Masonry takeoff for block and brick yards. Block, brick, mortar and grout, by wall.
Masonry takeoff for supply yards turns a mason's plans into the material a yard quotes: block, brick and stone by wall type with openings deducted, mortar and grout by the bag and the yard, reinforcing bar and joint reinforcement, and pavers and retaining wall units with their base. Next come the masonry recipes as a calculator, a short clip of an elevation being measured, a table of a masonry order, and the recipes to download.
Try the order-list calculatorClients include
Can a masonry supply yard get a material list from the plans?
Yes. Ruh measures each wall by assembly, material and thickness with openings deducted, and turns it into material: block or brick by the piece, mortar by the bag, grout by the cubic yard, rebar by the pound and joint reinforcement by the foot, plus pavers and retaining wall units with their base and drainage. Twelve masonry and hardscape recipes come with it to edit, and the first takeoff costs nothing.
- masonry recipes to start from, yours to edit
- 12
- material lines across the masonry recipes
- 57
- one mason's set, taken off at no cost
- 1st takeoff free
How many blocks does a square foot of CMU wall take?
1.125 blocks per square foot in the app's starting recipe for an 8 inch wall, plus 3 percent waste, with mortar, grout, bar and joint reinforcement on separate lines. Type wall or paving area to see the order, all quantities and no prices.
1. Pick a starting recipe
8" CMU wall, grouted at 32" o.c., #5 vertical at 32" o.c., ladder reinforcement at 16" o.c.
Order list for 4,200 square feet of 8" CMU wall, grouted at 32" o.c. A sample input: change it to the quantity on your set.
| Material | Per SF | Quantity | Waste | With waste |
|---|---|---|---|---|
CMU 8x8x16, normal weight, ASTM C90How it is builtOne 8x16 face with a 3/8 in joint is 0.889 SF: 1 / 0.889 = 1.125 per SF | 1.125 EA, whole units | 4,725 EA | 3% | 4,866.75 EA, incl. 3% waste |
Mortar, Type S, preblended, 80 lb bagHow it is builtNCMA/CMHA: 8.5 CF per 100 SF with face-shell bedding and 10 % waste. A bag yields 0.7 CF: 0.085 / 0.7 = 0.12 | 0.12 EA, whole units | 504 EA | None | 504 EA |
Masonry grout, coarse, 2,000 psiHow it is builtNCMA TEK 4-2A: 8 in wall at 48 in = 6.1 CF/100 SF, at 16 in = 18.1. 32 in o.c. is 9.2 CF/100 SF = 0.092 CF / 27 = 0.0034 CY | 0.0034 CY | 14.28 CY | 10% | 15.71 CY, incl. 10% waste |
Reinforcing steel #5, Grade 60How it is built12/32 = 0.375 LF per SF, 30 % for 48 db laps at each 8 ft lift: 0.4875 LF x 1.043 = 0.508 LB | 0.508 LB | 2,133.6 LB | 3% | 2,197.61 LB, incl. 3% waste |
Joint reinforcement, ladder type, 9 ga, 8 in wallHow it is builtEvery other course (16 in): 12 / 16 = 0.75 LF per SF | 0.75 LF | 3,150 LF | 5% | 3,307.5 LF, incl. 5% waste |
Each line is the measured quantity times the recipe’s factor. Lines the recipe marks as whole units, such as sheets, boxes and hangers, are rounded up before waste, the way the app rounds them. Round the with-waste figure up to whole pieces when you build the order.
What this cannot tell you: color blends or special shapes. Brick and block come as counts from the recipe's units per square foot, so blends and shapes still come off the elevations, and grout and bar follow the wall section you pick, not an average.
What does Ruh see on an elevation?
CMU and brick areas fill with the openings cut out, bond beams and control joints are traced, and lintels are counted, every quantity linked back to its sheet. From there, the recipes above turn each wall into units, mortar, grout and bar.
What does a masonry order carry?
Units by the piece, plus a lot of material that never shows on an elevation. Each row walks a part from the set to its takeoff to the order.
| Part of the order | Where it is on the set | How it is taken off | What it becomes on the order |
|---|---|---|---|
| CMU walls | Plans and wall sections | Square feet by thickness and grout spacing, openings deducted | Block, mortar, grout, rebar and joint reinforcement |
| Brick veneer | Elevations and wall sections | Square feet with openings deducted | Brick, mortar, anchors, weeps, flashing and collection mat |
| Stone veneer | Elevations | Square feet by stone type | Stone, lath, water-resistive barrier and mortar |
| Bond beams and lintels | Wall sections and the lintel schedule | Linear feet and counts | Bond beam units, bar, grout and lintels |
| Pavers | Site plan and paving details | Square feet | Pavers, aggregate base, bedding sand, joint sand and geotextile |
| Retaining walls | Site plan and wall details | Square feet of wall face | Wall units, caps, drainage stone, drain pipe and geogrid |
Typical practice, not a standard. Grout spacing, bar and ties are set by each job's wall sections, so they are read off the set.
What do yards get wrong about masonry quotes?
Our opinion: The block count is the easy part of a masonry quote. The grout and bar are where yards come up short, and they depend on wall sections the elevations do not show. In the app's starting recipes an 8 inch wall fully grouted takes six times the grout of the same wall grouted at 32 inches, and the bar follows the schedule on the wall section. Read the wall sections before quoting the bags.
What it does and does not do
What it does today
- ✓Measures walls by assembly and thickness from drawing PDFs, openings deducted
- ✓Turns wall area into units, mortar, grout, bar and accessories
- ✓Starts you on masonry and hardscape recipes you can edit
- ✓Prices from your own price list first, with the source on every line
- ✓Exports as PDF, CSV or JSON
What it does not do
- Blend or special-shape counts
- Purchase orders
- Reading a reply or a quote back into the list
- Links to your ERP or point-of-sale system
Your first masonry takeoff is free.
Pick a set a mason already sent your yard and it is taken off at no cost. The masonry recipes are here as a CSV, too.
In a customer’s own words
“Ruh helped us win a job during the demo, so we saw value before we even became a client.”
Ben MorlinJ&S Excavation- takeoffs delivered to 29 contractors across 15 trades
- 45
- US, Canada and the UK, Jun to Oct 2026
- starting recipes in this supply line, yours to edit
- 12
- 57 material lines between them
- for every output, the material list included
- PDF, CSV
- and JSON for your own systems
Questions masonry yards ask
Masonry and hardscape questions, answered from the recipes.
What is masonry takeoff for supply yards?
Masonry takeoff for supply yards is measuring the walls, veneers and hardscape on a set of plans so the yard can quote the units and everything that goes with them. Ruh measures, converts and prices from the yard's list, which the yard then approves.
Does masonry takeoff deduct openings?
How are grout and rebar figured?
Which drawings should a masonry yard send?
Send a set. Check the grout and bar.
Send a mason's set and check the free list of units, grout and bar against yours.
