Job takeoff
Segmental retaining wall takeoff
Blocks, levelling pad, drainage stone and reinforcement layers for a block retaining wall.
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
- 4Trades out
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 retaining wall 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 | |
|---|---|---|
Retaining Wall Block CalculatorBlocks for the wall face and its buried course, at the default block size.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The cut and breakage allowance: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. Change any other figure on the Retaining Wall Block Calculator | 218 blocks | |
Gravel Base Layer Tonnage CalculatorCompacted crushed-stone levelling pad under the first course, 600 mm (24 in) wide at the calculator's default thickness — the block maker's guide sets both.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
Change any other figure on the Gravel Base Layer Tonnage Calculator | 2.23 tons | |
Retaining Wall Drainage Gravel CalculatorFree-draining stone behind the wall, down to the base course — the part that keeps it standing.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The spillage and settlement allowance: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. Change any other figure on the Retaining Wall Drainage Gravel Calculator | 5.92 cubic yards | |
Geogrid Reinforcement Layer Count CalculatorA count of reinforcement layers from the levelling pad up, at the default spacing — not a grid order. The grid is the count times each layer's length times the wall length, bought by the roll.How this figure was reached
Resting on
Change any other figure on the Geogrid Reinforcement Layer Count Calculator | 3 layers | |
Retaining Wall Block CalculatorBlocks for the wall face and its buried course, at the default block size.
Why this quantity? | 214 blocks | |
Gravel Base Layer Tonnage CalculatorCompacted crushed-stone levelling pad under the first course, 600 mm (24 in) wide at the calculator's default thickness — the block maker's guide sets both.
Why this quantity? | 1.98 metric tons | |
Retaining Wall Drainage Gravel CalculatorFree-draining stone behind the wall, down to the base course — the part that keeps it standing.
Why this quantity? | 4.45 m³ | |
Geogrid Reinforcement Layer Count CalculatorA count of reinforcement layers from the levelling pad up, at the default spacing — not a grid order. The grid is the count times each layer's length times the wall length, bought by the roll.How this figure was reached | 3 layers |
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.
- Retaining Wall Block19 h (12–35)
- Gravel Base Layer Tonnage0.9 h (0.4–2.8)
About 19 person-hours in the rows that carry them, between 12 and 38.
Trade by trade
- Mason1 mason + 1 labourer1 day
- Labourer2 labourersunder 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.
2 rows carry no hours of their own
- Retaining Wall Drainage Gravel: The drainage behind a retaining wall is not rated here: it goes in course by course as the wall is built, and how the ground behind the wall is dug and reached sets its time more than the volume of stone.
- Geogrid Reinforcement Layer Count: no rate for its work here yet
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.
- Retaining Wall Block18 h (12–34)
- Gravel Base Layer Tonnage0.9 h (0.4–2.7)
About 19 person-hours in the rows that carry them, between 12 and 37.
Trade by trade
- Mason1 mason + 1 labourer1 day
- Labourer2 labourersunder 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.
2 rows carry no hours of their own
- Retaining Wall Drainage Gravel: The drainage behind a retaining wall is not rated here: it goes in course by course as the wall is built, and how the ground behind the wall is dug and reached sets its time more than the volume of stone.
- Geogrid Reinforcement Layer Count: no rate for its work here yet
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 retaining wall is four rows that scale on two different measurements. The blocks and the drainage stone follow the wall's face — its length times its full height, the buried course included. The levelling pad follows the length alone. The geogrid row is a count of layers, and that count follows the height alone, because what sets it is how far up the wall you are; the grid you then buy by the roll is the count times each layer's length back into the fill times the length of the wall.
The drainage is the part treated as optional and the part that most often fails the wall. A retaining wall does not usually fail because the blocks were too weak; it fails because water built up behind it and the wall was then holding back saturated soil at roughly twice the pressure it was built for.
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.
- Establish where the wall is retaining from and to, and whether anything surcharges it — a driveway or a building behind the wall changes the design entirely.
- Excavate and place a compacted levelling pad below the frost line.
- Set the first course dead level; every error above it is this course's error, multiplied.
- Backfill the drainage zone as you go, with a perforated pipe that outlets somewhere real.
- Lay geogrid at the design's spacing, running back into the retained soil, not just under the blocks.
- Compact the fill in layers behind the wall — with a plate, not a machine that will push the courses out.
- Cap and finish, and check the surface drainage above the wall runs away from it.
What this takeoff does not cover
- THE DESIGN. Anything retaining much over a metre, or holding back a slope, a surcharge or a structure, is engineered — global stability, sliding, overturning and bearing are checked against your soil, and none of them follows from the wall's face dimensions. Block courses and geogrid spacing are outputs of that design, not inputs to it.
- Excavation and spoil removal, including the trench the levelling pad sits in.
- Drainage pipe, outlets, filter fabric and the surface water above the wall — the drainage stone quantity is here, the system it belongs to is not.
- Cap blocks, adhesive, pins and any facing.
- The geogrid as an order. Its row is a count of layers; the grid itself is that count times each layer's length times the wall's length, plus roll overlaps, and each layer's length is the design's figure — the calculator's grid length per unit of wall opens on its own default layer length.
- Backfill behind the drainage zone, and the compaction plant the wall's own courses will tolerate.
Quote check
Been given a quote for this job?
Paste it into the retaining wall 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 retaining wall takeoff give for a typical job?
- Opened at Wall length 10 m · Retained height 1.2 m · Buried depth 0.15 m, it orders: Retaining Wall Block, 214 blocks; Gravel Base Layer Tonnage, 1.98 metric tons; Retaining Wall Drainage Gravel, 4.45 m³; Geogrid Reinforcement Layer Count, 3 layers. Opened at Wall length 33 ft · Retained height 4 ft · Buried depth 6 in: Retaining Wall Block, 218 blocks; Gravel Base Layer Tonnage, 2.23 tons; Retaining Wall Drainage Gravel, 5.92 cubic yards; Geogrid Reinforcement Layer Count, 3 layers. Every figure follows the dimensions you give it.
- Which calculators does the retaining wall takeoff run?
- 4 calculators, one to a line: Retaining Wall Block Calculator, Gravel Base Layer Tonnage Calculator, Retaining Wall Drainage Gravel Calculator, Geogrid Reinforcement Layer Count 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 retaining wall takeoff leave out?
- 6 things, each named on this page: THE DESIGN. Anything retaining much over a metre, or holding back a slope, a surcharge or a structure, is engineered; Excavation and spoil removal, including the trench the levelling pad sits in; Drainage pipe, outlets, filter fabric and the surface water above the wall; Cap blocks, adhesive, pins and any facing; The geogrid as an order; Backfill behind the drainage zone, and the compaction plant the wall's own courses will tolerate.
- Can I check a quote for this job against the takeoff?
- Yes. The retaining wall 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.