Wall assemblies
Measure block, brick or stone by thickness and assembly type. Account for openings, pilasters and changes in height using elevations and structural sections.
Masonry assemblies and accessories
Masonry Estimating Services
A masonry takeoff measures wall area and quantities by assembly. Separate brick or block, grout, reinforcement, flashing, lintels and accessories so the material and installation costs can be checked independently.
Masonry scope is more than a wall area. We take off brick, block and related accessories by assembly, identifying reinforcement, grout, ties, flashing and opening details where they affect the bid.
Account for openings and special units from the wall details.
What this service covers
Reinforcement and accessories
Separate grout, reinforcing, ties, anchors, lintels and flashings from unit counts. Reconcile bond beams and heavily grouted locations with structural notes so these costs are traceable.
Interfaces and access
Identify scaffold needs, weather protection and connections to adjacent framing. Clarify whether exterior sealant and through-wall flashings sit with masonry or the envelope package.
Masonry is priced by the unit, and the unit is the whole story. A concrete block, a brick and a stone are not interchangeable quantities — they are different materials, different labour rates and different crews. A block wall goes up fast in large units; a brick veneer goes up slowly, one unit at a time, with the pattern and the joint deciding the pace. Count the wall as an area and the bid is wrong before it starts. Count it by unit, by wall type, and the bid can be checked against the wall the mason will actually build.
That is why this estimate is organized by wall first and by material second. A structural block wall, a brick veneer and a stone accent wall are three different scopes, even when they sit on the same elevation. Each carries its own units, its own mortar and grout, its own reinforcing and its own accessories — and the openings in each wall are priced where they fall, not averaged across the building.
What the scope can include
- Brick and CMU by unit or area
- Mortar and grout
- Reinforcement, ties and anchors
- Lintels, sills, flashing and weeps
- Stone and cast stone, measured by unit and by profile
- Control and expansion joints, by length and by type
- Cleaning and protection of finished masonry
- Scaffolding and access, where the height or the elevation calls for it
A grouted cell is not a block count
A partially grouted CMU wall needs more detail than a block count. Reconcile grouted cells and bond beams to the structural notes and wall sections.
A block count tells you how many units the wall needs. It tells you nothing about the grout — which cells are filled, how much grout each one takes, where the bond beams run. A wall grouted every fourth cell and a wall grouted solid are the same number of blocks and very different quantities of grout, steel and labour. The structural notes say which cells are grouted; the wall sections say where the bond beams sit. Read them together, and the grout is measured cell by cell. Read the block count alone, and the grout is a guess.
Brick, block and stone are three different crews
Brick veneer is a finish: units laid to a pattern, joints tooled, colour and texture matched to the sample. Structural block is a structure: units, grout and steel working together, with the wall’s strength coming from the assembly, not the face. Stone is a third trade again — irregular units, cut and fitted on site, with the waste depending on the stone and the pattern.
Openings: lintels, sills and the wall that holds them up
Every opening in a masonry wall is a small structure of its own. The lintel above it carries the wall; the sill below it sheds the water; the jambs beside it need reinforcing and flashing. An opening that is drawn as a rectangle on the elevation is, in the estimate, a list: the lintel by length and by type, the sill by length, the jamb reinforcing by count, the flashing above and below.
Lintels deserve their own attention because they come from three places at once: the structural drawings say the size, the architectural drawings say the material, and the opening schedule says the length. Where the three disagree, the estimate writes the difference down instead of pricing the cheaper one.
Flashing, weeps and the water that finds the gap
The estimate measures flashing by length and by location, and weeps by count, because each one is a detail that has to be built, not a line in a general allowance.
What to send with your plans
Send masonry elevations, structural sheets, wall sections, opening details and material schedules.
- Masonry elevations, with wall types, patterns and material changes marked
- Structural sheets and wall sections, showing grouted cells and bond beams
- The opening schedule, with lintel and sill types for every opening
- Material schedules and samples, for brick, block, stone and mortar colour
- Flashing and weep details, and any shelf angle or relieving angle notes
- Whether veneer and structural masonry are one package or two separate bids
Frequently asked questions
Can veneer and structural masonry be shown separately?
Yes. Separate assemblies by function and finish, then group their accessories under the related wall types.
Are lintels included in the masonry package?
Track lintels or other supports when shown and record who supplies them. If the metal fabricator carries a steel lintel, flag the boundary in the masonry scope.
How do you price a partially grouted wall?
Cell by cell, from the structural notes. The block count is the starting point; the grouted cells, the bond beams and the bars inside them are measured from the sections, so a wall grouted every fourth cell is never priced as if it were grouted solid.
Who supplies the lintels?
Whoever the drawings assign them to. Steel, precast and masonry lintels are each shown on their own line with the opening they serve, so a lintel one trade assumed the other had is never priced twice or left out of both bids.
How are control joints handled?
By length and by type, on the wall they belong to. A control joint in a block wall and an expansion joint in a brick veneer are different details, so they are measured separately rather than averaged across the building.
Can you match existing brick on an addition?
The estimate records the existing brick — size, colour, joint and bond — from the drawings and the site photographs, so the new work can be priced against a named match. Where no match is named, that is written down as an open point, not assumed.
Is cleaning included in the masonry price?
Cleaning and protection are shown as their own scope, because they depend on the material: a brick veneer and a stone wall are cleaned differently, and the protection a finished wall needs during the rest of the build is priced by elevation, not as a general allowance.
Request an Estimate View Estimating Samples
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.