Estimate Builder Guide
Build complete construction estimates with materials, labor, and markup
Overview
The Estimate Builder combines material quantities, labor calculations, and additional costs into a complete project estimate. You can:
- Import takeoffs from the Ceiling, Paint, or RT60 calculators
- Add and price materials with automatic group subtotals
- Calculate labor using multiple productivity formats
- Track other costs like travel, lodging, and equipment rental
- Apply markup and export a complete estimate summary
Start with your takeoff data, add pricing and labor, and walk away with a professional estimate ready for your bid.
Know Your Numbers First
Before you price a single line item, you need to know what it actually costs you to do the work. This is where most contractors get into trouble.
Browse any contractor forum and you'll see the same questions: "What's the going rate for ACT install?" or "How much per square foot should I charge for painting?" These questions miss the point entirely. The "going rate" is meaningless if you don't know your own costs.
What You Actually Need to Know
- True labor burden — Your workers cost more than their hourly wage. FICA, FUTA, SUTA, workers' comp, health insurance, PTO, retirement contributions. A $25/hour employee might cost you $35-40/hour fully burdened.
- Overhead allocation — Trucks, tools, insurance, office expenses, estimating time, callbacks. This has to come from somewhere.
- Required profit margin — Not just to survive, but to grow. Replace equipment. Weather slow periods. Build the business you want.
The Danger of "Going Rate" Pricing
When you price based on what others charge without knowing your costs, you're gambling. Maybe you make money. Maybe you're slowly bleeding out and don't realize it until the end of the year when the accountant delivers bad news.
Worse, you might win jobs because you're underpriced — which means you're working harder than everyone else while making less money. That's not a business strategy; that's a treadmill.
If you don't know your burdened labor rate, stop and figure it out before you estimate another job. Use the Crew Burden Calculator to calculate what your people actually cost per hour. That number is the foundation of every labor estimate you'll ever write.
Building a Sustainable Estimate
A good estimate isn't about hitting a magic $/SF number. It's built from:
- Accurate quantities — What materials and how much labor, based on real takeoffs
- Current pricing — What suppliers are actually charging today
- Your productivity — How fast your crews actually work, not industry averages
- Your burden — Your real fully-loaded labor cost
- Your overhead — Your actual operating expenses, allocated appropriately
- Your profit target — What you need to make, not what's left over
That's what the Estimate Builder is for. It won't tell you what to charge—but it gives you the structure to build estimates from your real costs, your real productivity, and your real numbers. Here's how to use it.
Importing Takeoffs
The Estimate Builder accepts JSON exports from other FreeTakeoff calculators:
| Calculator | What Gets Imported |
|---|---|
| Acoustical Ceiling | Tiles, main tees, cross tees, wall molding, hangers, wire |
| Paint | Paint gallons, primer (estimated at 50% of paint qty) |
| RT60 Acoustics | Room SF as acoustical treatment placeholder |
How to Import
- In the source calculator, click Save to download the JSON file
- In Estimate Builder, click the "Load Takeoff from Calculator" box
- Select one or more JSON files
- Materials appear automatically, grouped by takeoff source
You can import multiple takeoffs into the same estimate. For example, import both a ceiling takeoff and a paint takeoff to build a combined bid.
When you import multiple takeoffs, the project name changes to "Combined Estimate" and the total SF updates to include all imported areas. Each takeoff's materials stay grouped separately so you can track costs by scope.
Manual Entry
Don't have a takeoff file? Click "+ Add Group" in the Materials section to create a new material group, then add line items manually.
Materials Section
Materials are organized into collapsible groups. Each group shows its subtotal in the header.
Advanced Options
Click "Advanced options" to reveal the Yield and Rate columns. These are hidden by default to keep the interface simple, but are useful for comparing material costs on a per-SF basis.
Material Fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Material | Item name/description (editable) |
| Unit | EA, SF, LF, LS, BX, CTN, RL, GAL |
| Qty | Quantity needed |
| $/Unit | Unit price |
| Yield | Coverage rate (SF or LF per unit) |
| Rate | Calculated cost per SF or LF |
| Total | Qty × $/Unit |
Editing Group Names
Click on any group header name to edit it. This is useful for renaming imported groups from generic names like "project.json" to descriptive names like "Building A - ACT Ceiling".
Understanding Yield & Rate
The Yield and Rate columns help you understand unit costs in terms of coverage area.
Yield Column
Enter how much area each unit covers:
- SF/ea — Square feet per unit (e.g., a 2×4 ceiling tile covers 8 SF)
- LF/ea — Linear feet per unit (e.g., a 12' main tee covers 12 LF)
Rate Column
Once you enter a yield, the Rate column automatically calculates the cost per square foot or linear foot:
Rate = $/Unit ÷ Yield
Example: $8.75/EA tile ÷ 8 SF/ea = $1.09/SF
This lets you quickly compare material costs on a per-SF basis, regardless of how they're packaged or sold.
When comparing quotes from different suppliers, unit prices can be misleading. One vendor's "cheaper" tile might actually cost more per SF because it's a smaller size. The Rate column normalizes everything to a comparable $/SF or $/LF basis.
Labor Section
Labor lines are grouped by trade. Each trade group shows subtotals for man-hours, crew-days, and labor cost.
Quick Start: From Materials
Click the "↓ From Materials" button to automatically create labor lines from your materials. Each material group becomes a trade group with default production rates based on the unit type. This gives you a starting point to adjust rather than entering everything from scratch.
Advanced Options
Click "Advanced options" to reveal the Crew size and $/Hr columns. When hidden, new labor lines use the default values from the Labor Defaults section at the top.
Labor Fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Task | Description of the work |
| Qty | Quantity of work (SF, LF, EA, etc.) |
| Unit | Unit of measure for the quantity |
| Rate Type | How productivity is measured (see below) |
| Rate | Productivity rate value |
| Crew | Number of workers on this task |
| $/Hr | Burdened hourly rate per worker |
| MH | Calculated total man-hours |
| Days | Calculated crew-days |
| Total | Labor cost for this line |
Labor Rate Types Explained
The Estimate Builder supports four ways to enter productivity data. Use whichever format matches your historical data or subcontractor quotes.
1. Units per Day (units/day)
How much a crew can complete in one 8-hour day. This is the most common format for production-based trades.
Crew-Days = Qty ÷ Rate
Man-Hours = Crew-Days × Hours/Day × Crew Size
Labor Cost = Man-Hours × Burdened Rate
Example: 5,000 SF ÷ 400 SF/day = 12.5 crew-days × 8 hrs × 2 workers = 200 MH
2. Man-Hours per Unit (MH/unit)
How many man-hours to complete one unit of work. Common for detailed estimating and labor burden analysis.
Man-Hours = Qty × Rate
Crew-Days = Man-Hours ÷ (Hours/Day × Crew Size)
Labor Cost = Man-Hours × Burdened Rate
Example: 600 LF × 0.04 MH/LF = 24 MH
3. Dollars per Unit ($/unit)
Direct cost per unit, bypassing hour calculations. Use this when you have subcontractor quotes or historical cost data.
Labor Cost = Qty × Rate
Example: 5,000 SF × $0.45/SF = $2,250
Note: When using $/unit, man-hours and crew-days are not calculated since you're entering a direct cost.
4. Flat (Lump Sum)
A fixed amount for the entire task. Choose between man-hours or dollars:
- Flat MH — Enter total man-hours for the task
- Flat $ — Enter total dollar amount for the task
Flat MH: 16 MH × $52/hr = $832
Flat $: $2,500 (direct entry)
Use flat rates for tasks that don't scale linearly with quantity, like mobilization, layout, or cleanup.
Other Costs
The Other Costs section captures expenses beyond materials and labor. Some fields auto-calculate based on your labor crew-days—or use the Override checkbox to enter a fixed total directly.
Travel
- Miles (RT) — Round-trip distance to job site
- $/Mile — Per-mile rate (IRS rate is $0.70/mile in 2025)
- Trips — Auto-set to crew-days, or edit manually
- Override — Check to enter a flat travel total instead
Lodging
- $/Night — Nightly hotel rate
- Rooms — Number of rooms needed
- Nights — Auto-set to crew-days, or edit manually
- Override — Check to enter a flat lodging total instead
Per Diem
- $/Day — Daily allowance per person (GSA rate varies by location)
- People — Auto-set to crew size, or edit manually
- Days — Auto-set to crew-days, or edit manually
- Override — Check to enter a flat per diem total instead
Custom Items
Click "+ Add Custom Item" for additional costs like:
- Equipment rental (scissor lifts, scaffolding)
- Permits and fees
- Dumpster/waste disposal
- Background checks or drug testing
- Small tools and consumables
Summary & Export
The Summary section shows your complete estimate breakdown. When you have multiple material groups or trades, you'll see itemized breakdowns under each category.
| Line | Calculation |
|---|---|
| Materials Subtotal | Sum of all material line totals (with group breakdown if multiple) |
| Sales Tax | Materials × Tax Rate % |
| Freight | Flat amount or % of materials |
| Labor Subtotal | Sum of all labor line totals (with trade breakdown if multiple) |
| Labor Burden | Labor × Burden % (for overhead not in burdened rate) |
| Other Costs | Travel + Lodging + Per Diem + Custom Items (itemized breakdown shown) |
| Subtotal | All costs before markup |
| Markup | Subtotal × Markup % |
| Grand Total | Subtotal + Markup (with $/SF if Project SF entered) |
Export Options
- Copy — Copy summary to clipboard for pasting into emails or documents
- CSV — Download complete estimate as a spreadsheet with Materials, Labor, Other Costs (itemized), and Summary sections
- Print — Opens a dedicated print view with professional formatting, grouped materials and labor, itemized other costs, and a summary page
Save & Load Estimates
Auto-Save
The Estimate Builder automatically saves your work to browser storage every few seconds. If you close the browser and return within 24 hours, your estimate will be restored automatically.
Auto-save is stored in your browser's localStorage. It won't sync across devices or browsers, and clearing browser data will delete it. For important estimates, always use the Save button to download a JSON file.
Save to File
Click Save to download your estimate as a JSON file. This captures everything: materials, labor, other costs, group names, and all settings.
Load from File
Click "Load Saved Estimate" and select a previously saved JSON file to restore the complete estimate.
Pro Tips
Start with Accurate Takeoffs
The estimate is only as good as the quantities feeding it. Use the Ceiling, Paint, and RT60 calculators to generate accurate material counts before importing.
Build a Rate Library
Track your actual labor productivity on completed jobs. Over time, you'll build historical data that makes future estimates more accurate. The four rate type options let you enter data however you track it.
Don't Forget Burden
The $/Hr field should be your burdened rate, not base wage. Burden includes:
- FICA (7.65%)
- FUTA and SUTA
- Workers' comp insurance
- Health insurance
- Retirement contributions
- Paid time off
Use the Crew Burden Calculator to calculate your true burdened rate.
Combine Scopes Strategically
You can import multiple takeoffs into one estimate, but sometimes it's better to keep scopes separate. If different trades will be bid to different subs, create separate estimates for cleaner tracking.
Review Before Submitting
Use the Print view to generate a clean summary. Check that:
- All quantities look reasonable
- Unit prices match current supplier quotes
- Labor rates reflect actual productivity
- Markup percentage is appropriate for the job
Need Help?
Questions about the Estimate Builder? Send us a message.