How to do a concrete takeoff

1. Gather the right sheets

Concrete hides in more places than the foundation plan. Before measuring anything, page through the whole set and pull out:

• Site, horizontal control and paving plans: curb and gutter, sidewalk, ramps, cross pans, pads, paving.
• Foundation plans: footings, walls, piers, grade beams, slab edges.
• Demo plans: slab or walk removal is usually a patch-back you pour again.
• Details and sections: thickness, depth, width, rebar, the curb profile.
• Schedules and general notes: footing schedules, slab thickness, frost depth, the paving legend, and anything marked “by others”.

If a sheet is drawn at a site-overall scale (1" = 100' and up), find the enlarged paving or layout sheet instead. Measuring curb off an overall grading plan is the fastest way to a wrong number.

2. Set and check the scale

Every measurement depends on it. Use the scale printed for that drawing (one sheet can carry several), then check it on a dimension that is written on the plan: a 24'-0" drive, a 100' grid line.

Watch half-size sets. A sheet printed at half size (11×17 instead of 22×34) is at half the scale printed on it: what says 1" = 30' is really 1" = 60'. Checking against a written dimension catches this every time.

3. Footings

Measure the footing centerline in linear feet, then take the width and depth from the footing schedule or detail.

Example: 120 LF of 2'-0" wide × 12" deep footing = 120 × 2 × 1 ÷ 27 = 8.89 CY. Spread (pad) footings: count them, then length × width × depth ÷ 27 each.

4. Foundation and stem walls

Linear feet along the wall centerline, the height from top of footing to top of wall, and the thickness. Forms are both faces.

Example: 100 LF of 4'-0" high × 8" wall = 100 × 4 × 0.667 ÷ 27 = 9.88 CY, with 800 SF of forms. When top-of-footing elevations are blank, write down the height you assumed.

5. Slabs on grade

Measure the area in square feet. Subtract openings and anything poured separately, and look for thickened edges and slab depressions in the details.

Example: 2,400 SF of 4" slab = 2,400 × 4 ÷ 12 ÷ 27 = 29.6 CY. A 12" × 12" thickened edge around 200 LF adds about 200 × 1 × 0.667 ÷ 27 = 4.9 CY (the 4" already counted comes off the 12").

6. Sidewalk and flatwork

On site plans sidewalk is usually a stippled (dotted) hatch. Measure it as an area; a long walk of one width can be taken off as linear feet × width. Where walks meet, don't count the intersection twice.

Example: 300 LF of 5'-wide walk, 5" thick = 1,500 SF × 5 ÷ 12 ÷ 27 = 23.1 CY.

7. Curb and gutter

Measure the back of curb in linear feet, following every curve and radius. Get the section from the curb detail and find how many feet one yard pours (the yield).

Example: a 6" curb with a 2' gutter pan whose section works out to about 2.08 SF pours 27 ÷ 2.08 ≈ 13 feet per yard, so 650 LF ≈ 50 CY. Keep vertical curb, curb and gutter, and mountable curb on separate lines: they price differently.

8. Curb ramps and truncated domes

Count the ramps by type (the detail number usually tells you), then take their flatwork area and the truncated-dome area for the warning panels. Ramps often sit across a curb run: make sure the curb isn't counted straight through them.

9. Piers and light pole bases

Count them, then the volume of one from the diameter and depth in the detail.

Example: a 2'-0" diameter × 3'-0" deep pole base = 3.1416 × 1 × 1 × 3 ÷ 27 = 0.35 CY each; 24 bases = 8.4 CY. A double-head pole is still one base.

10. Rebar

For a grid each way, count the bars in each direction across the slab inside the cover, multiply by their length, and convert to pounds.

Example: a 20' × 30' slab, #4 at 24" each way, 3" cover: 11 bars × 29.5' + 16 bars × 19.5' = 636.5 LF × 0.668 = 425 lb, before laps. Add laps and dowels from the details.

11. Scope notes and double counting

• “By others”, “NIC”, “future”: take those quantities off, or keep them on a separate line so the bid is clear about what's in.
• Matchlines: when the site is split over several sheets, measure each sheet only up to its own side of the matchline.
• Patch-backs inside a demo area: a trench pour-back inside a slab you are replacing is already in that slab's square feet.
• A detail with nothing drawn (a cross pan detail but no cross pans on the plan): put 0 and send an RFI.
• Look-alikes: trash enclosure walls that read as curb, gravel paths and riprap hatched like walk, landscape islands that look like flatwork. Zoom in before you count them.

12. Waste: where it belongs

Keep the takeoff at the net quantity on the plans, so anyone can check it against the drawings. Add waste when you price and order: many contractors use 5 to 10 percent on flatwork and more on drilled piers and footings dug in poor soil.

13. Check the takeoff

• Look at every marked sheet once more: every measurement should sit on the linework, and nothing should be left unmarked.
• Re-total by item and compare with your summary.
• Write down your assumptions (thicknesses, wall heights, depths) and the open questions for an RFI.
• Compare with the bid form if the GC sent one: same items, same units.

Doing it in software

By hand, a takeoff is a scale ruler, a highlighter and a spreadsheet, and every quantity gets typed twice. In CalcCon Pro you measure right on the PDF plans: set the scale once, click the runs, areas and counts, and each measurement flows straight into the matching calculator (sidewalk, curb and gutter, ramps, slabs, walls and footings, piers, steps), which prices it from your own crew, equipment and material costs. Auto takeoff can read the set first and mark the concrete for you to check. The same formulas are in our free concrete calculator for a quick number.