PreConstruct AIGuides
Estimating guides for drywall, concrete and framing
Practical guides for estimators: framing a house, concrete footings, walls, slabs and rebar in metric, and what goes missing on a drywall takeoff.
How to read a footing schedule for takeoff
Marks, sizes and reinforcing — strip footings and pads, metric and imperial — and how to take off each row.
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Concrete takeoff: footings, walls, slabs and rebar
Volumes in cubic metres and yards, forms by contact area, Canadian rebar weights, and the Ontario code minimums to check.
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How to estimate framing for a house
Walls, openings, floors, roofs, stairs, hardware and labour — the counts framers use and what gets missed.
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Drywall takeoff checklist: what goes missing
Twelve things that fall off interior takeoffs — backing, headers, control joints, clouds and eight more — and how to catch them.
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How to read a drywall partition schedule
Studs, board layers, insulation, height and ratings, and how each partition or wall type becomes material.
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Drywall per square metre
Square metres per sheet, screws, tape and compound per m², and a worked metric example.
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Canadian rebar sizes: 10M to 55M
Diameter, area and kg per metre for every CSA bar, what a 6, 12 or 18 m bar weighs, the nearest US bar, and a footing worked through.
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Drywall screws per square metre
The Ontario spacing rules turned into screws per sheet and per m², fire-rated work, Type W or S, screw length and a worked order.
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Steel stud gauge chart and sizes
Gauge to mils and millimetres for 25, 20 and 18 gauge, the two different 20 gauges, EQ studs, sizes in inches and mm, and studs and track per metre.
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Division 9 takeoff: board, framing, finishing and waste
What a drywall package spans, board and stud quantities, levels of finish, where waste belongs, and the scope questions to ask before pricing.
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How to do a drywall takeoff from a PDF
The steps from scale to sheets: the partition schedule, walls by type, heights, openings, ceilings, then board, studs, track and finishing, with a wall worked in imperial and metric.
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Ontario stair rise and run
Rise, run, headroom, width, landings, handrails and guards under the Ontario code, what changed in 2022, and a stair laid out in millimetres.
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Canadian lumber sizes in mm: 2x4 to 2x12
A 2x4 is 38 × 89 mm: every size from 2x2 to 2x12 and 4x4 in millimetres, board feet, and metric stud spacing.
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How to read an addendum before you bid
Find every change on the revised drawings and specs, and carry it into the takeoff before close.
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Choosing takeoff software as a subcontractor
What to compare before you buy: metric and imperial, trade assemblies, pricing by seat or by job, and what the software really reads.
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Is AI takeoff accurate? How to check it yourself
We publish no accuracy figure. What software reads well on a drawing set, where it goes wrong, and how to test any tool on a job you have already bid.
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Canada
Canadian takeoff guides: metric, CSA and Ontario
CSA rebar, cubic metres, drywall and screws per m², steel studs in mm and Ontario stairs, with the free calculators, in one place.
Free PDF
The takeoff checklist for subcontractors
What to check on the set, drywall and interiors, concrete, framing and the bid — printable, by email.
Self-check
The takeoff self-check
Twelve yes-or-no questions about your own interior takeoffs, with the fix for each one you miss.
The takeoffs in these guides, on your own drawings
Measure on the PDF, pick a type, and every material comes with the arithmetic beside it — in imperial, metric or both. Your first bid is free.