Masonry estimating software. CMU and brick, measured and priced on your numbers.
Masonry estimating software turns CMU and brick drawings into a priced bid for commercial block and brick scopes: walls measured by wall type with openings deducted, bond beams and control joints run by the foot, lintels counted, and every line priced on your own price files. Below, watch an elevation get measured, see a masonry budget priced and approved, and get a free takeoff on your own set.
Measuring first? Masonry Takeoff Software
Clients include
Construction companies working with Ruh
Is there masonry estimating software for CMU and brick?
Yes. Ruh measures every CMU and brick wall by type with the openings deducted, then prices block, grout, and reinforcing on your own price files through 12 starting masonry recipes you can edit. 8x16 block runs 1.125 units per square foot, so a 100 LF wall 12 ft high is 1,200 SF and 1,350 block before waste.
- 8x16 block per square foot of wall
- 1.125
- masonry recipes to start from, yours to edit
- 12
- in a 100 LF wall, 12 ft high, before waste
- 1,350 block
What happens before a masonry line is priced?
Ruh reads the elevations against the wall types, measures each wall by its assembly with the openings deducted, runs bond beams and control joints by the foot, and counts the lintel over every opening, so the block count behind the bid can be checked wall by wall.
- 1
CMU and brick veneer are measured by wall type, and every door and window opening is deducted explicitly.
- 2
Bond beams and control joints are run by the foot, and lintels are counted per opening, apart from the wall area.
- 3
Each wall area and run becomes a line in the masonry budget, still linked to the elevation it was measured on.
Where masonry estimates come up short
Masonry estimates come up short in the conversions: square feet of wall into block and brick, cell spacing into grout, and wall height into reinforcing and scaffold.
Unit counts depend on unit size and waste
A square foot of 8x16 block is 1.125 units with a 3/8 in joint, and brick runs at its own rate per square foot. Use the wrong unit size or skip the waste and the order is short before the first course.
Grout hides in the cell spacing
Grout volume swings with the spacing the drawings call for: an 8 in wall grouted at 48 in uses a fraction of the grout of the same wall grouted solid. Priced as one rate, the difference comes off your margin.
Reinforcing and access get left behind
Vertical bars, joint reinforcement, lintels, and scaffold are separate lines with separate costs. Folded into a wall rate, they are the first things missed on a fast takeoff.
Our view: A masonry estimate should show its math. When the block count, grout, and bars sit next to the wall area they came from, a reviewer can check a wall in a minute instead of rebuilding the takeoff to trust it.
What a masonry estimate is built from
A masonry estimate, Division 04 of the spec, starts from wall area by wall type and builds everything else from it. Each row shows the drawing a quantity is taken from and what the line is priced on.
| Line | Where the quantity comes from | Unit | What it is priced on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wall area by wall type | Elevations and wall types, openings deducted | SF | The wall assembly on your price files |
| CMU block, 8x16 | Wall area at 1.125 units per SF plus waste | EA | Unit price per block and your mason labor |
| Brick veneer | Veneer area, openings deducted | SF | Brick from your supplier quote, laying labor per SF |
| Grout | Wall area by the grouted cell spacing | CY | Grout price and placing labor |
| Mortar | Wall area by unit type | CF | Mortar mix per bag or yard |
| Joint reinforcement and bars | Courses and the called bar spacing | LF | Reinforcing material and setting labor |
| Bond beams and control joints | Elevations and masonry notes | LF | Assembly price per foot |
| Lintels | One per opening, from the lintel schedule | EA | Lintel price and setting labor |
| Scaffold | Wall height and duration | DAY | Your equipment rates |
Factors follow the assembly, and each rate comes from your company price files, rate book, and quotes. The worked example uses illustrative rates, not benchmarks.
A worked CMU wall estimate
One detailed CMU wall, 100 LF long and 12 ft high, 8x8x16 block grouted at 48 in on center.
Illustrative rates. In Ruh every rate comes from your own price files, and the factors come from the wall's assembly.
- 1Wall area100 LF x 12 ft = 1,200 SF
- 2Block1,200 SF x 1.125 = 1,350, plus 5 percent waste = about 1,420 block x $5.50 installed = $7,810
- 3Grout at 48 in on centerabout 3 CY with waste x $280 installed = $840
- 4Vertical #5 barsabout 0.16 tons x $2,650 = $424
- 5Joint reinforcement, every other course9 layers x 100 LF = 900 LF x $0.55 = $495
- 6Frame scaffold1,200 SF of face x $1.75 = $2,100
How does a masonry takeoff become a priced bid?
The wall areas and runs land in a budget grouped by trade. Block, grout, and reinforcing come through the wall's assembly, each line prices from your rate book, a price file, or a supplier quote, and the source stays on the line as it rolls up to the proposed bid.
- ✓
Assemblies carry the factors
A wall type expands into its block, mortar, grout, and reinforcing, with the factor shown on each line.
- ✓
Supplier quotes stay quotes
The brick line waits unpriced until the supplier quote is entered, and keeps that quote as its source.
- ✓
Markups you set
Margin, overhead, fee, and contingency are yours and roll up to the proposed bid and a cost per square foot of wall.
- ✓
Approval comes before the proposal
No proposal is built until your estimator approves the masonry budget.
From elevations to a priced masonry bid in three steps
- 1
Send the drawings
Elevations, wall types and sections, the lintel schedule, masonry notes, and any supplier quotes already in hand, as PDF or CAD.
- 2
Ruh measures and prices
Walls are measured by assembly with openings deducted, runs and lintels taken off, and every line priced on your files with its source shown.
- 3
Your estimator approves it
Enter the open quotes, adjust a factor or a markup, and approve. Wall quantities and priced lines export, and the bid you send is built from the approved budget.
Price your next masonry bid from a free takeoff.
Send one set of elevations and wall types. We return the takeoff at no cost so you can price it on your own numbers and see the block, grout, and reinforcing laid out wall by wall.
In a customer's own words
“Our estimators spent more time retyping quantities than thinking about scope. Ruh reads our drawings like a senior estimator and hands back a priced estimate we want to review, not rebuild.”
Director of PreconstructionADF Group- faster bid turnaround
- ~50%
- ADF Group, structural steel
- on every takeoff, the second one blind
- 2 counts
- Checks tab, before anything is priced
- tied to the sheet it came from
- Every line
- Takeoff and price sheet
Masonry estimating software FAQs
What masonry contractors ask before pricing a real bid with AI.
What is masonry estimating software?
Masonry estimating software is the tool that prices a masonry bid from the drawings: wall area by wall type, block and brick counts at the right unit size and waste, grout and reinforcing from the assembly, then labor, scaffold, and markup. Ruh runs the masonry takeoff from your elevations and prices every line on your own price files.
Is there an AI masonry estimator?
How accurate is the block and brick count?
Does it price on my price book or a generic database?
What is masonry bidding software?
Will it work with my existing takeoff and estimating tools?
How is AI masonry estimating software different from takeoff tools?
Is this masonry estimating services or software?
What stays with the masonry estimator?
Bring one masonry job. Check the math yourself.
One set of elevations, a free takeoff, and a 30-minute walk through the walls, the openings, and the budget they price into. If the block count does not hold up against yours, it cost you nothing.