Guide · Takeoff
How to quote flooring from builder plans
A builder quote is won or lost on two things: measuring every space that is yours, and pricing it the way you actually buy and install it. This guide walks through the whole method, from opening the builder's pack to a priced hybrid line you can defend.
1. Find the two documents that matter
A builder's quote request often arrives with three or four attachments: a site plan, elevations, the working drawings and a selections sheet (also called a colour schedule or addenda). For flooring, two of them carry almost everything you need.
- The working drawings, specifically the floor plan pages with internal dimensions. The first pages of a set are usually the site plan and setout, which are not much use for a flooring takeoff.
- The selections or colour schedule, which names the floor covering, the range and colour, and which rooms each one goes into. Look for a section headed something like floor coverings, floor treatments or floor finishes.
Before you measure anything, check the lot number, the plan revision and the date on both documents. Quoting from last month's revision is one of the most common and most expensive mistakes in builder work, because the builder will hold you to the price on the plan they think you used.
2. Classify every space before you measure
Go room by room and decide what finish each space gets. A simple set of labels works well:
- Hard floor: hybrid, laminate, vinyl plank or engineered timber.
- Carpet: usually bedrooms, the theatre or a separate lounge.
- Tiles by others: bathrooms, ensuites, WC, laundry and often the entry.
- Not ours: garage, alfresco, porch, balcony and anything outdoors.
The selections and the plan do not always agree. A selections line such as “throughout excluding wet areas” names no rooms at all, so every room that is not wet is in. The plan may mark a nook as hybrid that the selections never mention, and nobody ever names the short passages that join floored rooms. Those passages are still floor you have to supply. Where the two documents disagree, follow the plan marking, make a note, and ask the builder if it matters to the price.
3. Measure from the printed dimensions
Use the dimension strings printed on the drawing, not a scale ruler on a PDF that may have been resized. For each room, take the widest and longest dimensions to the face of walls or to the line of sliding doors. Builder plans normally give dimensions in millimetres, so a bedroom reading 4200 by 3600 is 4.2 m by 3.6 m, or 15.12 m².
Some spaces are easy to miss or easy to get wrong:
- Robes are floored to the sliding door line, using the robe depth printed on the plan, not the shaded shelf. See the guide to robes, recesses and kickboards.
- Recesses for the fridge, dishwasher and bar fridge are floored.
- Kitchen cabinets come out of the area, but less than their full depth, because the floor runs into the recess under the kickboard.
- Stairs are measured separately per step. See measuring stairs for hybrid flooring.
4. Add the allowances you always need
Room rectangles do not include the floor that runs through each doorway. Most contractors add a small strip across the width of every doorway, and across every full-length window or sliding door where the inside floor runs to the frame. A common allowance is 10 cm deep. A window that does not reach the floor gets nothing.
Then list the openings where the floor finish changes. Each of those needs a trim, and you will price them in step 7.
5. Add waste, then round up to what you buy
Add your waste percentage to the total area, then round up to whole packs (for hard floors) or whole lineal metres off the roll (for carpet). Round the total, not each room, or you will over-order on every job. The waste percentage guide covers how to pick the figure and when a spare pack is worth adding.
6. Apply your rate
Multiply the area you will actually buy by your supply and install rate. Quoting the area you buy, rather than the net area of the rooms, is how the waste and part packs get paid for.
7. Price trims, stairs and extras
Trims, stair nosing, floor preparation, removal of existing floors, travel and any standing extras you add to every job go on after the main area. Write each one down even when the amount is small: a builder comparing two quotes will ask what is included.
A worked example
Example only
The house, the sizes and the rates below are made up to show the method. Use your own rates, pack sizes and allowances.
A single storey house has hybrid plank selected for the living, kitchen and meals area, the hall, the study and the entry. The bedrooms are carpet, and the wet areas are tiled by others. From the dimension strings:
| Space | Size (m) | Area (m²) |
|---|---|---|
| Living, kitchen and meals | 6.8 × 6.0 | 40.80 |
| Hall | 9.6 × 1.2 | 11.52 |
| Study | 3.0 × 3.3 | 9.90 |
| Entry | 1.6 × 4.2 | 6.72 |
| Rooms | 68.94 |
Now the allowances. There are four doorways at 820 mm and a 3410 mm stacking door to the alfresco, so 6.69 m of openings. At 10 cm deep that adds 0.67 m². The kitchen has 6.0 m of cabinet run, and the floor runs 10 cm under it to the kickboard, adding 0.60 m². The fridge recess (0.95 m × 0.70 m) and the dishwasher space (0.60 m × 0.60 m) add 1.03 m².
| Step | Figure |
|---|---|
| Rooms | 68.94 m² |
| Doorways and stacker, 6.69 m × 0.10 m | 0.67 m² |
| Under cabinets, 6.0 m × 0.10 m | 0.60 m² |
| Fridge and dishwasher recesses | 1.03 m² |
| Total floor | 71.24 m² |
| Plus 5% waste | 74.80 m² |
| Packs of 2.21 m², rounded up | 34 packs |
| Area you buy, 34 × 2.21 | 75.14 m² |
| Supply and install at $72.00 / m² | $5,410.08 |
| Trims: three 820 doors where the floor changes (1 m each) and the 3410 stacker (4 m), 7 m at $33 / m | $231.00 |
| Hybrid line, rounded up to the dollar | $5,642 |
Two things are worth noticing. First, the quote is built on 75.14 m², not the 68.94 m² of rooms: the difference is real floor that has to be supplied and paid for. Second, only three of the four doorways get a trim, because one of them joins two hybrid areas and the floor does not change there.
Check it before it goes out
Read the quote against the plan one more time. Does every hybrid room on the selections appear? Did the garage and alfresco stay out? Does the total area make sense against the house's floor area schedule? A short pre-send checklist catches most errors in a couple of minutes.
Where Squaro fits
Squaro does steps 2 to 7 for you. It reads the working drawings and selections, classifies each space, measures from the printed dimension strings and applies your own allowances, waste, pack size, trims and rates. Every line shows the sheet and the dimension it read, so you can check the quote line by line before the builder sees it. Read more on the flooring takeoff software page.
Related reading
- Flooring waste percentage, and when to round up to packsChoosing a waste figure, applying it in the right order, and rounding to whole packs.
- Robes, recesses and kitchen kickboards in a flooring takeoffMeasuring robes to the door line, flooring recesses, and allowing for the kickboard recess.
- The flooring quote checklist: what to check before you sendDocuments, scope, measurements, materials, trims, extras and wording, checked in a few minutes.
- Flooring takeoff software that reads the builder's plansHow Squaro reads plans and selections and measures every space from the printed dimensions.
- Flooring takeoff vs measure-upWhen to quote from plans, when to measure on site, and how to word the quote.
- Flooring quote template: what to put on a builder quoteThe details, scope lines, exclusions and terms a quote needs, with an example.
Quote your next plan set with Squaro
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