Craft Quantities
Plan & Takeoffs

Quote check

Check a garage conversion quote

Paste the quote you were given and enter your measurements. Every line is read against the job: what the quote leaves out, what it adds, which quantities sit outside the computed range, and what to ask. Quantities only — never prices.
  • 25Lines the job needs
  • 9Measurements
  • QuestionsNever a verdict

How the quote is read

Each line of a garage conversion quote is matched to the line of the job it names, or marked as something the Garage conversion takeoff does not measure — labour, removal, hire, fees, or anything else. Work the takeoff lists as part of the job but gives no quantity for is read as that work, not as something the quote adds.

The job’s own figures come from 9 measurements — garage length, inside, garage width, inside, finished floor to ceiling, garage door opening, width, garage door opening, height, window in the new wall, width, wall under the window, old walls to line and insulate, doors into the room — run through the same calculators as the takeoff, so the two give the same figure for the same job.

Reading a garage conversion quote

A garage conversion quote prices a structure it cannot see yet: the footing under the new wall depends on what is found when the trench is dug, and the floor depends on how far the old slab sits below the house. Worth asking how each quote treats the footing — a fixed sum, a provisional sum, or a figure per metre dug — whether the courses from the footing up to the old slab sit in that figure or in the wall's, and whether it assumes a screed or a timber floor to bring the level up, since the two are not priced alike.

The lining of the old walls is the line a quote can leave vague. Worth seeing named whether the walls are lined on studs with insulation between, or with insulated board fixed to the masonry, how the ceiling is insulated, and where the vapour control layer goes. Whether the building control fees, the new window, the radiator and its connection to the heating, and the door through from the house are inside the price, or left to you, is worth settling before the door comes out.

Three steps

  1. Give your measurements. The page opens on a typical job so it has something to show.
  2. Paste the quote's lines as they came, or add them one at a time. Leave the prices in — they are taken out, never read.
  3. Read the report: what is left out, what is added, what sits outside the range, and one list of questions to send.

Your quote

The garage conversion quote you were given

Paste from an email, or open or drop a PDF, Excel, CSV or text file, or a photo of the quote. Amounts of money are taken out before anything is read — this page compares quantities, never prices.

Nothing you paste or open leaves this device.

or one the job needs:

The reading

What the quote says, against the job

Garage conversion · Garage length, inside 18 ft · Garage width, inside 10 ft · Finished floor to ceiling 8 ft · Garage door opening, width 8 ft · Garage door opening, height 7 ft · Window in the new wall, width 4 ft · Wall under the window 3.5 ft · Old walls to line and insulate 28 ft · Doors into the room 1Garage length, inside 5.5 m · Garage width, inside 3 m · Finished floor to ceiling 2.4 m · Garage door opening, width 2.4 m · Garage door opening, height 2.1 m · Window in the new wall, width 1.2 m · Wall under the window 1.05 m · Old walls to line and insulate 8.5 m · Doors into the room 1

  • What it leaves out

    Every line the job needs that nothing on the quote reads as, with the quantity your measurements produce.

  • What it adds

    Lines this job's takeoff does not measure — labour, removal, hire, fees, anything else — each named for what it is.

  • What sits outside the range

    Quantities above or below the computed range, by how much, in the quote's unit or converted and shown.

  • What to ask

    One list of questions, in the quote's order, ready to copy and send. Questions, never a verdict.

Paste the quote above, or add its lines one at a time. The reading appears here as each line is read.

Outside what this takeoff measures

8

Nothing in the reading measures these. Whether the quote covers each is worth asking in its own right: a scope missing from a quote tends to become a cost after work has started. Why each is left out is on the takeoff.

  • The footing under the new wall and any lintel over its window
  • The brickwork and blockwork from the top of the new footing up to the old slab and the damp-proof course
  • Whether the conversion needs planning permission or a permit where you are, including any condition on the house that keeps the garage for parking
  • The screed, or the sleepers (battens) and the board deck, that raise the floor
  • A slab lower than the ground outside, where the membrane, the damp courses and the new floor have to be detailed against water coming in; the page takes the slab as dry
  • Moving a gas or electricity meter, or the consumer unit (panel), that sits in the garage
  • The heating design
  • Fire separation from the house and the way out of the new room, which building control sets for the room's use

The reference

Every line the reading looks for

For Garage length, inside 18 ft · Garage width, inside 10 ft · Finished floor to ceiling 8 ft · Garage door opening, width 8 ft · Garage door opening, height 7 ft · Window in the new wall, width 4 ft · Wall under the window 3.5 ft · Old walls to line and insulate 28 ft · Doors into the room 1Garage length, inside 5.5 m · Garage width, inside 3 m · Finished floor to ceiling 2.4 m · Garage door opening, width 2.4 m · Garage door opening, height 2.1 m · Window in the new wall, width 1.2 m · Wall under the window 1.05 m · Old walls to line and insulate 8.5 m · Doors into the room 1. Each is the calculator linked under it, run with those measurements; a range is that calculator at both ends of one choice, not a margin for error.

How the ranges are taken

Where the choice is cutting waste, the ends are the site’s own allowances: 5%, the tight buffer of a crew with a planned set-out, and 15%, the wider one a first-timer orders. Where the calculator decides between patterns or materials, the ends are the options it offers. Where it adds nothing for loss, the range runs from the net quantity to 15% over it.

A minimum — the fewest hangers a spacing allows, the least airflow a room needs — has no upper end. A single figure carries an allowance the material itself needs, such as a lap, and names it.

What a reading like this cannot see

  • It does not know your prices, your market, or what the work ought to cost.
  • It does not know the building — the access, the condition of what is there, or what has to happen first.
  • It cannot check a lump sum, because there is no quantity in one.
  • A line it reads as missing may be priced under another name. A quantity outside the range is not evidence of anything. Each is a reason to ask a question.
  • Two quotes are not comparable until their scopes are.
  • It is not advice, and it is no substitute for a second quote.

The full takeoff

Every quantity for this job, with its working

The Garage conversion takeoff runs the same calculators on the same measurements and shows what sits under each line here.

Open the takeoffEvery quote check

  • Base, allowance, order

    Each line's quantity before and after its allowance, and what to buy.

  • Every allowance editable

    Change a waste figure and the order follows, with its source named.

  • Into a project

    Add the whole job to a workspace with your own prices.

Frequently asked questions

What quantities does a garage conversion job need?
It depends on the measurements, so this page asks for yours. At the size it opens on — Garage length, inside 5.5 m · Garage width, inside 3 m · Finished floor to ceiling 2.4 m · Garage door opening, width 2.4 m · Garage door opening, height 2.1 m · Window in the new wall, width 1.2 m · Wall under the window 1.05 m · Old walls to line and insulate 8.5 m · Doors into the room 1 — the lines come to: Inner leaf blocks, under the window, 27–29 blocks; Inner leaf blocks, beside the window, 14–15 blocks; Facing bricks, under the window, 157–172 bricks; Facing bricks, beside the window, 79–86 bricks; Wall ties across the cavity, 16 ties; Weep holes along the base, 5 weep holes; Cavity insulation in the new wall, 2 sheets (2400x1200 mm); Flashing tape round the window, 6.62–7.24 m; Floor insulation board, 7 sheets (2400x1200 mm); Studs lining the old walls, 22–26 studs; Insulation between the lining studs, 3 packages; Insulation between the ceiling joists, 2–3 packages; Sockets (outlets) round the room, 5 outlets (minimum); Plasterboard (drywall) on the walls, 14–15 sheets (2400x1200 mm); Plasterboard (drywall) on the ceiling, 7 sheets; Joint compound, 34.1–37.4 kg; Mist coat or primer on the walls, 3.74–4.31 L; Mist coat or primer on the ceiling, 1.65–1.9 L; Wall paint, 7.49–8.61 L; Ceiling paint, 3.3–3.8 L; Underlay, 2–3 rolls; Laminate or vinyl plank, 9 packs; Threshold strips, 0.95–1.03 m; Skirting (baseboard), 16.9–18.5 m; Skip (dumpster) for the strip-out and the footing, 2.48 m³. In imperial units — Garage length, inside 18 ft · Garage width, inside 10 ft · Finished floor to ceiling 8 ft · Garage door opening, width 8 ft · Garage door opening, height 7 ft · Window in the new wall, width 4 ft · Wall under the window 3.5 ft · Old walls to line and insulate 28 ft · Doors into the room 1 — they come to: Inner leaf blocks, under the window, 34–37 blocks; Inner leaf blocks, beside the window, 17–19 blocks; Facing bricks, under the window, 202–221 bricks; Facing bricks, beside the window, 101–111 bricks; Wall ties across the cavity, 16 ties; Weep holes along the base, 5 weep holes; Cavity insulation in the new wall, 2 sheets (4x8 ft); Flashing tape round the window, 22.1–24.2 ft; Floor insulation board, 6–7 sheets (4x8 ft); Studs lining the old walls, 22–26 studs; Insulation between the lining studs, 3 packages; Insulation between the ceiling joists, 2–3 packages; Sockets (outlets) round the room, 5 outlets (minimum); Plasterboard (drywall) on the walls, 14–15 sheets (4x8 ft); Plasterboard (drywall) on the ceiling, 6–7 sheets; Joint compound, 2 x 4.5 gal boxes; Mist coat or primer on the walls, 1.03–1.18 gal; Mist coat or primer on the ceiling, 0.45–0.52 gal; Wall paint, 2.06–2.37 gal; Ceiling paint, 0.9–1.04 gal; Underlay, 2–3 rolls; Laminate or vinyl plank, 9 packs; Threshold strips, 3.15–3.45 ft; Skirting (baseboard), 55.7–61 linear ft; Skip (dumpster) for the strip-out and the footing, 3.28 yd³.
Which line on a garage conversion quote varies the most?
The Insulation between the ceiling joists: 2–3 packages for a job measured Garage length, inside 5.5 m · Garage width, inside 3 m · Finished floor to ceiling 2.4 m · Garage door opening, width 2.4 m · Garage door opening, height 2.1 m · Window in the new wall, width 1.2 m · Wall under the window 1.05 m · Old walls to line and insulate 8.5 m · Doors into the room 1, depending on the waste factor allowed, from 5% to 15%.
What does a garage conversion quote often leave out?
The reading names every line of the job that nothing on the quote reads as — any of the 25 lines the takeoff measures. The takeoff also lists 8 things it does not measure, shown under the reading, and each is worth asking about: a scope missing from a quote tends to become a cost after work has started.
Can I paste the quote exactly as it came?
Yes — from an email, a PDF or a spreadsheet, one item to a line. Amounts of money are taken out before anything is read, headings and totals are skipped, and each line is shown with what it was read as, so a misreading is one correction. Quantities in the other unit system are converted and the conversion is shown; a count of boxes is never compared with a count of tiles.
Does this check the price as well?
No. It reads quantities, never prices, and this site publishes none: an installed price moves with the market, the season, the access and the specification, so a figure for what the work ought to cost would give you confidence in a number nobody can defend. A quantity against your own measurements is checkable, and every figure here links to the calculator that produced it.