Job takeoff
Fitted wardrobe takeoff
Fit a wardrobe (a built-in closet) along a bedroom wall: dust sheets and a masking line round its front, the shelf board for its hanging from the run's width, the woodwork paint where the doors and trims are painted on site and the skirting (baseboard) refitted round it, with the carcasses, scribes, plinth, cornice and doors listed as the joinery they are, and the moved socket and any lighting listed as the electrician's and never certified.
A takeoff is the trade word for the shopping list a job produces — every material, and how much of each, worked out by its own cited calculator.
- 7Measurements in
- 4Trades out
Choose the build-up
Each layer changes the materials below; the dimensions stay the same.
Compare one layer at these dimensions, with the rest of the build-up held as you have it:
Give the job once
Every figure on the right follows these, in the units you choose.
Been given a quote for this job?
Paste it into the fitted wardrobe quote check: each line is read against these same calculators — what it leaves out, what it adds, and what to ask.
Check the quoteEvery trade, from those dimensions
then change a dimension, and each line shows what moved.
| Trade | Quantity | |
|---|---|---|
Masking and protection materialsMasking and Protection Materials CalculatorDust sheets over the floor you gave at the calculator's opening sheet size, and one line of tape round the front's outline, the width and the floor-to-ceiling height twice over, where the filling and the decorator's caulk meet the walls and the ceiling. The way in for the long carcass panels is protected as listed work, and not counted here.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
Change any other figure on the Masking and Protection Materials Calculator | 3 items | |
Rails and shelves (shelf board, closet rods, shelving): the interior fit-outCloset Shelving CalculatorShelf board across the wardrobe's width at the page's opening stock length and cutting allowance: one shelf run over a single hanging, two over a double hanging, as the build-up below chooses, in 2.4 m boards in metric and 8 ft boards in imperial. The hanging rail (closet rod) runs the width of the shelf over it, so its length is the shelf runs before the allowance; it is bought as rail and is not in this figure, and nor are its end brackets, the shelf supports or the partitions between sections. Drawers and shoe racks come with the carcasses.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The cutting waste: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. | 8.8 linear ft | |
Skirting (baseboard)Baseboard & Trim CalculatorThe skirting you gave, refitted or renewed round the plinth's ends, in stock lengths with the calculator's cutting allowance. The page works out a room's perimeter, so the run reaches it as a square room a quarter of the run each way, whose four sides add up to the run itself; no doorway is taken off. The skirting behind the carcasses is not put back, since the plinth stands in its place.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The cutting waste: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. | 4.4 linear ft | |
Woodwork paint, gloss or eggshellWoodwork Paint CalculatorTwo coats at the page's opening spread rate on each door or sliding panel you gave, both faces, at its width times its height, and on the front's outline, the plinth, the cornice and the scribes up each end, as a run at the page's opening painted girth. The exposed end panels, the shelves and the inside of the carcasses are not in it, a door with mouldings takes more than its outline, and the knotting, primer and undercoat on bare timber or MDF come first and are separate. Shown only where the doors are painted on site.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
| 0.64 gal | |
Masking and protection materialsMasking and Protection Materials CalculatorDust sheets over the floor you gave at the calculator's opening sheet size, and one line of tape round the front's outline, the width and the floor-to-ceiling height twice over, where the filling and the decorator's caulk meet the walls and the ceiling. The way in for the long carcass panels is protected as listed work, and not counted here.
Why this quantity? | 3 items | |
Rails and shelves (shelf board, closet rods, shelving): the interior fit-outCloset Shelving CalculatorShelf board across the wardrobe's width at the page's opening stock length and cutting allowance: one shelf run over a single hanging, two over a double hanging, as the build-up below chooses, in 2.4 m boards in metric and 8 ft boards in imperial. The hanging rail (closet rod) runs the width of the shelf over it, so its length is the shelf runs before the allowance; it is bought as rail and is not in this figure, and nor are its end brackets, the shelf supports or the partitions between sections. Drawers and shoe racks come with the carcasses.
Why this quantity? | 2.64 m | |
Skirting (baseboard)Baseboard & Trim CalculatorThe skirting you gave, refitted or renewed round the plinth's ends, in stock lengths with the calculator's cutting allowance. The page works out a room's perimeter, so the run reaches it as a square room a quarter of the run each way, whose four sides add up to the run itself; no doorway is taken off. The skirting behind the carcasses is not put back, since the plinth stands in its place.
Why this quantity? | 1.32 m | |
Woodwork paint, gloss or eggshellWoodwork Paint CalculatorTwo coats at the page's opening spread rate on each door or sliding panel you gave, both faces, at its width times its height, and on the front's outline, the plinth, the cornice and the scribes up each end, as a run at the page's opening painted girth. The exposed end panels, the shelves and the inside of the carcasses are not in it, a door with mouldings takes more than its outline, and the knotting, primer and undercoat on bare timber or MDF come first and are separate. Shown only where the doors are painted on site.
Why this quantity? | 2.4 L |
Estimates, not a quote. Each row gives its base, the allowance on top, the adjusted figure and what to order; change an allowance on the row, or open its reasoning to see every figure it rests on. A trade's own page carries what it does not cover — open the one you are about to order against.
Labour and programme
Person-hours for the rows going in, from trade rules of thumb: a range for each piece of work, never a price.
- Masking and protection materials0.5 h (0.2–1.0)
- Rails and shelves (shelf board, closet rods, shelving): the interior fit-out3.7 h (1.8–7.3)
- Skirting (baseboard)0.2 h (0.1–0.5)
- Woodwork paint, gloss or eggshell2.1 h (1.2–4.8)
About 6.5 person-hours in all, between 3.4 and 14.
Trade by trade
- Labourer1 labourerunder a quarter of a day
- Carpenter1 carpenterhalf a day
- Painter1 painterhalf a day
About 1 day, one trade after another at eight hours a day. Left out: drying and curing, deliveries, inspections, trades overlapping.
Labour and programme
Person-hours for the rows going in, from trade rules of thumb: a range for each piece of work, never a price.
- Masking and protection materials0.5 h (0.2–1.0)
- Rails and shelves (shelf board, closet rods, shelving): the interior fit-out3.6 h (1.8–7.2)
- Skirting (baseboard)0.2 h (0.1–0.5)
- Woodwork paint, gloss or eggshell2.2 h (1.2–4.8)
About 6.5 person-hours in all, between 3.4 and 13.
Trade by trade
- Labourer1 labourerunder a quarter of a day
- Carpenter1 carpenterhalf a day
- Painter1 painterhalf a day
About 1 day, one trade after another at eight hours a day. Left out: drying and curing, deliveries, inspections, trades overlapping.
Setups you have saved
The build-up, the dimensions and any allowance you changed — kept on this device, and reusable on any job. Your prices are not copied in: they stay in your price book, so a setup never holds a stale one.
How far does a budget go?
At your own prices, with this build-up unchanged.
About this job
A fitted wardrobe (a built-in closet, to a North American reader) is joinery made for one wall, and most of the skill in fitting one is making square boxes sit against a room that is not square. The floor falls towards a window, the walls lean out at the top and the ceiling dips in the middle, and the gaps that leaves at each end and along the head are closed with scribes and fillers cut to the wall's own line. So the run is measured and the floor, the walls and the ceiling are read for level and plumb before anything is ordered. The carcasses themselves are a maker's product built to that survey, which is why they, the scribes, the plinth (toe kick) and the cornice (crown molding) are listed here as work rather than counted.
The rows measure what follows from the width of the run. Inside, the shelf board for one shelf over a single hanging rail, or two shelves over a double hanging, comes from the closet shelving page; the hanging rail (closet rod) runs as wide as the shelf above it, though that page leaves it out of its figure, and drawer packs and shoe racks come with the carcasses. Outside, where the doors, carcasses and trims are painted on site rather than arriving finished, the woodwork paint row takes every door or sliding panel on both faces and the front's outline, the plinth along the floor, the cornice along the ceiling and the scribes up each end, at the girth a brush covers.
The doors decide two fixings that reach beyond the wardrobe itself. Hinged doors hang on the carcass sides; a sliding door's head track needs something solid along its whole run, either the carcass tops or a timber header screwed up into the ceiling joists, and its floor track is fixed through the carpet or with the carpet cut back. Both go into a ceiling and a floor that carry the room's cables and pipes, so every hole is scanned first. A socket or switch the carcasses would cover is moved, and any lights inside are wired in, by an electrician whose own certificate covers that work; this page lists it, and signs nothing off.
How each line reads
- Base
- What the calculator gives for these dimensions, before anything is added.
- Allowance
- Cutting waste, a lap or spare stock — named, with where it comes from, and changeable on the row.
- Adjusted
- The base with its allowance on top.
- Order
- What to buy: the adjusted figure in whole boards, bags, rolls or lengths.
The order this happens in
Quantities do not tell you the sequence, and on this job the sequence is where the money goes wrong.
- Measure the run, read the floor, the walls and the ceiling for level and plumb, mark where each door swings or the sliding track runs, and settle the layout of rails, shelves and drawers before anything is ordered.
- Lay dust sheets over the bedroom floor and along the way in for the long panels, take out any old wardrobe or cupboard, and lift off the skirting along the wall the carcasses will stand tight against.
- Where a socket or switch is in the way or lights go inside, isolate the circuit and have the electrician move the box and run the cable while the wall is still open.
- Stand the carcasses on their plinth line, packed level and plumb, scan the wall and fix each one back against tipping, then scribe the end panels and fillers to the walls and the ceiling.
- Fix the rails and shelves to the layout, then hang the doors, or fix the sliding track to the carcass tops or to a header in the ceiling joists with its floor track below, and adjust every door or panel until the gaps run even.
- Fit the plinth (toe kick) along the foot and the cornice (crown molding) or top filler along the head, cutting back any of the room's own coving where the cornice meets the ceiling, and refit the skirting round the plinth's ends.
- Fill and caulk where the joinery meets the walls and the ceiling, paint whatever is finished on site, have the moved socket and the lights connected and tested, and clear the packaging and offcuts.
- Hand over the hinge and track adjustment instructions, any maker's guarantee on the doors and the track, and the electrician's certificate where a socket was moved or lights were wired in.
What this takeoff does not cover
- Plaster repairs behind the units, beyond packing them plumb.
- Design drawings and cut lists, which the maker or the joiner draws up.
- A scheme for the lights.
- Safety glazing ratings, which the glass maker gives.
- A radiator moved out of the way, with its pipes.
- Furniture moved out and brought back.
Quote check
Been given a quote for this job?
Paste it into the fitted wardrobe quote check. Every line of it is read against these same calculators and your measurements. Quantities only, never prices.
What it leaves out
Every line this takeoff has that nothing on the quote reads as.
What it adds
Labour, removal, hire, fees — each named for what it is.
What to ask
One list of questions, ready to copy. Never a verdict.
More takeoffs
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Frequently asked questions
- What does the fitted wardrobe takeoff give for a typical job?
- Opened at Floor protected 12 m² · Width of the wardrobe 2.4 m · Floor to ceiling where it stands 2.4 m · Doors or sliding panels painted on site 4 · Width of one door or panel 0.6 m · Height of the doors 2.2 m · Skirting refitted round it 1.2 m, it orders: Masking and protection materials, 3 items; Rails and shelves (shelf board, closet rods, shelving): the interior fit-out, 2.64 m; Skirting (baseboard), 1.32 m; Woodwork paint, gloss or eggshell, 2.4 L. Opened at Floor protected 130 sq ft · Width of the wardrobe 8 ft · Floor to ceiling where it stands 8 ft · Doors or sliding panels painted on site 4 · Width of one door or panel 2 ft · Height of the doors 7 ft · Skirting refitted round it 4 ft: Masking and protection materials, 3 items; Rails and shelves (shelf board, closet rods, shelving): the interior fit-out, 8.8 linear ft; Skirting (baseboard), 4.4 linear ft; Woodwork paint, gloss or eggshell, 0.64 gal. Every figure follows the dimensions you give it.
- Which calculators does the fitted wardrobe takeoff run?
- 4 calculators, one to a line: Masking and Protection Materials Calculator, Closet Shelving Calculator, Baseboard & Trim Calculator, Woodwork Paint Calculator. Each has a page of its own with its formula and its sources; the takeoff runs them all on one set of dimensions.
- What does the fitted wardrobe takeoff leave out?
- 6 things, each named on this page: Plaster repairs behind the units, beyond packing them plumb; Design drawings and cut lists, which the maker or the joiner draws up; A scheme for the lights; Safety glazing ratings, which the glass maker gives; A radiator moved out of the way, with its pipes; Furniture moved out and brought back.
- Can I check a quote for this job against the takeoff?
- Yes. The fitted wardrobe quote check reads a quote's lines against these same calculators and your measurements, and reports what it leaves out, what it adds and what to ask. It reads quantities, never prices.