the house is 3,256 square feet. A really quick way is to take off the last number so: 325 sheets. You can also divide by 11 which would give you 296 boards. Using my other method which I don't generally give out I came up with 305 sheets. All of these are relatively close depending on how high the ceilings are and such. Honestly if it were a pretty basic 9' ceiling house and nothing special then it would take about 285.


Nice man! I'll keep those tips in mind. Thanks bro!


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## PrecisionTaping (Feb 2, 2012)

moore said:


> Brian ..Your best bet Is Disanto...He can figure it right down the the last screw :yes:..


:lol:


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

moore said:


> Brian ..Your best bet Is Disanto...He can figure it right down the the last screw :yes:..


:lol:


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## Newagestucco (Apr 18, 2012)

PrecisionTaping said:


> Anybody care to measure some plans for me?
> I'm in a rush to put in a bid for this job and I don't have the time or experience to measure a house this size based off of prints alone.
> I've done smaller bungalows and such and have been pretty accurate with my sheet counts, but apparently my bid needs to be pretty tight on this job.
> 
> ...


Give you a little advice ,you should never just get some else to due an estimate
Especially on a house that size you need a qualified estimates
Even after someone did give you an estimate
( you must take the time and due your own estimate )
And cross reference both to see if you both have the same numbers
When you have the rite # now you can give the proper $$
Nothing worse being half way threw the job and realizing you should of spent more time on your estimate

Nothing I like more seeing my competition missing there estimates 
Just my 2 cents good luck and no I'm not on that one lol


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## PrecisionTaping (Feb 2, 2012)

Newagestucco said:


> Give you a little advice ,you should never just get some else to due an estimate
> Especially on a house that size you need a qualified estimates
> Even after someone did give you an estimate
> ( you must take the time and due your own estimate )
> ...


Lol! Thanks for the advice Rick!
I was wondering when you'd chime in about that 
But ya, I did my own count, I just don't trust myself. 
I trust myself more than anyone else, but I wanted a few different opinions to see how close I was. I wasn't just gonna take someone elses word and throw in a blind bid. lol


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

PrecisionTaping said:


> Lol! Thanks for the advice Rick!
> I was wondering when you'd chime in about that
> But ya, I did my own count, I just don't trust myself.
> I trust myself more than anyone else, but I wanted a few different opinions to see how close I was. I wasn't just gonna take someone elses word and throw in a blind bid. lol


I like losing a bid for one of my regular builders once in a while. It only takes one time for them to realize that maybe they shouldn't have gone with the other guy:thumbsup:


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

SlimPickins said:


> I like losing a bid for one of my regular builders once in a while. It only takes one time for them to realize that maybe they shouldn't have gone with the other guy:thumbsup:


Yes....It only takes 1 time!!:yes:

I like to call It ..A lesson well learned! They need that sometimes !


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

moore said:


> Yes....It only takes 1 time!!:yes:
> 
> I like to call It ..A lesson well learned! They need that sometimes !


In that regard, low bidders are great....they tend to cement our relationships with builders. And the builders that want the lowest bid? Who wants/needs them anyway?


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

SlimPickins said:


> In that regard, low bidders are great....they tend to cement our relationships with builders. And the builders that want the lowest bid? Who wants/needs them anyway?


 BINGO!:yes:


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