Job takeoff
Kitchen refit takeoff
Strip out a kitchen and fit a new one: base and wall units by standard width, the worktop (countertop) in stock lengths or as a template area, plinth (toe kick) and cornice, a tiled splashback, the new floor and the decoration, with the plumbing, electrical and gas work listed 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.
- 17Measurements in
- 16Trades out
Choose the build-up
Each layer changes the materials below; the dimensions stay the same.
Calculators behind the other choices:
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 kitchen refit 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 | |
|---|---|---|
Dust sheets and tapeMasking and Protection Materials CalculatorSheets over the kitchen floor and tape round its doors and windows before the old units come out: a floor that is being replaced still takes every carcass in and out. The route through the house is listed as work.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
Change any other figure on the Masking and Protection Materials Calculator | 3 items | |
Base unitsKitchen Unit and Cabinet Run CalculatorBase units by standard width along every run, with the appliance spaces taken off run 1 as one block at its end, a worktop depth off each later run at a corner, and the filler each stretch leaves. A dishwasher between two stretches of units is set on the unit page, where each stretch is filled on its own. The working also counts the end panels and, where the carcasses stand on them, the legs.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The cutting allowance: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. Change any other figure on the Kitchen Unit and Cabinet Run Calculator | 8 units | |
Wall unitsKitchen Unit and Cabinet Run CalculatorWall (upper) units along each wall run, each side of the hood filled on its own, with a wall unit's depth off a later run where two rows meet in a corner.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The cutting allowance: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. Change any other figure on the Kitchen Unit and Cabinet Run Calculator | 7 units | |
Cornice (crown), and as much again for a light pelmetKitchen Unit and Cabinet Run CalculatorStock lengths along the wall units with a return at each open end; a light pelmet under the units takes as much again. Leave the row out for handleless units, or wall units taken up to the ceiling.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The cutting allowance: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. Change any other figure on the Kitchen Unit and Cabinet Run Calculator | 2 lengths | |
Worktop (countertop) lengthsKitchen Unit and Cabinet Run CalculatorStock lengths, each piece cut 20 mm (3/4 in) long for scribing, the runs meeting at each corner the way that market's worktops do: a butt joint or masons mitre on lengths sold in metric sizes, a 45 degree mitre on a US post-form counter. A run longer than one length takes a joint, and the working says where it falls.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The cutting allowance: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. Change any other figure on the Kitchen Unit and Cabinet Run Calculator | 2 lengths | |
Splashback tilesFloor & Wall Tile CalculatorTiles on the wall behind the worktop, along every run and into each corner, to the splashback height, at 150 × 75 mm (about 6 × 3 in), in boxes of 40. Cuts round the sockets and at each end take tiles the area does not show; set your own tile and box on the tile page.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The pattern waste: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. | 259 tiles | |
Splashback tile adhesiveThinset & Tile Adhesive CalculatorAdhesive over the same area at a 6 mm (1/4 in) square notch, the notch small wall tiles take, with no back-buttering.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
Change any other figure on the Thinset & Tile Adhesive Calculator | 1 bag | |
Splashback groutGrout CalculatorGrout for the splashback at the tile row's tile size and the calculator's opening joint width and depth; the joint along the worktop is silicone, not grout.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The waste allowance: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. | 4.64 lb | |
Tile trim on the splashback's edgesTile Edge Profile (Trim Strip) Linear Footage CalculatorTrim along the top edge of the tiles and up each end over an open base run, in stock lengths with the calculator's cutting allowance. An end that dies into a wall or a tall unit takes none.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The waste allowance: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. Change any other figure on the Tile Edge Profile (Trim Strip) Linear Footage Calculator | 22.14 ft | |
Wall paintPaint CalculatorTwo coats over the kitchen's four walls, less its doors and windows at the calculator's opening sizes, as if no unit stood against them; the wall behind the units and under the tiles is left, so this is the most the walls take. A paint made to stand steam and wiping is its own tin.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
| 1.66 gal | |
Ceiling paintCeiling Paint CalculatorTwo coats over the whole ceiling, including the band the old wall units shadowed.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
| 0.65 gal | |
UnderlayLaminate/Vinyl Plank Floor Underlayment Roll CalculatorUnderlay for the floor clear of the base units: the kitchen's area less the strip they stand on, the worktop run less the appliance spaces by the worktop's depth. The appliance spaces are floored, so an appliance can be slid out and back.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
Change any other figure on the Laminate/Vinyl Plank Floor Underlayment Roll Calculator | 1 roll | |
Laminate or vinyl plankLVP, Laminate & Engineered Floor CalculatorPacks for the same area at the calculator's opening pack coverage and a simple lay. A floating floor goes down after the units and never under them, so their weight does not pin it.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The layout waste: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. Change any other figure on the LVP, Laminate & Engineered Floor Calculator | 5 packs | |
Threshold stripsFloor Transition Strip CalculatorA strip at each door, where the new floor meets the next room's, at the calculator's opening door width.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The waste allowance: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. Change any other figure on the Floor Transition Strip Calculator | 3.15 ft | |
Plinth (toe kick)Kitchen Unit and Cabinet Run CalculatorStock lengths along the base units and across the integrated appliance spaces, with a return at each open end, fitted on the finished floor. US cabinets have the toe kick built into the box, and the row then counts the skin that faces it.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The cutting allowance: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. Change any other figure on the Kitchen Unit and Cabinet Run Calculator | 3 lengths | |
Skip (dumpster) for the strip-outSkip & Dumpster Size CalculatorSized on an allowance, not a measurement: half a cubic metre of loose waste for every metre of worktop run taken out, about a fifth of a cubic yard a foot, for the carcasses broken down, the worktop, the tiles and the plaster behind them. Old appliances going back to the supplier or to a separate collection are not in it.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
Change any other figure on the Skip & Dumpster Size Calculator | 3.39 yd³ | |
Dust sheets and tapeMasking and Protection Materials CalculatorSheets over the kitchen floor and tape round its doors and windows before the old units come out: a floor that is being replaced still takes every carcass in and out. The route through the house is listed as work.
Why this quantity? | 3 items | |
Base unitsKitchen Unit and Cabinet Run CalculatorBase units by standard width along every run, with the appliance spaces taken off run 1 as one block at its end, a worktop depth off each later run at a corner, and the filler each stretch leaves. A dishwasher between two stretches of units is set on the unit page, where each stretch is filled on its own. The working also counts the end panels and, where the carcasses stand on them, the legs.
Why this quantity? | 8 units | |
Wall unitsKitchen Unit and Cabinet Run CalculatorWall (upper) units along each wall run, each side of the hood filled on its own, with a wall unit's depth off a later run where two rows meet in a corner.
Why this quantity? | 7 units | |
Cornice (crown), and as much again for a light pelmetKitchen Unit and Cabinet Run CalculatorStock lengths along the wall units with a return at each open end; a light pelmet under the units takes as much again. Leave the row out for handleless units, or wall units taken up to the ceiling.
Why this quantity? | 2 lengths | |
Worktop (countertop) lengthsKitchen Unit and Cabinet Run CalculatorStock lengths, each piece cut 20 mm (3/4 in) long for scribing, the runs meeting at each corner the way that market's worktops do: a butt joint or masons mitre on lengths sold in metric sizes, a 45 degree mitre on a US post-form counter. A run longer than one length takes a joint, and the working says where it falls.
Why this quantity? | 2 lengths | |
Splashback tilesFloor & Wall Tile CalculatorTiles on the wall behind the worktop, along every run and into each corner, to the splashback height, at 150 × 75 mm (about 6 × 3 in), in boxes of 40. Cuts round the sockets and at each end take tiles the area does not show; set your own tile and box on the tile page.
Why this quantity? | 256 tiles | |
Splashback tile adhesiveThinset & Tile Adhesive CalculatorAdhesive over the same area at a 6 mm (1/4 in) square notch, the notch small wall tiles take, with no back-buttering.
Why this quantity? | 1 bag | |
Splashback groutGrout CalculatorGrout for the splashback at the tile row's tile size and the calculator's opening joint width and depth; the joint along the worktop is silicone, not grout.
Why this quantity? | 2.11 kg | |
Tile trim on the splashback's edgesTile Edge Profile (Trim Strip) Linear Footage CalculatorTrim along the top edge of the tiles and up each end over an open base run, in stock lengths with the calculator's cutting allowance. An end that dies into a wall or a tall unit takes none.
Why this quantity? | 6.75 m | |
Wall paintPaint CalculatorTwo coats over the kitchen's four walls, less its doors and windows at the calculator's opening sizes, as if no unit stood against them; the wall behind the units and under the tiles is left, so this is the most the walls take. A paint made to stand steam and wiping is its own tin.
Why this quantity? | 6.05 L | |
Ceiling paintCeiling Paint CalculatorTwo coats over the whole ceiling, including the band the old wall units shadowed.
Why this quantity? | 2.4 L | |
UnderlayLaminate/Vinyl Plank Floor Underlayment Roll CalculatorUnderlay for the floor clear of the base units: the kitchen's area less the strip they stand on, the worktop run less the appliance spaces by the worktop's depth. The appliance spaces are floored, so an appliance can be slid out and back.
Why this quantity? | 1 roll | |
Laminate or vinyl plankLVP, Laminate & Engineered Floor CalculatorPacks for the same area at the calculator's opening pack coverage and a simple lay. A floating floor goes down after the units and never under them, so their weight does not pin it.
Why this quantity? | 5 packs | |
Threshold stripsFloor Transition Strip CalculatorA strip at each door, where the new floor meets the next room's, at the calculator's opening door width.
Why this quantity? | 0.945 m | |
Plinth (toe kick)Kitchen Unit and Cabinet Run CalculatorStock lengths along the base units and across the integrated appliance spaces, with a return at each open end, fitted on the finished floor. US cabinets have the toe kick built into the box, and the row then counts the skin that faces it.
Why this quantity? | 2 lengths | |
Skip (dumpster) for the strip-outSkip & Dumpster Size CalculatorSized on an allowance, not a measurement: half a cubic metre of loose waste for every metre of worktop run taken out, about a fifth of a cubic yard a foot, for the carcasses broken down, the worktop, the tiles and the plaster behind them. Old appliances going back to the supplier or to a separate collection are not in it.
Why this quantity? | 2.6 m³ |
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.
- Dust sheets and tape0.5 h (0.2–1.0)
- Base units12 h (4.0–24)
- Wall units8.4 h (2.8–18)
- Splashback tiles2.9 h (1.9–5.8)
- Wall paint5.6 h (3.1–12)
- Ceiling paint2.2 h (1.2–4.8)
- Laminate or vinyl plank2.6 h (1.4–5.1)
- Threshold strips0.5 h (0.3–1.0)
- Skip (dumpster) for the strip-out2.6 h (1.3–7.8)
About 37 person-hours in the rows that carry them, between 16 and 79.
Trade by trade
- Labourer1 labourerhalf a day
- Carpenter1 carpenter2½ days
- Tiler1 tilerhalf a day
- Painter1 painter1 day
- Floor layer1 floor layerhalf a day
About 4½ days, one trade after another at eight hours a day. Left out: drying and curing, deliveries, inspections, trades overlapping.
7 rows carry no hours of their own
- Cornice (crown), and as much again for a light pelmet: its rate is per ft; this row gives lengths
- Worktop (countertop) lengths: its rate is per ft; this row gives lengths
- Splashback tile adhesive: counted with Splashback tiles
- Splashback grout: counted with Splashback tiles
- Tile trim on the splashback's edges: counted with Splashback tiles
- Underlay: counted with Laminate or vinyl plank
- Plinth (toe kick): its rate is per ft; this row gives lengths
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.
- Dust sheets and tape0.5 h (0.2–1.0)
- Base units12 h (4.0–24)
- Wall units8.4 h (2.8–18)
- Splashback tiles2.9 h (1.8–5.7)
- Wall paint5.4 h (3.0–12)
- Ceiling paint2.2 h (1.2–4.8)
- Laminate or vinyl plank2.6 h (1.4–5.1)
- Threshold strips0.5 h (0.3–0.9)
- Skip (dumpster) for the strip-out2.6 h (1.3–7.8)
About 37 person-hours in the rows that carry them, between 16 and 79.
Trade by trade
- Labourer1 labourerhalf a day
- Carpenter1 carpenter2½ days
- Tiler1 tilerhalf a day
- Painter1 painter1 day
- Floor layer1 floor layerhalf a day
About 4½ days, one trade after another at eight hours a day. Left out: drying and curing, deliveries, inspections, trades overlapping.
7 rows carry no hours of their own
- Cornice (crown), and as much again for a light pelmet: its rate is per m; this row gives lengths
- Worktop (countertop) lengths: its rate is per m; this row gives lengths
- Splashback tile adhesive: counted with Splashback tiles
- Splashback grout: counted with Splashback tiles
- Tile trim on the splashback's edges: counted with Splashback tiles
- Underlay: counted with Laminate or vinyl plank
- Plinth (toe kick): its rate is per m; this row gives lengths
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 kitchen refit is the one room job where the joinery sets the order for every other trade. The unit plan decides where the waste, the water and the cables come through the wall, so the first fix is marked out from that plan before a carcass arrives; the worktop (countertop) is cut or templated only once the base units stand level; and the splashback, the floor and the plinth (toe kick) each wait on the units in turn. A waste pipe run to the wrong place is found when it comes up behind a drawer pack.
The units are counted rather than measured. Each run is filled with as many units of the main width as fit, 600 mm where units are made to metric sizes and 24 in in the US, then one or two units of other standard widths, and what is left is closed with a filler. Where two runs meet, the second run's units start at the front edge of the first run's worktop, so an L loses a worktop depth from its second leg: dividing the two wall lengths by a unit width buys a unit too many.
The worktop is where the two markets part. Laminate sold in metric lengths meets at a corner in a butt joint or a masons mitre, so the second piece is a depth shorter; a US post-form counter meets at a 45 degree mitre, both pieces running into the corner, and a length with a mitred end cannot be shared with another piece. Stone, quartz and solid surface are neither: they are made to a template of the fitted units, which is why that option gives the fabricator an area rather than lengths.
What the page will not count is the work that carries the most risk. The water, the waste, the circuits and any gas are listed as work and never measured, and nothing here says any of it is right: a new circuit, a socket moved near the sink, or a gas hob taken off and put back are each for a person registered or licensed for that work where the kitchen is, and the test that follows is theirs to sign.
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.
- Survey the room and draw the unit plan to the millimetre or the eighth of an inch, checking every appliance space against the maker's installation size before anything is ordered.
- Isolate the water, the kitchen's circuits and any gas, then strip out the old units, worktop and tiles, protecting the route out to the skip (dumpster).
- First fix while the walls are bare: move the waste, the water and the cables to where the new plan puts them, make good, and let any new plaster dry.
- Fit the base units from the corner outwards, level on their legs or packers, then hang the wall units to a line and fix the cornice (crown) and pelmet while they are clear.
- Cut and joint the worktop, or have stone templated now, off the level base units, and make the sink and hob cut-outs to the appliances in hand.
- Tile the splashback up from the worktop, and run silicone rather than grout along the worktop joint, which moves.
- Second fix: connect the sink, the appliances and the hood, and have the gas appliance connected and the circuits tested by the people registered for each.
- Decorate, then lay the new floor up to the base units and under the appliance spaces, and fit the plinth (toe kick) on the finished floor last.
What this takeoff does not cover
- Tall units, larders and oven housings. The unit page counts base and wall units only, so a tall housing is listed as work, and its width comes out of the runs before they are entered.
- What goes inside and onto the units: drawer packs, corner fittings, hinges, handles, the sink, the tap and the appliances themselves.
- Every service as a quantity. Pipe, fittings, the waste, cable, sockets, the extract duct and the gas pipe are listed as work, not measured, and nothing on the page signs any of that work off.
- The fabricator's side of a stone, quartz or solid-surface worktop: cut-outs, edge profiles, upstands and fitting are priced from the template, and the template option gives the worktop's area alone.
- Moving a wall, a window or a door to suit the new plan, and anything structural behind the units.
- Worktop jointing bolts and strips, end caps, edging, sealant, and the fixings for the units, the plinth and the cornice.
Quote check
Been given a quote for this job?
Paste it into the kitchen refit 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.
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Frequently asked questions
- What does the kitchen refit takeoff give for a typical job?
- Opened at Kitchen length 4 m · Kitchen width 3 m · Floor to ceiling 2.4 m · Doors into the kitchen 1 · Windows 1 · Run 1: base units and appliance spaces 3.4 m · Run 2, round the corner from run 1 (0 if none) 2.4 m · Run 3 (0 if none) 0 m · Integrated appliance spaces under the worktop 0.6 m · Worktop (countertop) depth 0.6 m · Wall units over run 1 2.8 m · Wall units before the hood 1.2 m · Wall units over run 2 (0 if none) 1.2 m · Wall units over run 3 (0 if none) 0 m · Open ends of the base runs 1 · Open ends of the wall-unit runs 2 · Splashback height 0.45 m, it orders: Dust sheets and tape, 3 items; Base units, 8 units; Wall units, 7 units; Cornice (crown), and as much again for a light pelmet, 2 lengths; Worktop (countertop) lengths, 2 lengths; Splashback tiles, 256 tiles; Splashback tile adhesive, 1 bag; Splashback grout, 2.11 kg; Tile trim on the splashback's edges, 6.75 m; Wall paint, 6.05 L; Ceiling paint, 2.4 L; Underlay, 1 roll; Laminate or vinyl plank, 5 packs; Threshold strips, 0.95 m; Plinth (toe kick), 2 lengths; Skip (dumpster) for the strip-out, 2.6 m³. Opened at Kitchen length 13 ft · Kitchen width 10 ft · Floor to ceiling 8 ft · Doors into the kitchen 1 · Windows 1 · Run 1: base units and appliance spaces 11 ft · Run 2, round the corner from run 1 (0 if none) 8 ft · Run 3 (0 if none) 0 ft · Integrated appliance spaces under the worktop 2 ft · Worktop (countertop) depth 2 ft · Wall units over run 1 9 ft · Wall units before the hood 4 ft · Wall units over run 2 (0 if none) 4 ft · Wall units over run 3 (0 if none) 0 ft · Open ends of the base runs 1 · Open ends of the wall-unit runs 2 · Splashback height 18 in: Dust sheets and tape, 3 items; Base units, 8 units; Wall units, 7 units; Cornice (crown), and as much again for a light pelmet, 2 lengths; Worktop (countertop) lengths, 2 lengths; Splashback tiles, 259 tiles; Splashback tile adhesive, 1 bag; Splashback grout, 4.64 lb; Tile trim on the splashback's edges, 22.1 ft; Wall paint, 1.66 gal; Ceiling paint, 0.65 gal; Underlay, 1 roll; Laminate or vinyl plank, 5 packs; Threshold strips, 3.15 ft; Plinth (toe kick), 3 lengths; Skip (dumpster) for the strip-out, 3.39 yd³. Every figure follows the dimensions you give it.
- Which calculators does the kitchen refit takeoff run?
- 12 calculators, for 16 lines: Masking and Protection Materials Calculator, Kitchen Unit and Cabinet Run Calculator, Floor & Wall Tile Calculator, Thinset & Tile Adhesive Calculator, Grout Calculator, Tile Edge Profile (Trim Strip) Linear Footage Calculator, Paint Calculator, Ceiling Paint Calculator, Laminate/Vinyl Plank Floor Underlayment Roll Calculator, LVP, Laminate & Engineered Floor Calculator, Floor Transition Strip Calculator, Skip & Dumpster Size 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 kitchen refit takeoff leave out?
- 6 things, each named on this page: Tall units, larders and oven housings; What goes inside and onto the units; Every service as a quantity; The fabricator's side of a stone, quartz or solid-surface worktop; Moving a wall, a window or a door to suit the new plan, and anything structural behind the units; Worktop jointing bolts and strips, end caps, edging, sealant, and the fixings for the units, the plinth and the cornice.
- Can I check a quote for this job against the takeoff?
- Yes. The kitchen refit 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.