Job takeoff
Party wall soundproofing takeoff
Line a party wall (a demising or shared wall) against a neighbour's noise: an independent stud frame clear of it, or resilient bars or sound clips on it, mineral wool in the void, mass-loaded vinyl where the specification has it, two layers of dense plasterboard (drywall) sealed at every edge, a skim in metric or taped joints in imperial, skirting (baseboard) and paint, with the sockets brought forward, their putty pads and a radiator rehung listed, no sound rating claimed and nothing 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.
- 3Measurements in
- 9Trades 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 party wall soundproofing 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 no tape: the boards are cut and the finish mixed in the room, and the old skirting and coving come off onto the floor in front of the party wall. The rest of the room is cleared or covered by the household.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
Change any other figure on the Masking and Protection Materials Calculator | 2 items | |
Studs and plates (independent frame, studwork)Framing Stud CalculatorStuds along the lining's length at the page's opening centres, 400 mm (16 in), with no opening in the run: a count of pieces, not of timber. The head and sole plates, fixed to the ceiling and the floor and never to the party wall, and a line of noggins (blocking) at the height of a radiator's brackets where one comes back on the lining, are cut from the same stock and are not in the count. The plate lines are scanned for cables and pipes before they are fixed.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
| 11 studs | |
Mineral wool battsMineral Wool Insulation Batt CalculatorAcoustic mineral wool for the lining's face, its length times its height, in the page's opening packages with its waste allowance, friction-fitted to fill the void between the studs or the battens. It is there to damp the cavity, so its thickness is the void's depth; no thermal target from a batt page applies.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The waste allowance: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. Change any other figure on the Mineral Wool Insulation Batt Calculator | 3 packages | |
Mass-loaded vinyl (MLV, acoustic membrane)Mass-Loaded Vinyl (MLV) Soundproofing Barrier CalculatorThe lining's face once, with the page's opening waste allowance for laps and cutting, hung across the studs or over the first layer of board where the specification places it, every joint lapped or taped and every box cut round tight. The figure is the area of sheet to buy in rolls; it says nothing of what the layer adds, and its weight is part of the floor's question in the limits.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The waste allowance: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. Change any other figure on the Mass-Loaded Vinyl (MLV) Soundproofing Barrier Calculator | 109.2 ft² | |
Dense or acoustic plasterboard (drywall), two layersCeiling Plasterboard (Gypsum Board) Sheet CalculatorBoth layers in one figure: the lining's face twice over, on the sheet page, which counts sheets for any area of board, at its opening sheet, 2400 × 1200 mm in metric and 4 × 8 ft in imperial, with its waste allowance. The second layer's joints are staggered over the first's, and each layer stops short of the floor, the ceiling and the side walls for the sealant. Dense or acoustic board is chosen for its weight; a fire-resisting build-up is another specification, and not this row.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The waste allowance: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. Change any other figure on the Ceiling Plasterboard (Gypsum Board) Sheet Calculator | 8 sheets | |
Acoustic sealantAcoustic Sealant Bead Volume CalculatorA bead round the four edges of each of the two layers, the lining's length and height added together four times over, at the page's opening bead of 6 mm (1/4 in) square. Every back box, pipe and radiator tail through the lining is sealed as well and takes more, and a gap opened wider than the bead is packed before it is sealed; neither is in the figure. Order in whole cartridges or tubes above it.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
Change any other figure on the Acoustic Sealant Bead Volume Calculator | 0.2727 gal | |
Joint compound and tape (or a skim coat of compound)Drywall Joint Compound CalculatorJoint compound for the outer layer's face at the page's opening allowance, its joints taped and finished in coats; the inner layer's joints are not finished.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The pan and sanding loss: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. Change any other figure on the Drywall Joint Compound Calculator | 1 x 4.5 gal box | |
Skirting (baseboard)Baseboard & Trim CalculatorSkirting along the foot of the lining, over the sealed gap, in stock lengths with the calculator's cutting allowance. The page works out a room's perimeter, so the lining's length reaches it as a square room a quarter of that length each way, whose four sides add up to it; no doorway is taken off. The old skirting is reused where it comes off whole, and coving is not in this row.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The cutting waste: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. | 14.3 linear ft | |
Painting and decorating (decoration): two coats, a mist coat apartPaint CalculatorTwo coats over the new lining's face at the page's opening spread rate. The page works from a room, so the lining reaches it as a square room a quarter of the lining's length each way at the lining's height, whose four walls come to the lining's face exactly, with no door or window taken off. The thinned first coat on new plaster (a mist coat), or the primer on taped board, comes first and is separate, and repainting the rest of the room to match is not in it.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
| 0.52 gal | |
Masking and protection materialsMasking and Protection Materials CalculatorDust sheets over the floor you gave at the calculator's opening sheet size, and no tape: the boards are cut and the finish mixed in the room, and the old skirting and coving come off onto the floor in front of the party wall. The rest of the room is cleared or covered by the household.
Why this quantity? | 2 items | |
Studs and plates (independent frame, studwork)Framing Stud CalculatorStuds along the lining's length at the page's opening centres, 400 mm (16 in), with no opening in the run: a count of pieces, not of timber. The head and sole plates, fixed to the ceiling and the floor and never to the party wall, and a line of noggins (blocking) at the height of a radiator's brackets where one comes back on the lining, are cut from the same stock and are not in the count. The plate lines are scanned for cables and pipes before they are fixed.
Why this quantity? | 11 studs | |
Mineral wool battsMineral Wool Insulation Batt CalculatorAcoustic mineral wool for the lining's face, its length times its height, in the page's opening packages with its waste allowance, friction-fitted to fill the void between the studs or the battens. It is there to damp the cavity, so its thickness is the void's depth; no thermal target from a batt page applies.
Why this quantity? | 3 packages | |
Mass-loaded vinyl (MLV, acoustic membrane)Mass-Loaded Vinyl (MLV) Soundproofing Barrier CalculatorThe lining's face once, with the page's opening waste allowance for laps and cutting, hung across the studs or over the first layer of board where the specification places it, every joint lapped or taped and every box cut round tight. The figure is the area of sheet to buy in rolls; it says nothing of what the layer adds, and its weight is part of the floor's question in the limits.
Why this quantity? | 10.08 m² | |
Dense or acoustic plasterboard (drywall), two layersCeiling Plasterboard (Gypsum Board) Sheet CalculatorBoth layers in one figure: the lining's face twice over, on the sheet page, which counts sheets for any area of board, at its opening sheet, 2400 × 1200 mm in metric and 4 × 8 ft in imperial, with its waste allowance. The second layer's joints are staggered over the first's, and each layer stops short of the floor, the ceiling and the side walls for the sealant. Dense or acoustic board is chosen for its weight; a fire-resisting build-up is another specification, and not this row.
Why this quantity? | 8 sheets | |
Acoustic sealantAcoustic Sealant Bead Volume CalculatorA bead round the four edges of each of the two layers, the lining's length and height added together four times over, at the page's opening bead of 6 mm (1/4 in) square. Every back box, pipe and radiator tail through the lining is sealed as well and takes more, and a gap opened wider than the bead is packed before it is sealed; neither is in the figure. Order in whole cartridges or tubes above it.
Why this quantity? | 0.9216 L | |
Skim finish coat (plastering)Skim Coat Plaster CalculatorFinish plaster over the outer layer of board, the lining's face, at the calculator's opening thickness, coats and allowance, with the joints scrimmed first. Only the outer layer is skimmed.
Why this quantity? | 27.6 kg | |
Skirting (baseboard)Baseboard & Trim CalculatorSkirting along the foot of the lining, over the sealed gap, in stock lengths with the calculator's cutting allowance. The page works out a room's perimeter, so the lining's length reaches it as a square room a quarter of that length each way, whose four sides add up to it; no doorway is taken off. The old skirting is reused where it comes off whole, and coving is not in this row.
Why this quantity? | 4.4 m | |
Painting and decorating (decoration): two coats, a mist coat apartPaint CalculatorTwo coats over the new lining's face at the page's opening spread rate. The page works from a room, so the lining reaches it as a square room a quarter of the lining's length each way at the lining's height, whose four walls come to the lining's face exactly, with no door or window taken off. The thinned first coat on new plaster (a mist coat), or the primer on taped board, comes first and is separate, and repainting the rest of the room to match is not in it.
Why this quantity? | 1.92 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)
- Studs and plates (independent frame, studwork)2.2 h (1.2–4.4)
- Mineral wool batts1.0 h (0.5–2.1)
- Mass-loaded vinyl (MLV, acoustic membrane)1.9 h (1.0–4.3)
- Dense or acoustic plasterboard (drywall), two layers2.6 h (1.4–4.8)
- Acoustic sealant0.8 h (0.4–2.0)
- Joint compound and tape (or a skim coat of compound)1.5 h (0.9–3.1)
- Skirting (baseboard)0.8 h (0.4–1.7)
- Painting and decorating (decoration): two coats, a mist coat apart1.7 h (1.0–3.9)
About 13 person-hours in all, between 7.0 and 27.
Trade by trade
- Labourer1 labourerunder a quarter of a day
- Carpenter2 carpentersunder a quarter of a day
- Drywaller1 drywaller + 1 labourerhalf a day
- Taper1 taper + 1 labourerunder a quarter of a day
- Painter1 painterunder a quarter of 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)
- Studs and plates (independent frame, studwork)2.2 h (1.2–4.4)
- Mineral wool batts1.0 h (0.5–2.1)
- Mass-loaded vinyl (MLV, acoustic membrane)1.9 h (1.0–4.3)
- Dense or acoustic plasterboard (drywall), two layers2.6 h (1.4–4.8)
- Acoustic sealant0.8 h (0.4–2.0)
- Skim finish coat (plastering)1.6 h (1.0–3.4)
- Skirting (baseboard)0.8 h (0.4–1.8)
- Painting and decorating (decoration): two coats, a mist coat apart1.7 h (1.0–3.8)
About 13 person-hours in all, between 7.1 and 28.
Trade by trade
- Labourer1 labourerunder a quarter of a day
- Carpenter2 carpentersunder a quarter of a day
- Drywaller1 drywaller + 1 labourerhalf a day
- Plasterer1 plastererunder a quarter of a day
- Painter1 painterunder a quarter of 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 party wall (a demising or shared wall, to a North American reader) carries a neighbour's noise through its own mass and through the floors and walls joined to it, whether it is solid masonry, two leaves with a cavity, or a frame. The lining built in front of it is a second leaf that touches the first as little as it can. On the frame build-up that is a row of studs standing on the floor and fixed to the ceiling, set a small clear gap off the party wall so no timber bridges it. On the bars build-up the boards hang from sprung resilient bars (resilient channel), or from furring channel (hat channel) pressed into sound clips, fixed to the wall itself. Either way the lining costs the room some width, which is agreed before the line is marked.
Mass is the other half of it. Two layers of dense plasterboard (drywall) with the second layer's joints staggered over the first, mineral wool filling the void, and, where the specification includes it, a limp layer of mass-loaded vinyl between the frame and the boards: the board row counts both layers in one figure, the lining's face twice over, and the vinyl row that face once. None of these rows says how much quieter the room will be. That is a matter of the whole building and of a test in the finished room, and a page that multiplies areas cannot answer it.
Most of what separates a lining that works from one that disappoints is in details no area shows. Each layer of board stops just short of the floor, the ceiling and the side walls, and that gap is filled with a sealant that never sets hard (an acoustic mastic, or caulk); every socket and switch brought forward into the lining gets a putty pad round its back box (the electrical box); and a radiator that hung on the party wall goes back on the lining, on a line of noggins (blocking) set in the frame or where the bar system's maker allows a heavy fixing, never through the boards into the old wall. In England and Wales the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 can apply to work on the wall itself, and its notices are the owner's.
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.
- Mark the line of the lining on the floor, measured off the party wall, agree how much of the room it takes, and read the floor and ceiling along that line for level so the frame or the bars can be packed true.
- Lay dust sheets, isolate the circuits feeding any socket or switch on the party wall, take off the skirting, the coving (crown molding) and anything fixed to the wall, and drain down and lift off a radiator that hangs there, capping its pipes.
- Scan the plate lines in the floor and ceiling, or the party wall where bars or clips are fixed, for cables and pipes; then fix the independent frame clear of the wall with a line of noggins (blocking) where the radiator comes back, or fix the battens and bars, or the clips and their channel, at the system's centres.
- Have the electrician bring each socket and switch forward into an extended or deeper back box, and mould a putty pad round every box with the circuit still isolated.
- Friction-fit the mineral wool through the void, and hang the vinyl across the frame where the specification puts it there; then fix the first layer of board stopped short of the floor, the ceiling and the side walls, and fill its edges, and round every box and pipe through it, with acoustic sealant while they can still be reached.
- Where the vinyl goes between the layers, hang it over the first; then fix the second layer with its joints staggered over the first's, stopped short and sealed at every edge, box and pipe in the same way.
- Skim the outer boards, or tape and finish their joints, and leave the finish to dry; refit the skirting along the foot of the lining over the sealed gap.
- Decorate the lining, its first coat thinned on plaster or a primer on taped board, before the radiator goes back; then rehang it on its noggins with its tails sealed through the lining, refill and bleed the system, refit the sockets and switches and have them tested, clear the offcuts, and hand over the lining's specification and the electrician's certificate.
What this takeoff does not cover
- Flanking sound through the rest of the structure, which this job leaves as it is.
- Sound tests of any kind, before the work or after it, the pre-completion test in England and Wales among them.
- Notice to the neighbour, and any surveyors' award under the 1996 Act, where the shared structure is touched at all: the owner's to serve and settle.
- Strengthening a floor for the added mass (flagged).
- Ventilating the sealed room.
- A heater moved elsewhere, or its pipe runs rerouted.
- Crown molding (coving) put back along the new lining.
- A fire rating: no row here makes a fire-resisting claim.
- Green Glue or another damping compound between the layers.
- Damping compound between the layers, which no row here measures.
Quote check
Been given a quote for this job?
Paste it into the party wall soundproofing 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 party wall soundproofing takeoff give for a typical job?
- Opened at Floor protected 12 m² · Length of the party wall lined 4 m · Height of the lining, floor to ceiling 2.4 m, it orders: Masking and protection materials, 2 items; Studs and plates (independent frame, studwork), 11 studs; Mineral wool batts, 3 packages; Mass-loaded vinyl (MLV, acoustic membrane), 10.1 m²; Dense or acoustic plasterboard (drywall), two layers, 8 sheets; Acoustic sealant, 0.92 L; Skim finish coat (plastering), 27.6 kg; Skirting (baseboard), 4.4 m; Painting and decorating (decoration): two coats, a mist coat apart, 1.92 L. Opened at Floor protected 130 sq ft · Length of the party wall lined 13 ft · Height of the lining, floor to ceiling 8 ft: Masking and protection materials, 2 items; Studs and plates (independent frame, studwork), 11 studs; Mineral wool batts, 3 packages; Mass-loaded vinyl (MLV, acoustic membrane), 109 ft²; Dense or acoustic plasterboard (drywall), two layers, 8 sheets; Acoustic sealant, 0.27 gal; Joint compound and tape (or a skim coat of compound), 1 x 4.5 gal box; Skirting (baseboard), 14.3 linear ft; Painting and decorating (decoration): two coats, a mist coat apart, 0.52 gal. Every figure follows the dimensions you give it.
- Which calculators does the party wall soundproofing takeoff run?
- 9 calculators, one to a line: Masking and Protection Materials Calculator, Framing Stud Calculator, Mineral Wool Insulation Batt Calculator, Mass-Loaded Vinyl (MLV) Soundproofing Barrier Calculator, Ceiling Plasterboard (Gypsum Board) Sheet Calculator, Acoustic Sealant Bead Volume Calculator, Drywall Joint Compound Calculator, Baseboard & Trim Calculator, 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.9 calculators, one to a line: Masking and Protection Materials Calculator, Framing Stud Calculator, Mineral Wool Insulation Batt Calculator, Mass-Loaded Vinyl (MLV) Soundproofing Barrier Calculator, Ceiling Plasterboard (Gypsum Board) Sheet Calculator, Acoustic Sealant Bead Volume Calculator, Skim Coat Plaster Calculator, Baseboard & Trim Calculator, 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 party wall soundproofing takeoff leave out?
- 10 things, each named on this page: Flanking sound through the rest of the structure, which this job leaves as it is; Sound tests of any kind, before the work or after it, the pre-completion test in England and Wales among them; Notice to the neighbour, and any surveyors' award under the 1996 Act, where the shared structure is touched at all; Strengthening a floor for the added mass (flagged); Ventilating the sealed room; A heater moved elsewhere, or its pipe runs rerouted; Crown molding (coving) put back along the new lining; A fire rating; Green Glue or another damping compound between the layers; Damping compound between the layers, which no row here measures.
- Can I check a quote for this job against the takeoff?
- Yes. The party wall soundproofing 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.