Job takeoff
New window or door opening in an outside wall takeoff
Cut a new window or door into an existing brick, block or cavity wall: the props and the lintel listed and never sized, the cavity closed and the tray and DPCs built in, the frame flashed, the brick or render made good outside, the reveals plastered inside, the room redecorated, and the rubble.
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.
- 10Measurements in
- 8Trades out
Choose the build-up
Each layer changes the materials below; the dimensions stay the same.
Calculators behind the other choices:
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 new window or door opening 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 (drop cloths) and tape in the roomMasking and Protection Materials CalculatorSheets over the room's whole floor, and tape along its edges and round its doors and windows: breaking out a wall fills the whole room with dust, not only the corner where the opening goes.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
Change any other figure on the Masking and Protection Materials Calculator | 3 items | |
Facing bricks to tooth in the jambsBrick CalculatorBricks for a strip as wide as the band made good at each jamb, the opening's full height, at the brick and joint the sizes set, with the calculator's allowance. The working gives the bricks' mortar in bags, so mortar has no row of its own here. The courses cut out over the head for the lintel and its bearings are re-laid with the lintel, as work, usually in the bricks that came out whole; any new ones for them are on top of this count.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The waste factor: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. | 44 bricks | |
Flashing tape round the frameWindow Opening Flashing Membrane CalculatorSelf-adhered flashing round the new frame's sill, jambs and head, with the calculator's run-past at each corner and its allowances. A frame bedded against insulated closers and a DPC, as in a British cavity wall, is sealed to those instead, and this row can be unticked.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The waste allowance: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. Change any other figure on the Window Opening Flashing Membrane Calculator | 24.2 ft | |
Angle (corner) bead up the jambsPlaster Angle and Stop Bead CalculatorBead on the arris up each jamb, each run as tall as the opening and in one piece, with as many runs cut from a stock length as fit it whole.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
Change any other figure on the Plaster Angle and Stop Bead Calculator | 1 length | |
Angle (corner) bead along the headPlaster Angle and Stop Bead CalculatorBead on the arris along the head, as long as the opening is wide and in one piece, cut from a stock length of its own: the page never carries a jamb's offcut to the head.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
Change any other figure on the Plaster Angle and Stop Bead Calculator | 1 length | |
Plaster on the reveals and the band round themFloat and Set Plaster CalculatorA backing coat and a finish coat over the reveals round the jambs and head and the band of wall made good round the opening, its two top corners included, at the calculator's opening thicknesses and allowance; the working gives each coat's bags. A small area still buys a whole bag of each.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The waste allowance: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. Change any other figure on the Float and Set Plaster Calculator | 43.89 lb | |
Wall paint for the roomPaint CalculatorTwo coats over the room's four walls, less its doors and windows at the calculator's opening sizes, so the new plaster does not show against the old paint. The mist coat on the new plaster comes first and is listed as work.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
| 1.7 gal | |
Skip (dumpster) for the broken-out wallSkip & Dumpster Size CalculatorThe wall broken out of the opening, its width by its height by the wall's full thickness, bulked by half again as brickwork breaks up, the swell the demolition page gives brick masonry, as rubble. The cavity sits inside that thickness, so the real load runs a little under this; the plaster and any old sill or frame add to it.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
Change any other figure on the Skip & Dumpster Size Calculator | 0.8704 yd³ | |
Dust sheets (drop cloths) and tape in the roomMasking and Protection Materials CalculatorSheets over the room's whole floor, and tape along its edges and round its doors and windows: breaking out a wall fills the whole room with dust, not only the corner where the opening goes.
Why this quantity? | 3 items | |
Facing bricks to tooth in the jambsBrick CalculatorBricks for a strip as wide as the band made good at each jamb, the opening's full height, at the brick and joint the sizes set, with the calculator's allowance. The working gives the bricks' mortar in bags, so mortar has no row of its own here. The courses cut out over the head for the lintel and its bearings are re-laid with the lintel, as work, usually in the bricks that came out whole; any new ones for them are on top of this count.
Why this quantity? | 36 bricks | |
Flashing tape round the frameWindow Opening Flashing Membrane CalculatorSelf-adhered flashing round the new frame's sill, jambs and head, with the calculator's run-past at each corner and its allowances. A frame bedded against insulated closers and a DPC, as in a British cavity wall, is sealed to those instead, and this row can be unticked.
Why this quantity? | 7.26 m | |
Angle (corner) bead up the jambsPlaster Angle and Stop Bead CalculatorBead on the arris up each jamb, each run as tall as the opening and in one piece, with as many runs cut from a stock length as fit it whole.
Why this quantity? | 1 length | |
Angle (corner) bead along the headPlaster Angle and Stop Bead CalculatorBead on the arris along the head, as long as the opening is wide and in one piece, cut from a stock length of its own: the page never carries a jamb's offcut to the head.
Why this quantity? | 1 length | |
Plaster on the reveals and the band round themFloat and Set Plaster CalculatorA backing coat and a finish coat over the reveals round the jambs and head and the band of wall made good round the opening, its two top corners included, at the calculator's opening thicknesses and allowance; the working gives each coat's bags. A small area still buys a whole bag of each.
Why this quantity? | 19.78 kg | |
Wall paint for the roomPaint CalculatorTwo coats over the room's four walls, less its doors and windows at the calculator's opening sizes, so the new plaster does not show against the old paint. The mist coat on the new plaster comes first and is listed as work.
Why this quantity? | 6.25 L | |
Skip (dumpster) for the broken-out wallSkip & Dumpster Size CalculatorThe wall broken out of the opening, its width by its height by the wall's full thickness, bulked by half again as brickwork breaks up, the swell the demolition page gives brick masonry, as rubble. The cavity sits inside that thickness, so the real load runs a little under this; the plaster and any old sill or frame add to it.
Why this quantity? | 0.648 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 (drop cloths) and tape in the room0.6 h (0.3–1.1)
- Facing bricks to tooth in the jambs1.5 h (1.0–3.1)
- Flashing tape round the frame4.0 h (1.0–8.0)
- Plaster on the reveals and the band round them0.2 h (0.1–0.5)
- Wall paint for the room5.7 h (3.2–13)
- Skip (dumpster) for the broken-out wall0.7 h (0.3–2.0)
About 13 person-hours in all, between 5.9 and 27.
Trade by trade
- Labourer1 labourerunder a quarter of a day
- Mason1 mason + 1 labourerunder a quarter of a day
- Glazier2 glaziershalf a day
- Plasterer1 plastererunder a quarter of 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.
2 rows carry no hours of their own
- Angle (corner) bead up the jambs: counted with Plaster on the reveals and the band round them
- Angle (corner) bead along the head: counted with Plaster on the reveals and the band round them
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 (drop cloths) and tape in the room0.6 h (0.3–1.1)
- Facing bricks to tooth in the jambs1.2 h (0.8–2.5)
- Flashing tape round the frame4.0 h (1.0–8.0)
- Plaster on the reveals and the band round them0.2 h (0.1–0.5)
- Wall paint for the room5.6 h (3.1–13)
- Skip (dumpster) for the broken-out wall0.6 h (0.3–1.9)
About 12 person-hours in all, between 5.7 and 27.
Trade by trade
- Labourer1 labourerunder a quarter of a day
- Mason1 mason + 1 labourerunder a quarter of a day
- Glazier2 glaziershalf a day
- Plasterer1 plastererunder a quarter of 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.
2 rows carry no hours of their own
- Angle (corner) bead up the jambs: counted with Plaster on the reveals and the band round them
- Angle (corner) bead along the head: counted with Plaster on the reveals and the band round them
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 new window or door in an outside wall starts at the top of the hole, not the bottom. Before a brick comes out, the wall above is held on props and needles (temporary shoring) threaded through it, and the lintel that will carry the wall for good (a header, in North America) is bedded on its bearings while the props are still in. The lintel, its bearings and any padstones are chosen by the designer or read from the lintel maker's load tables for what stands above; this page lists each one as an item and sizes none of them.
A cavity wall is three layers at the new jambs: the outer leaf, the cavity and the inner leaf. The cavity is shut round the jambs and sill with insulated closers; a cavity tray with stop ends and weep vents goes in over the lintel to turn water out; and damp-proof courses (DPCs) go at each jamb and under the sill (cill), so rain that crosses the cavity is sent back out rather than into the reveal. The tray is counted with that DPC work, not again with the lintel, which on this job is the lintel alone. A solid wall has no cavity to close, but its jambs and sill still take a DPC.
Most of what is measured is the making good. Outside, facing brick is toothed in at each jamb, whole and cut bricks bonded into the old courses, or the render (stucco) is patched round the new reveals. Inside, the reveals round the jambs and head and a band of wall round the opening take a backing and a finish coat of plaster, beaded (corner bead) at the arrises, and the room is repainted wall to wall so the patch does not show. A door adds an architrave (casing) round it inside, a threshold, the floor made up across the wall's thickness and, where the floor sits above the ground outside, a step.
The brick sizes follow the units: metric opens on the 215 × 65 mm (about 8 1/2 × 2 1/2 in) brick a British wall is built in, imperial on the US modular 7 5/8 × 2 1/4 in (194 × 57 mm) brick, and either can be chosen in either system. Matching the old bricks' colour and size matters more here than anywhere, because the new ones sit beside the old at every jamb.
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.
- Settle the opening's position and size, have the lintel and any padstones chosen by the designer or from the maker's tables, give building control notice or take out the permit, and trace the cables and pipes in the wall before marking it out.
- Sheet the room, isolate and reroute any services in the way, and set the props and needles through the wall above the head, standing on spreaders on a floor that can carry them.
- Cut the slot for the lintel first and bed it level on its bearings, with the cavity tray, stop ends and weeps over it, and leave the mortar to take up before the props are eased.
- Break out the opening below the lintel from the top down and cut the jambs back to a straight line; until the frame is in, board and lock the hole at the end of every day, against the weather and against anyone getting in.
- Close the cavity at the jambs and sill, build in the DPCs, tooth in the facing brick or patch the render outside, and bed the sill (cill) or the threshold; have building control see the lintel, its bearings and the tray before the reveals close them in.
- Fit the frame on packers, fix it back to the wall and seal it to the closers and the DPC; for a door, cast any step outside once the threshold's height is fixed, and make up the floor inside across the wall.
- Plaster the reveals and the band round the opening, fit the window board (stool) or the architrave once the plaster is dry, and decorate the room.
- Test any circuit that was rerouted, clear the rubble and the dust, and snag the reveals and the frame's seals before handing over.
What this takeoff does not cover
- The steel or concrete lintel (header), its bearings, any padstones, and the props (Acrows) and needles (strongboys) that hold the wall while it is cut. Each is listed as work with no quantity; the lintel's size and type come from the designer or the lintel maker's load tables, and the page sizes none of them.
- A count of the cavity closers, the cavity tray with its stop ends and weeps over the lintel, and the DPCs at the jambs and under the sill. Each is listed as work, bought to the opening's own size, and none is measured here.
- The window or door unit itself: its size, glazing, ironmongery (hardware), and how it performs for heat and security.
- A level (step-free) threshold's drainage and the access design round it, and the rise, going and landing of any step outside, which the regulations or code set (Approved Documents K and M in England, IRC R311.3 in the US). The step row is concrete for one step at its page's opening riser and going.
- Planning permission or a permit for the change to the elevation, and any listed building or conservation area consent.
- Wall ties or cavity repairs beyond the new jambs, and brickwork found loose or cracked round the opening beyond the band made good.
- Services beyond rerouting them round the opening: a new circuit, a new pipe run, or a radiator moved to another wall.
- Painting the outside: masonry paint on a rendered wall, and matching an old render's texture and colour.
Quote check
Been given a quote for this job?
Paste it into the new window or door opening 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 new window or door opening takeoff give for a typical job?
- Opened at Opening width 1.2 m · Opening height 1.2 m · Wall thickness 0.3 m · Inside reveal depth 0.15 m · Band made good round the opening 0.23 m · Room length 4 m · Room width 3.5 m · Floor to ceiling 2.4 m · Doors in the room, the new one included 1 · Windows in the room, the new one included 2, it orders: Dust sheets (drop cloths) and tape in the room, 3 items; Facing bricks to tooth in the jambs, 36 bricks; Flashing tape round the frame, 7.26 m; Angle (corner) bead up the jambs, 1 length; Angle (corner) bead along the head, 1 length; Plaster on the reveals and the band round them, 19.8 kg; Wall paint for the room, 6.25 L; Skip (dumpster) for the broken-out wall, 0.65 m³. Opened at Opening width 4 ft · Opening height 4 ft · Wall thickness 11.8 in · Inside reveal depth 6 in · Band made good round the opening 8.75 in · Room length 13 ft · Room width 11.5 ft · Floor to ceiling 8 ft · Doors in the room, the new one included 1 · Windows in the room, the new one included 2: Dust sheets (drop cloths) and tape in the room, 3 items; Facing bricks to tooth in the jambs, 44 bricks; Flashing tape round the frame, 24.2 ft; Angle (corner) bead up the jambs, 1 length; Angle (corner) bead along the head, 1 length; Plaster on the reveals and the band round them, 43.9 lb; Wall paint for the room, 1.7 gal; Skip (dumpster) for the broken-out wall, 0.87 yd³. Every figure follows the dimensions you give it.
- Which calculators does the new window or door opening takeoff run?
- 7 calculators, for 8 lines: Masking and Protection Materials Calculator, Brick Calculator, Window Opening Flashing Membrane Calculator, Plaster Angle and Stop Bead Calculator, Float and Set Plaster Calculator, Paint 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 new window or door opening takeoff leave out?
- 8 things, each named on this page: The steel or concrete lintel (header), its bearings, any padstones, and the props (Acrows) and needles (strongboys) that hold the wall while it is cut; A count of the cavity closers, the cavity tray with its stop ends and weeps over the lintel, and the DPCs at the jambs and under the sill; The window or door unit itself; A level (step-free) threshold's drainage and the access design round it, and the rise, going and landing of any step outside, which the regulations or code set (Approved Documents K and M in England, IRC R311.3 in the US). The step row is concrete for one step at its page's opening riser and going; Planning permission or a permit for the change to the elevation, and any listed building or conservation area consent; Wall ties or cavity repairs beyond the new jambs, and brickwork found loose or cracked round the opening beyond the band made good; Services beyond rerouting them round the opening; Painting the outside.
- Can I check a quote for this job against the takeoff?
- Yes. The new window or door opening 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.