Job takeoff
Shower enclosure takeoff
Tanking, backer board, tile and adhesive for the walls and tray area of a shower.
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.
- 8Measurements 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 shower enclosure 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 | |
|---|---|---|
Wet Room Tanking and Waterproof Membrane CalculatorMembrane in two coats over the tanked walls and the tray area, with tape along the foot of the tanked walls and up each internal corner plus 10% for laps, and a preformed collar at each pipe through the wall membrane. Add the tray maker's margin to the tray size if its detail asks for one.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
Change any other figure on the Wet Room Tanking and Waterproof Membrane Calculator | 3.4 gal | |
Tile Backer Board CalculatorWet-area backer on the walls.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The cutting waste: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. | 7 boards | |
Tile & Grout CalculatorWall tiles at the default size.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The waste factor: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. | 65 tiles | |
Thinset & Tile Adhesive CalculatorAdhesive for the wall tiling, back-buttered: a shower wall is a wet area, where the bed needs 95% coverage.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
Change any other figure on the Thinset & Tile Adhesive Calculator | 2 bags | |
Wet Room Tanking and Waterproof Membrane CalculatorMembrane in two coats over the tanked walls and the tray area, with tape along the foot of the tanked walls and up each internal corner plus 10% for laps, and a preformed collar at each pipe through the wall membrane. Add the tray maker's margin to the tray size if its detail asks for one.
Why this quantity? | 13 litres | |
Tile Backer Board CalculatorWet-area backer on the walls.
Why this quantity? | 7 boards | |
Tile & Grout CalculatorWall tiles at the default size.
Why this quantity? | 66 tiles | |
Thinset & Tile Adhesive CalculatorAdhesive for the wall tiling, back-buttered: a shower wall is a wet area, where the bed needs 95% coverage.
Why this quantity? | 2 bags |
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.
- Wet Room Tanking and Waterproof Membrane1.3 h (0.6–2.5)
- Tile Backer Board1.6 h (0.8–3.3)
- Tile & Grout6.0 h (3.8–12)
About 8.9 person-hours in all, between 5.2 and 18.
Trade by trade
- Waterproofing operative1 waterproofing operativeunder a quarter of a day
- Tiler1 tiler1 day
About 1 day, one trade after another at eight hours a day. Left out: drying and curing, deliveries, inspections, trades overlapping.
1 row carries no hours of its own
- Thinset & Tile Adhesive: counted with Tile & Grout
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.
- Wet Room Tanking and Waterproof Membrane1.2 h (0.6–2.5)
- Tile Backer Board1.6 h (0.8–3.2)
- Tile & Grout5.9 h (3.8–12)
About 8.8 person-hours in all, between 5.2 and 18.
Trade by trade
- Waterproofing operative1 waterproofing operativeunder a quarter of a day
- Tiler1 tiler1 day
About 1 day, one trade after another at eight hours a day. Left out: drying and curing, deliveries, inspections, trades overlapping.
1 row carries no hours of its own
- Thinset & Tile Adhesive: counted with Tile & Grout
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 shower enclosure is a small area doing a hard job, and the quantities are small enough that people order by eye and get them wrong in the expensive direction. The tanking is the row that matters: it covers the tray area and every wall water can reach, to the height the membrane's specification asks for, which is a larger area than the tiled one on a wall where the tile stops short, and a smaller one where the tiling runs floor to ceiling around a room. That is why the takeoff asks for the tanked run and height separately from the tiled ones.
The distinction between this and a wet room is worth being precise about, because the two are often quoted as though they were the same job. A shower enclosure has a tray or a former that contains the water and a threshold that keeps it in. A wet room has neither: the whole floor falls to a drain and the whole room is tanked. This takeoff is the first of those — walls and a defined tray area — and the wet-room takeoff is the second.
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.
- Set out the tray or former first, and confirm the fall and the waste position before anything is boarded.
- Board in a wet-area backer, taped and sealed at every joint and internal angle.
- Prime, then tank: two coats with tape in the corners, the upstand and around the waste.
- Flood-test if the detail allows it, before a single tile goes on.
- Tile from a level batten, keeping the cuts away from the most-seen corner.
- Silicone every internal angle and the tray junction — grout there will crack.
What this takeoff does not cover
- The tray, former, screen, door and waste.
- The fall in the floor, which a tray sets and a wet room has to be built into.
- Grout as an order. The tile row's breakdown gives a rough bag count, the tiled area at about 7 m² (75 sq ft) a bag, which does not look at the tile size or the joint width; the real quantity depends on both, so check it against the grout maker's coverage chart for your tile and joint.
- Any pipework, valve or thermostatic mixer behind the wall.
- Primer, which absorbent substrates need and cement backer board often does not; apply the maker's rate to the tanked area in the tanking row's breakdown.
Quote check
Been given a quote for this job?
Paste it into the shower enclosure 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
Other job takeoffs
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Run this takeoffBathroom remodel
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Run this takeoff
Frequently asked questions
- What does the shower enclosure takeoff give for a typical job?
- Opened at Tiled wall run 2.7 m · Tiled height 2 m · Tray width 0.9 m · Tray depth 0.9 m · Tanked wall run 2.7 m · Tanked height 2 m · Internal corners in the tanked zone 2 · Pipe penetrations through the membrane 3, it orders: Wet Room Tanking and Waterproof Membrane, 13 litres; Tile Backer Board, 7 boards; Tile & Grout, 66 tiles; Thinset & Tile Adhesive, 2 bags. Opened at Tiled wall run 9 ft · Tiled height 6.5 ft · Tray width 3 ft · Tray depth 3 ft · Tanked wall run 9 ft · Tanked height 6.5 ft · Internal corners in the tanked zone 2 · Pipe penetrations through the membrane 3: Wet Room Tanking and Waterproof Membrane, 3.4 gal; Tile Backer Board, 7 boards; Tile & Grout, 65 tiles; Thinset & Tile Adhesive, 2 bags. Every figure follows the dimensions you give it.
- Which calculators does the shower enclosure takeoff run?
- 4 calculators, one to a line: Wet Room Tanking and Waterproof Membrane Calculator, Tile Backer Board Calculator, Tile & Grout Calculator, Thinset & Tile Adhesive 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 shower enclosure takeoff leave out?
- 5 things, each named on this page: The tray, former, screen, door and waste; The fall in the floor, which a tray sets and a wet room has to be built into; Grout as an order; Any pipework, valve or thermostatic mixer behind the wall; Primer, which absorbent substrates need and cement backer board often does not; apply the maker's rate to the tanked area in the tanking row's breakdown.
- Can I check a quote for this job against the takeoff?
- Yes. The shower enclosure 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.