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PlanSwift flooring takeoff: how it works, and when to use something else
PlanSwift is on-screen takeoff and estimating software from ConstructConnect, used across many trades, including flooring. This page shows how a flooring takeoff is done in PlanSwift, where it gets slow for flooring work, and how Squaro takes a different route. It also says plainly when PlanSwift is the better choice.
What PlanSwift is good at
PlanSwift does takeoff and estimating in one Windows desktop program. You measure areas, lengths and counts by clicking on the plans (PDF, CAD and image files), and attach material, labour and waste assemblies so the estimate builds as you measure. For flooring, PlanSwift describes a single click area tool for tile, carpet, hardwood and laminate, perimeter measurement for nail strip and baseboard, a layout grid you can rotate to estimate tile cuts on curved or irregular areas, and a Flooring Starter Pack of templates and assemblies you can customise. It has a Live Excel Link and exports to PDF, Excel, CSV, XML and HTML.
It also has AI tools, called Takeoff BOOST. Auto Scale reads scale bars and scale notation and flags pages it cannot read. Auto Count finds every match of a symbol you pick. Auto Takeoff, on the Core plan, builds a first pass of walls, areas, ceilings, windows, doors and counts on a plan page for you to review. PlanSwift says plainly that these results are a starting point and that you verify them.
How to do a flooring takeoff in PlanSwift, step by step
- Open the plans. PlanSwift reads PDF, DWG, DXF, JPG, TIFF and PLN files. For the AI tools, PlanSwift recommends the original PDF.
- Set and check the scale. If a page is not scaled, PlanSwift prompts you. Auto Scale can set it across the set from the scale printed on each page, and PlanSwift advises spot-checking key pages.
- Measure each floored area. Choose the Area tool on the Home tab, name the item, then click the corners of the room and finish it. For enclosed rooms, SingleClick finds the boundary when you click inside. On Core, Auto Takeoff can give you a first pass to review.
- Deduct what is not floored. Right-click and choose Single-Click subtract from section, then click inside the shape to take it out. A cutout tool subtracts openings.
- Attach your assemblies. Link each area to the flooring product, labour and waste, using the starter pack or your own formulas.
- Report or export. Print a report, or export to Excel.
Where it gets slow for flooring
Scale still decides every number. Area takeoff on screen measures the drawing, so every area depends on the scale being right. Auto Scale helps when the scale is printed and readable, and it flags pages where it is not; those pages, and any plan set that was resized before it reached you, still need a check by hand.
Rooms are reviewed one by one. Whether you click, SingleClick or start from Auto Takeoff, each area has to be checked, named and assigned to the right floor type. Auto Takeoff runs on the page you select, and its results are a first pass.
The selections live elsewhere. Which floor goes in which room comes from the builder's selections or colour schedule, and you apply it as you assign areas. PlanSwift's pages describe reading scale, symbols and plan geometry; they do not describe reading a builder's selections schedule.
Flooring rules are yours to build. PlanSwift can carry waste and pricing in assemblies and custom formulas, which is a real strength. But the doorway strip under each door, robes and kickboard recesses, stairs, rounding to whole packs, carpet roll widths and trims per opening only happen once you have written them into those assemblies and kept them up to date.
How Squaro does it differently
Squaro is built only for flooring and blinds contractors who quote from builders' plans. You upload the working drawings and the selections, and Squaro reads them. It measures each room from the printed dimension strings, the same figures you would read off the plan, never by scaling the drawing, so a resized PDF does not change the measurement. Each room shows the page and the dimension text it used, and readings that are hard to make out are marked low confidence with a note of what to check.
Your rules and price book are set up once, with you, and then applied to every room: doorway allowances, robes, kickboard recesses, stairs, waste, rounding to packs or rolls, and trims per opening, for hard floors, carpet off the roll and blinds from window schedules. The estimator checks every line before the quote PDF goes to the builder. More detail is on the flooring takeoff software page.
PlanSwift and Squaro side by side
| PlanSwift | Squaro | |
|---|---|---|
| How takeoff is done | Set the scale, then click, SingleClick or review an Auto Takeoff first pass on screen | Reads the printed dimension strings for each room; you check each line |
| AI reading of plans | Takeoff BOOST: Auto Scale, Auto Count and Auto Bookmark on both plans, Auto Takeoff on Core | Reads plan sets and selections to find and measure each room |
| What it reads | PDF, DWG, DXF, JPG, TIFF and PLN plans, any trade | Builder working drawings, selections and window schedules, metric only for now |
| Flooring rules and pricing | Assemblies, custom formulas and a Flooring Starter Pack that you set up | Your rules and price book applied to every room |
| Pricing published | Yes: Essential $2,000 and Core $3,000 per year for one seat, less for extra seats (currency not stated on the page); Australian pricing not published on their website | Being confirmed during early access; free during early access unless agreed otherwise in writing |
| Platforms | Installed Windows desktop app (Windows 10 and 11); on a Mac only through Boot Camp or a virtual machine | Web browser |
| Regions | Based in Ohio; works with contractors across the US, Canada and beyond; US-based support | Launching in Australia; open to NZ, UK, Ireland, US and Canada |
| Free trial | 14 days of PlanSwift Core, no credit card required | Early access by request |
| Best suited to | Multi-trade and commercial estimating, assembly-based bids, Excel-centred teams | Flooring and blinds contractors quoting new homes from builder plans |
Prices and features change: checked 4 October 2026.
When PlanSwift is the better choice
- You estimate several trades, or flooring is one part of a larger commercial bid.
- Your drawings are commercial plans without dimension strings on every room, where on-screen takeoff to scale is the way to measure.
- You want labour, material and equipment costed in detailed assemblies, or your pricing already lives in Excel.
- Your plans are in feet and inches. Squaro reads metric plans only for now.
- You want a tool that is fully released today. Squaro is in early access, and it is not an ERP, stock or accounting system.
ConstructConnect also makes a separate product called On-Screen Takeoff, which this page does not cover. The flooring estimating software guide sorts the kinds of tools and suggests a fair test on your own plans, and takeoff vs measure-up covers when a takeoff from plans is the right starting point.
Sources
PlanSwift details are taken from PlanSwift's own website and ConstructConnect's help pages, checked 4 October 2026.
- PlanSwift pricing: https://www.planswift.com/pricing/
- PlanSwift features: https://www.planswift.com/features/
- Flooring takeoff and estimating: https://www.planswift.com/estimating/flooring/
- Auto Takeoff: https://www.planswift.com/features/auto-takeoff/
- Auto Scale: https://www.planswift.com/features/auto-scale/
- Free trial: https://www.planswift.com/free-trial/
- About PlanSwift: https://www.planswift.com/about/
- Locations: https://www.planswift.com/locations/
- SingleClick Takeoff: https://www.planswift.com/blog/singleclick-takeoff/
- PlanSwift system requirements: https://help.constructconnect.com/getting-started-with-planswift-117/planswift-system-requirements-1649
- Using the Area Takeoff Tool: https://help.constructconnect.com/03-a-detailed-look-at-the-home-tab-and-drawing-takeoff-and-annotations-176/planswift-03-11-01-using-the-area-takeoff-tool-1806
PlanSwift, Takeoff BOOST, On-Screen Takeoff and ConstructConnect are trademarks of their owner; Squaro is not affiliated with PlanSwift or ConstructConnect.
Related reading
- Compare flooring softwareHow Squaro compares with other takeoff, estimating and business tools.
- Bluebeam for flooring takeoffA flooring takeoff in Bluebeam Revu step by step, and how Squaro differs.
- Measure Square alternativeA flooring takeoff and estimating platform compared with Squaro.
- RFMS alternativeA flooring business system compared with a plan reading quoting tool.
- Flooring takeoff softwareHow Squaro measures rooms from the printed dimension strings.
Quote your next plan set with Squaro
Squaro is open to a small group of flooring contractors first. Tell us how you quote and we will set up your rules with you and run your first plan.
Request early accessRather see it first? Book a demo on your own plans.