Drywall & metal stud estimating
Drywall and metal stud estimating, with board counted by layer and side.
Send a PDF plan set and your unit-rate sheet. We first confirm we can read the set's wall types and give you a delivery date before any work starts; then you get back a drywall and metal stud bid package in 48–72 hours: takeoff workbook, priced proposal on your own unit rates, marked-up plan set, RFI letter and PM task list. Studs and board are counted on separate lines, board by layer and by side, and every quantity names the sheet it came from and states how it was derived.
What a TopOut drywall package contains
Five files, all editable, on your letterhead and at your rates.
- Takeoff workbook (.xlsx): quantities only, no prices. Framing, board, finish, insulation and firestop by wall type, fire rating and side, with the layers counted, plus drywall ceilings and exterior sheathing. Each row names its plan sheets and how it was derived, and the open items sit on their own tab at zero.
- Priced proposal (.docx / PDF): your lump sum, extended at the unit rates you send, with the scope, exclusions and alternates written in.
- Marked-up plan set (PDF): the takeoff lines labelled on the plan sheets, to show where the count was read.
- RFI letter (.docx / PDF): the questions the drawings left open.
- PM task list (.xlsx): what your PM runs the job from, bid review through closeout, with the open items carried in.
Nothing is locked. Every number can be changed.
What we take off, by assembly
The list, with the unit each item is counted in. The unit is where drywall scope goes missing: board taken off as wall area when a two-layer, both-sides partition carries four times that, a rated wall's extra layer folded into the base type, a wood-framed level left out because nobody on it frames metal.
- Metal stud partitions and furring
- Non-structural partitions, chase and plumbing walls, and furring at concrete and CMU, by wall type. Each type carries the stud depth, gauge and spacing its assembly calls for.LF · SF
- Cold-formed load-bearing framing
- Load-bearing and exterior cold-formed walls where the wall types call for them, carried by default and kept apart from the non-structural partitions. Engineering of the framing is excluded from the base; where the documents put delegated design on your contract, it comes back as an add alternate.LF · SF
- Gypsum board, by layer and side
- Every wall's board by face, with its layers counted, on the lines of the wall type that calls for it. A two-layer, both-sides partition is four times its wall area, and it is carried that way.SF
- Rated walls
- One-, two- and three-hour walls, the three-hour fire wall included, with the layers the listed assembly calls for. The rating rides on every row.SF · LF
- Shaft wall and area separation walls
- Shaftliner on CH or CT studs at stairs, elevators and chases, and area separation walls, by assembly.SF
- Drywall ceilings
- Drywall ceilings and their framing, measured between the walls that bound them, framing and board on separate lines. Suspended acoustical ceilings are another scope.SF
- Exterior sheathing
- Glass-mat gypsum sheathing where the wall sections call for it, by construction type and rating.SF
- Board on wood-framed levels
- On a podium job the wood-framed levels above still get board. We count it there and leave the framing to the carpentry sub.SF
- Resilient channel, joint firestop and insulation
- Resilient channel where the assembly calls for it. Head-of-wall joint firestop at rated walls whose assembly calls for it, in LF: in the base where the joint is gypsum board to gypsum board, and priced as an add alternate where the head meets a slab, a deck or masonry. Cavity insulation is counted by wall type and listed; by default it is excluded as the insulation trade's work, and carried only where your scope includes it. Penetration firestopping is by the trade that penetrates.SF · LF
- Scope boundaries
- Wood framing, suspended ceilings, penetration firestop, furnishing access panels and painting belong to the trades that carry them, and your proposal names the ones your job calls for.Named in the proposal
Framing and board are separate lines
Each wall is carried by operation, so the studs, the board and the finish on it are three things you can price, not one:
- Framing: length of wall by type, in LF, and wall area in SF at its height. The stud size, gauge and spacing ride on the wall type.
- Board: per face, with its layers counted, in SF.
- Finish: taping and finishing by finished face, in SF. The finish level is stated in the proposal, per job.
- Insulation: cavity insulation by wall type, in SF, counted and listed; excluded by default as the insulation trade's work.
- Firestop: head-of-wall joint firestop at rated walls, in LF; an add alternate where the head meets a slab, a deck or masonry.
- Acoustic: resilient channel where the assembly calls for it, in SF.
We measure the work. Your rate sheet prices it.No man-hour, crew-day or productivity figure appears anywhere in the takeoff. Every line is a unit you can put a number against.
How a quantity is traced
Every row in the takeoff workbook carries three things beside the quantity:
- The sheet: the plan sheets the run was measured on.
- The basis, in words: how many runs, on which sheets, at what height, and where that height came from.
- The arithmetic: a worked example of the computation, such as one run's area × 2 layers, side A.
An untagged wall is typed only from evidence declared for that job: a tagged wall it continues in line with, or a rule for its drawn thickness, such as the type most of the job's own tagged walls of that thickness carry. Weak evidence is held open. A wall nothing types, or a run we cannot read with confidence, is carried at zero and listed on the open-items tab. What the drawings never answered, and any run the takeoff could not complete, is listed at zero and stays out of the total, and the proposal says what the takeoff did not reach.
What the takeoff refuses to doA row with no sheet behind it is refused, not estimated. A level with no stated height stops the run. A wall carries its level's height, taken from a named section, unless its own is drawn, and the row says which. A wall found on the plan and left out of the count is reported, not dropped. A silent repair produces a number that looks fine and cannot be found later.
An estimator reads the whole thing before it leaves. The software counts; the estimator decides what the gaps mean.
The workbook
What a row looks like.
One line per operation and per side, with its layers, each naming its sheet and its arithmetic.
Demonstration rows. The wall types, sheets and quantities below were invented for this page. None come from a client or a real plan set, and we never publish or excerpt a client's drawings or bid documents. What is real is the structure: framing and board on separate lines, board by side with its layers counted, and the BASIS on every row.
| Line | Description | Sheet ref | Qty | Unit | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W1 FRAMING | 3-5/8" studs, 20 ga at 16" o.c., 1 hr, non-load-bearing | A2.11 | 1,240 | LF | 38 runs on A2.11, type read from the tag |
| W1 FRAMING | Same walls as area, at the 10'-0" height | A2.11 | 12,400 | SF | 1,240 LF × 10'-0" from section 4/A3.02 |
| W1 BOARD A | 5/8" Type X, 1 layer, side A | A2.11 | 12,400 | SF | 12,400 SF × 1 layer, side A |
| W1 BOARD B | 5/8" Type X, 1 layer, side B | A2.11 | 12,400 | SF | 12,400 SF × 1 layer, side B |
| W3 FRAMING | 3-5/8" studs, 20 ga at 16" o.c., 2 hr | A2.11 | 228 | LF | 9 runs on A2.11, type read from the tag |
| W3 BOARD A | 5/8" Type X, 2 layers, side A | A2.11 | 4,560 | SF | 228 LF × 10'-0" level height from section 4/A3.02 = 2,280 SF × 2 layers, side A |
| W3 BOARD B | 5/8" Type X, 2 layers, side B | A2.11 | 4,560 | SF | 2,280 SF × 2 layers, side B |
| W3 INSUL | 3-1/2" mineral wool in the cavity, excluded by default | A2.11 | 2,280 | SF | 2,280 SF × 1 cavity, listed for the insulation trade |
| SW-1 LINER | Shaft wall, 1" shaftliner in CH studs | A4.10 | 1,610 | SF | 3 enclosures, 161 LF × 10'-0" = 1,610 SF × 1 layer |
| SW-1 BOARD A | 5/8" Type X, 2 layers, corridor side | A4.10 | 3,220 | SF | 1,610 SF × 2 layers, corridor side |
| W7 | Tag reads a type the wall-type sheet does not show | A2.11 | — | LF | OPEN, carried at zero, RFI-001 |
| W3 IS 2,280 SF OF WALL AND 9,120 SF OF BOARD · FRAMING AND BOARD PRICE SEPARATELY · INSULATION IS COUNTED AND EXCLUDED BY DEFAULT · W7 IS OPEN AND CARRIED AT ZERO | |||||
Where the RFIs come from, and why they're short
An estimator writes the RFI letter from the takeoff's open items and from the set itself: a type the wall-type sheets do not show, two sheets that disagree, an extent the drawings never settle.
An RFI that can be closed by reading is not an RFIA question the set already answers, on a wall-type sheet, a section or the specification, is not sent.
Where convention and the drawings already agree, the proposal carries a written exclusion rather than a question. Where bids on this trade commonly part ways, such as the finish level, head-of-wall joints and delegated design, the proposal names the choice made where your job calls for one.
What we exclude, and why we say so up front
An exclusion list that arrives with the bid is your scope of work. One that arrives after it is a change-order argument. These are the usual exclusions on this trade; your proposal names the ones your job calls for, and scope the documents put on your contract that the base leaves out, such as delegated design, comes back as an alternate.
Included
- Takeoff of the scope listed above, by wall type, side and sheet, with the layers counted
- Metal stud framing and gypsum board carried as separate lines
- Board on wood-framed levels where the job is a podium
- A priced proposal at your unit rates, with your scope, exclusions and alternates written in
- An RFI letter drawn from the gaps and conflicts in the set
- A PM task list for the job once it's awarded
- An addendum after delivery is a re-price, quoted before we start
Usually excluded
- Engineering and delegated design of cold-formed framing, and any PE stamp
- Penetration firestopping, by the trade that penetrates
- Wood framing, and blocking and backing in wood-framed areas
- Cavity insulation, by the insulation trade (counted and listed)
- Suspended acoustical ceilings and their grid
- Furnishing access panels
- Painting, wall covering and painters' caulk
- Exterior and shaft scaffolding
Separately, our service does not include crews or field supervision, man-hour or production assumptions, or pricing for scope not shown on the drawings you send.
What we need from you
A PDF plan set, the bid date, and your unit-rate sheet. The set as a file or a link: Drive, Dropbox, WeTransfer, a GC's plan room, no portal. Send the set first: we confirm we can read its wall types and give you the delivery date before any work starts. The rate sheet because we carry no rates of our own, and a proposal cannot be priced without one.
- What the rate sheet should carry. Furnish-and-install unit rates, material and labor in one number: metal stud framing per LF or SF of wall by type, board per SF by type (hang and finish as one rate or two), shaft wall per SF, insulation per SF where you carry it, and head-of-wall firestop per LF. A material-only rate is held unpriced, and a man-hour or crew-day rate is refused. Send rates that already carry your markup, or tell us they are your cost. We add nothing to your rates and the proposal says so, so on cost rates your markup still goes on top. We never assume which.
Also helpful:
- The bid form and invitation. They name the alternates and bid items the GC expects.
- Addenda issued so far, and the specification if you have it.
- Your wage basis: open shop, prevailing wage or a project labor agreement. The estimate records it and who stated it; we never assume it.
Turnaround and rush
48 to 72 hours from when the plan set and your rates land, once we have confirmed we can read the set. A 24 to 48-hour rush is +35%. Tell us the bid date and we confirm delivery before starting; if a set or a date is not workable we say so then.
We work from offices in San Jose and San Diego across every county in California, and we take out-of-state sets. The proposal names the sheets it was priced on; an addendum after delivery is a re-price, quoted before we start.
What it costs
Your first drywall package is half price. After that, one price per bid package, quoted before we start:
- Starter, $425–575. A single scope: one building's partitions, a tenant improvement, a shaft and stair package.
- Standard, $750–1,150. A typical commercial bid. One building, framing and board through the ceilings, rated walls included.
- Complex, $1,500–2,700. Multi-building or phased work, or a podium job with metal stud levels below and wood-framed levels above.
Add 35% for a 24 to 48-hour rush. Send the set and we tell you the band before any work starts.
Why this costs more than a quantity listA drywall quantity list is a column of square feet. You still have to price it, split the studs from the board, write the exclusions and alternates, and decide what to ask the GC before the bid closes. This is that work, from $425, with the number on the page.
FAQ
Questions drywall and metal stud subs ask
Do you price the job, or just count it?
Both, at your rates. We count the work and extend it at the unit rates you send. We carry no rate book of our own, so the proposal is priced once your rate sheet is in.
How do I check a quantity?
Pick a row and open the plan sheets it names. Every row states how it was derived, with a worked example of its arithmetic, and every open item is listed at zero on its own tab. We don't quote a percentage for the count; a percentage without the method behind it tells you nothing.
Is board counted as wall area?
No. Board is counted per side, with its layers, on its own lines, apart from the studs. A partition with two layers on each side carries four times its wall area in board, and the takeoff carries it that way.
What about wood-framed levels on a podium job?
They still get board. We count the board on the wood-framed levels and leave their framing to the carpentry sub. Metal stud framing is counted where the wall types call for metal.
Do you carry firestopping?
Head-of-wall joint firestop is counted in LF at the rated walls whose assembly calls for it. Where that joint is gypsum board to gypsum board it is in the base; where the head meets a slab, a deck or masonry it comes back as an alternate you can add. Penetration firestopping belongs to the trade that makes the penetration and is excluded.
What if the drawings are incomplete?
They usually are. A wall the set does not let us type is carried at zero and listed as an open item, and where the drawings leave a real question it goes on the RFI letter. It stays out of the total until it is answered.
Do you take off wood framing?
Not yet. This page is drywall and metal stud: cold-formed and non-structural metal framing, gypsum board assemblies and shaft wall. Wood rough carpentry is a separate trade, and it is on the way.
Is my plan set confidential?
Never shared, never used to bid against you, deleted on request.
Send one drywall plan set. See what comes back.
Email the set with the job name, the bid date and your unit-rate sheet, or call and talk it through with an estimator first.