Finishes takeoff: drywall, paint, flooring, ceilings, doors and hardware

Finishes are what owners and users see and touch, and on many buildings they account for a large share of construction cost. Finish takeoff is detailed and repetitive: every room has walls, a floor, a ceiling and a base, and each may have a different finish. The tools that make it manageable are the drawings' schedules: the room finish schedule, the partition type schedule, the door schedule and the hardware schedule. This lesson shows how to take off gypsum board, paint, flooring, base, ceilings, doors and hardware from those schedules, room by room, and how to check the totals.

Working from schedules

Architectural drawings describe finishes in schedules rather than on plans, so the takeoff combines dimensions measured from plans with finishes read from schedules.

• Room finish schedule: for each room number, the floor finish, base, wall finishes (sometimes by wall: north, south, east, west) and ceiling finish and height.
• Partition types: wall assemblies identified by tags on the plans, giving stud size and spacing, gypsum board layers on each side, insulation, fire rating and height (to ceiling, to underside of deck, or above ceiling).
• Door schedule: each door's number, size, type, material, frame type, fire rating, glazing and hardware set.
• Hardware schedule: the hinges, locks or latches, closers, stops, exit devices, seals and other items in each hardware set.

A practical method is to build a room-by-room spreadsheet: one row per room, with columns for floor area, perimeter, ceiling height, door and window openings, and the finish codes from the schedule. Quantities for each finish are then calculated and summed by finish type. Perimeter times height gives gross wall area; deducting openings gives net wall area for paint and wall finishes; floor area gives flooring and ceiling area; perimeter minus door widths gives base length.

Gypsum board partitions

Gypsum board is taken off by partition type. For each type, the estimator measures the length of partition on plan, multiplies by the height given by the partition type (which may extend above the ceiling to the structure for fire-rated or acoustic walls), and multiplies by the number of board layers on both sides. Openings are deducted under the measurement rule, but many estimators deduct only large openings because cutting around doors creates waste that offsets the saving.

• Framing: steel or wood studs by size, spacing and height, with top and bottom tracks or plates, from the same lengths.
• Board: area by type, such as regular, fire-rated Type X, moisture-resistant or abuse-resistant, and thickness, converted to sheets.
• Insulation and acoustic sealant: by partition area and length where the type specifies them.
• Taping and finishing: by board area, at the specified level of finish, from Level 0 to Level 5 under the industry's recognized levels of gypsum board finish.
• Accessories: corner beads, casing beads, control joints and backing, by length or count.

Board sheets come in several lengths, and choosing longer sheets for tall walls reduces joints, taping labour and waste. Estimators often take off board area by height range and let the drywall contractor choose sheet lengths. Where fire-rated assemblies continue above the ceiling to the underside of the structure, the extra height is easily missed if the takeoff uses the room ceiling height from the finish schedule instead of the partition type height.

Paint and wall coverings

Paint is taken off by net area of each surface and finish system, such as walls in eggshell latex, ceilings in flat latex, doors and frames in semi-gloss, and exposed structure in dry-fall. Doors and frames are often counted and priced per door, because measuring their area adds little accuracy. The number of coats comes from the specification, typically a primer and two finish coats on new gypsum board.

Painting labour is priced per unit area by surface type and height, with extra for cutting in at colour changes, for accent walls, and for work from scaffolds or lifts. Spray application on large open areas goes much faster than brush and roller in small rooms, so the same area can carry very different labour costs.

Flooring and base

Flooring is measured by room floor area for each finish type, from the plans and room finish schedule, with transitions and thresholds at doors. Resilient flooring such as vinyl tile, luxury vinyl tile and sheet goods, carpet tile, broadloom carpet, ceramic and porcelain tile, and wood flooring each have their own waste allowances, patterns and purchase units. Sheet goods and broadloom carpet are bought in rolls of fixed width, so waste depends on the room layout and the seaming plan; tile waste depends on room shape and pattern, with diagonal patterns wasting more.

• Floor preparation: levelling compounds, moisture mitigation and patching, priced per unit area where the specification or slab condition requires them.
• Base: resilient, wood or tile base along the room perimeter minus door openings, measured by length.
• Transitions: thresholds and transition strips at changes of floor finish, counted by door or measured by length.
• Attic stock: extra material the owner requires for future repairs, often 2 to 5 % of each finish, stated in the specification.

Ceilings

Acoustic ceilings are measured by area for each ceiling type and height, from the reflected ceiling plans and finish schedule. The suspension grid is priced with the tile, usually as one unit price per area, adjusted for grid size, tile type, seismic bracing requirements and the amount of cutting around light fixtures, diffusers and sprinkler heads. Perimeter trim is measured by length. Gypsum board ceilings and bulkheads are measured by area and by length for bulkhead faces, with their own framing.

Doors, frames and hardware

Doors, frames and hardware are counted from the door schedule, not measured. Each door line gives the door size, type and material; the frame type and material; the fire rating, which requires labelled doors and frames; glazing; and the hardware set. The estimator counts each combination and prices it from supplier quotes, usually a door, frame and hardware package from one supplier. Installation labour is priced per door, with more time for pairs, fire-rated doors, doors with electrified hardware, and frames grouted into masonry.

The schedules must be checked against the plans: a door shown on the plan but missing from the schedule, or a schedule line with no door on the plan, is a question for the architect. Hardware is often carried as a cash allowance when the hardware schedule is incomplete at bid time, in which case the estimator prices installation and the contract's treatment of the allowance.

Specialties and accessories

Division 10 specialties are counted, not measured: toilet partitions by compartment and urinal screen, toilet and bath accessories by item from the accessory schedule, corner guards and wall protection by length, signage by sign type, lockers by unit, and fire extinguishers and cabinets by count. They are small items individually but numerous, and they are often supplied by one subcontractor and installed by another, or supplied by the owner. Each needs blocking or backing in the walls, which belongs in the framing takeoff, and coordination of mounting heights with accessibility requirements, which affects layout but rarely cost.

Checking finish quantities

Finish takeoffs are checked against the floor area and against each other. The total flooring area by finish should approximately equal the net floor area of the building, less areas with no finish such as mechanical rooms with sealed concrete; the total ceiling area by type should be similar; and the total gypsum board area divided by the floor area gives a ratio that can be compared with similar buildings. A room-by-room spreadsheet makes these checks easy because every room appears once.