Wood framing
Check the framing schedule for solid-sawn and engineered members, including beams, joists and headers. Use structural details to count hold-downs and other connectors that may never appear in an architectural wall schedule.
Wood and metal framing
Wood and Metal Framing Estimating
Get framing quantities by assembly and level for contractors pricing walls, floors, roofs or nonstructural partitions.
What this service covers
Cold-formed framing
Separate structural and nonstructural studs by gauge, spacing and height. Include tracks and bridging as distinct items and flag deflection heads and jamb reinforcement where the details call for them.
Compare procurement packages
Keep material lists by building or level and confirm the supplier’s order units. A board-foot total, individual stock lengths and a count of prefabricated components each serve a different buying decision.
Framing estimating for residential and commercial projects, measured from the wall lengths, the openings and the floor systems on the framing plans, with lumber counted by member rather than by board foot alone. Share the current framing plans, the floor plans and the bid date. We can price wall framing, floor framing and roof framing as separate packages, or measure a full framing scope from the sill plate to the ridge, with each member shown on its own lines.
A framed wall is not a pile of lumber. It is studs at a spacing, plates top and bottom, headers over every opening and blocking where the drawings call for it, and each of those members is counted from the plans rather than allowed as a percentage of the wall length. An estimate that prices framing by board foot alone has priced the wood and missed the work of cutting it, fitting it and standing it up.
The takeoff starts with the wall lengths. Each wall is measured from the floor plans, with its length, its height and its openings shown, and the studs are counted from the spacing the drawings call for. A wall with a window every four feet carries different framing from a blank wall of the same length, and the estimate shows that difference rather than averaging it away.
Lumber is counted by member, not by volume
Every member in a framed wall has a count. Studs are counted from the wall length and the spacing; plates are counted from the wall length doubled, top and bottom; cripples are counted from the openings they serve; blocking is counted from the details that call for it. The estimate lists each member type on its own line, so a change to the stud spacing after an addendum moves only the stud lines and never the plate quantities.
Floor and roof framing follow the same rule. Joists are counted from the span and the spacing; rafters and trusses from the roof plan; beams and posts from the structural drawings. Each is shown with its size, its length and its spacing, so a reviewer can trace any member back to the drawing it came from and check the count without re-measuring the whole frame.
Waste comes from the cuts, not from a percentage
Waste in framing is not a flat percentage. A wall built from standard lengths wastes little; a wall with many openings, angles and short pieces wastes much more, because every cut leaves a piece that may or may not be usable again. The estimate measures waste from the members themselves — the cuts as they fall, the offcuts as they are used or discarded — rather than applying one percentage to every wall.
Openings are where waste concentrates. Each window and door needs a header, a sill and cripples, and each of those is cut to fit the opening it serves. The estimate counts the opening framing with the opening, so a house with twenty windows carries twenty sets of header material and a house with five carries five — and the bid team can see the difference.
How to review a framing estimate before bid day
Check the wall list first: every wall on the plans should appear once, with its length, height and openings shown, and its studs, plates and headers counted from the spacing and the details. Then check the floor and roof systems — joists, rafters and trusses by span and spacing — and confirm that waste is shown from the cuts rather than as a single percentage for the whole job.
Finish with the assumptions log. Which members were measured from the framing plans, which from the structural drawings, and which counts are still open because the two disagree? Anything the framing set leaves unsettled should be visible there, so it can be priced, assigned or clarified before the bid is submitted.
What to send with your plans
Send the framing plans with the floor plans and the structural sheets the member sizes depend on. Tell us which walls are new framing and which existing walls are staying in place.
- Current issued framing plans and floor plans, plus every applicable addendum
- Structural drawings, including member sizes, spans and connections
- Window and door schedules for opening sizes and header requirements
- Roof plan, including rafter or truss layout and ridge details
- The bid form, the bid deadline and the bid packages you need priced
- Project location or ZIP, so pricing can be checked for that market
Frequently asked questions
How are studs counted?
From the wall length and the spacing the drawings call for, with each wall listed separately. Plates are counted from the same wall length, doubled top and bottom, and cripples and blocking are counted from the openings and details they serve.
How are openings framed?
Each window and door is counted with its header, sill and cripples, cut to fit the opening it serves. The opening framing is shown with the opening, so a house with twenty windows carries twenty sets of header material and the count can be checked opening by opening.
How is floor and roof framing measured?
Joists from the span and the spacing, rafters and trusses from the roof plan, beams and posts from the structural drawings. Each member is shown with its size, length and spacing, so a change to one span moves only the members on that span.
Why is waste not a flat percentage?
Because waste depends on the cuts. A wall built from standard lengths wastes little, while a wall with many openings and short pieces wastes much more, so the estimate measures waste from the members themselves rather than applying one percentage to every wall.
Can an estimate start from a preliminary set?
Yes. A preliminary budget works from the design as it stands, with allowances shown openly for the decisions that are still open, so an early choice can be tested before the drawings are finished.
What format will I receive?
An editable estimate spreadsheet and marked-up drawing sheets, on request, so your team can reconcile quantities or transfer the estimate into a bid form.
Related estimating packages
- Residential Construction Estimating
- Commercial Construction Estimating
- Construction Takeoff Services
Separating wood and light-gauge framing
Sort wall types by stud material, gauge or size, height and spacing. Pull headers, blocking and backing from the details. Keep wood framing and light-gauge quantities separate so lumber and metal suppliers can quote independently.
What the estimate can show
- Scope and quantity detail arranged by the trade, system, phase or bid item.
- Document references so scope questions can be traced to the applicable plans or specifications.
- Assumptions and exclusions kept visible, with separate pricing or allowances when requested.
Have a bid set ready?
Tell us what you need priced, which drawings govern the bid and when it is due.