Masonry estimating software that prices on your numbers.
AI masonry estimating software turns your CMU and brick drawings into a priced, bid-ready estimate for commercial block and brick scopes. Ruh runs the masonry takeoff from the plans, elevations, and wall schedule, counts block and brick per square foot at the right unit size and waste, sizes grout and reinforcing off the cells and bar spacing, then prices every line on your own price book so the estimator reviews and signs off. The AI does the counting and extension work, you keep the calls on means, methods, and the final number.
- ✓Wall area by wall type, measured sf
- ✓CMU block (8x8x16), measured ea
- ✓Modular brick, measured ea
Free walkthrough on your own plans. Your estimator signs off.
The masonry estimating problems this solves.
Block and brick counts depend on unit size and waste
An 8x8x16 CMU runs 1.125 block per square foot, but a 4 inch or 12 inch unit changes the count, and a takeoff that hard codes one factor across mixed wall types is wrong before pricing starts. Modular brick at 6.75 to 7 per square foot looks close until you add a soldier course, a different bond, or cut waste at openings. Miss the waste factor on a 10,000 sf job and you are off by hundreds of units of material and the labor to lay them.
Grout volume hides in the cell spacing
Grout is not a wall area number, it comes off grouted cells at the bar spacing called out in the wall schedule. The same block wall fully grouted versus grouted at 48 inches on center is a different cubic yard quantity and a different pump cost, and the spacing changes by wall type across the drawings. Estimators routinely take grout off a single rule of thumb instead of reading the cells, which either pads the bid or leaves grout and pump time uncovered.
Reinforcing and access get under counted
Reinforcing splits two ways and both get missed: horizontal joint reinforcement measured in linear feet by course spacing, and vertical bars measured by spacing and converted to tons by bar size. On top of that, scaffolding and access on a tall wall is real money that never shows on the drawings, so it gets eyeballed. A 28 foot wall is a different access cost than an 8 foot wall even when the masonry quantities look similar.
From your masonry drawings to a priced line.
The same pipeline that runs the takeoff runs the pricing, so the number you send out traces back to the sheet it came from.
Quantities lifted from the real sheets with per-item confidence and page coverage.
Your own rates and assemblies, not a generic national cost database.
Every line traceable back to the sheet it came from before anything goes out.
Masonry takeoff software: what it counts and measures
The table shows how masonry takeoff software measures net wall area by wall type, counts brick and CMU with coursing applied, takes off grout and mortar from the cells and joints, and counts lintels, bond beams, control joints, flashing, and reinforcement from the details.
| Item | Unit | How it is measured and priced |
|---|---|---|
| Wall area by wall type | sf | Taken from plans and elevations less openings; drives both block and brick counts and the assembly buildup |
| CMU block (8x8x16) | ea | 1.125 block per sf by wall sf, adjusted for unit size, plus 3 to 5 percent waste |
| Modular brick | ea | 6.75 to 7 brick per sf, adjusted for bond and coursing, plus cut waste at openings |
| Grout | cy | From grouted cells at the bar spacing in the wall schedule, not gross wall area, plus waste |
| Mortar (mason mix) | cy | By block and brick count and joint size, carried as bags or cy with waste |
| Horizontal joint reinforcement | lf | By course spacing, counted as lf per layer across each wall run |
| Vertical reinforcing bars | kip | By spacing and length, converted to tons by bar size for pricing |
| Lintels | ea | Counted each by opening from the schedule, sized by clear span and block course |
| Control joints | lf | Vertical joints from the elevations, priced with sealant and backer rod |
| Scaffolding and access | sf | Frame or mast scaffold priced by wall face sf and duration, driven by wall height |
Masonry bidding software that shows its math
Masonry bidding software only earns trust if the estimator can defend every line in bid review. Ruh hands back a line-by-line estimate with the wall area, unit count, spacing, and waste factor shown next to each item, priced on your own material and installed unit costs rather than a national average. Assumptions and exclusions are called out on the estimate instead of buried in it, and the priced lines export into the estimating format your team already bids from. You set the markup, adjust means and methods, and sign off before the number goes out the door.
Masonry estimating services, without the per-bid invoice
Shops that search for masonry estimating services usually want the counting done for them, not another tool to learn. Ruh works like that on the first pass: send one masonry set and we run the takeoff and walk you through the block and brick counts, grout, and reinforcing on a free 30 minute call, no card and nothing to install. The difference from an outsourced estimating service is what happens after — the same pipeline runs inside your own tenant on every bid at software economics, priced on your book, with your estimator signing instead of waiting on a third party's turnaround.
A worked masonry example
Take one fully detailed CMU wall, 100 lf by 12 ft, so 1,200 sf of 8x8x16 block grouted at 48 inches on center. Block: 1,200 sf x 1.125 = 1,350, plus 5 percent waste rounds to about 1,420 block. At an illustrative $5.50 per block installed that is $7,810. Grout off the cells at 48 inches on center comes to about 3 cy with waste; at $280 per cy installed that is $840. Vertical #5 bars run about 0.16 tons at $2,650 per ton, roughly $424. Horizontal joint reinforcement every other course is 9 layers x 100 lf, so 900 lf at $0.55 is $495. Frame scaffold on the 12 ft wall at $1.75 per sf of face is $2,100. Sum: $7,810 + $840 + $424 + $495 + $2,100 = $11,669, about $9.72 per sf for this wall. Numbers are illustrative, US market, and your own units and rates drive the real line items.
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How Ruh runs your masonry estimates.
Ruh reads the masonry sheets, plans, elevations, and wall schedule, then runs the takeoff per wall type: block and brick counts at the right unit size and waste, grout off the grouted cells at the called out spacing, horizontal joint reinforcement and vertical bars split correctly, plus lintels, control joints, and scaffolding by wall height. Every quantity is priced on your own price book by material and installed unit cost, so the output is your numbers, not a generic database. The estimator gets a line by line estimate with the counts, spacings, and waste factors shown next to each item, plus assumptions and exclusions called out. You review the assemblies, adjust means and methods, and sign off before anything goes in the bid.
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Masonry estimating software FAQs
How accurate is the block and brick count?+
The AI counts off the drawings at the unit size you specify, 1.125 block per sf for 8x8x16 CMU and 6.75 to 7 brick per sf for modular, with your waste factors, and shows the wall area and factor behind every line. You see the math, so you can check a count against your own quantity in seconds rather than trusting a black box. Accuracy depends on the drawings being clear and the wall schedule being complete, and the estimator confirms the assemblies before the number ships.
Does it price on my price book or a generic database?+
Your price book. Ruh prices block, brick, mortar, grout, reinforcing, lintels, and scaffolding on your material and installed unit costs by region and date, not a national average that does not match your suppliers or your crews. If you carry a different block price by job or a negotiated rebar number, that is what the estimate uses.
Will it work with my existing takeoff and estimating tools?+
Yes. Ruh runs the takeoff from your drawings and exports the priced lines into the estimating format your team already uses, so you are not retyping quantities into a spreadsheet or a separate estimating package. It fits the workflow you have rather than asking you to replace it.
What stays with the estimator?+
Judgment. The AI handles counting, grout and reinforcing math, and extensions, but means and methods, productivity rates, site conditions, the waste calls on tricky wall types, and the final markup stay with you. Ruh assists the estimator and does not replace professional judgment, and nothing goes in the bid until you sign off.
How is AI masonry estimating software different from takeoff tools?+
Traditional masonry takeoff tools digitize the measuring: you click each wall on-screen, the software totals block, brick, and stone quantities, and pricing still happens in a separate step. AI masonry estimating software reads the plans, elevations, and wall schedule itself, runs the counts with unit-size and waste math, takes grout off the grouted cells, and prices every line on your own price book in the same pass — so the estimator reviews the assemblies and signs off instead of doing the clicking. How Ruh compares to PlanSwift
Doing the masonry takeoff itself?
The quantities side has its own page: counts, measures, and how the AI takeoff reads your drawings.
Point-solution takeoff tools cover the measuring side too — On Center's masonry estimating and takeoff software totals block, CMU, stone, and lintel quantities from on-screen measuring, which works when clicking the walls yourself is acceptable; an AI takeoff workflow reads the full drawing set and hands back the quantities with the pricing already run on your own price book.
Masonry takeoff softwareMasonry terms in the glossary.
Figures on this page are illustrative. Construction estimates depend on project-specific conditions, source documents, market pricing, and professional judgment. Ruh's AI assists the estimator and does not replace professional review: your team reviews, validates, and approves every estimate, bid, and pricing decision.
Try Ruh on a masonry bid you are pricing now.
Put us on real work rather than a canned demo. Ruh reads your drawing set, measures the scope, and prices the quantities against your own rates, with every line traceable back to the sheet it came from. If it does not hold up, you are covered by the guarantee below.
- 1Tell us about a bid you are working on and the trade you are pricing
- 2Ruh measures that scope from your drawings and prices it on your own rates, not generic cost data
- 3Every quantity traces back to the sheet it was measured from, so your estimator can check the work
Run your next masonry bid on Ruh.
Send one masonry set. We run the takeoff and walk you through the quantities, the units, and the pricing on a 30 minute call. If it does not hold up against your estimator, you have lost nothing.