
Budget Estimating

Freelance Estimating

Blueprint Estimating



PRO Estimating Services covers all major CSI MasterFormat divisions across structural, MEP, envelope, finishes, and sitework. Contractors use us for single-trade takeoffs, full GC packages, and preconstruction budgets that need to hold up before the first shovel hits the ground.
Every trade listed below gets its own dedicated estimator who knows that scope specifically, not a generalist approximating across categories. Quantities come off your drawings directly, labor and material costs are priced using RS Means data at the zip-code level, and the final deliverable is formatted by CSI division so it drops straight into your bid package or project budget. Click any trade card to see the full service page.
Footings, slabs-on-grade, foundation walls, columns, and flatwork. Concrete volume, formwork area, pour quantities, reinforcement, and finishing each get their own line. That level of detail is what keeps cost control realistic through design changes.
Brick, CMU block, stone, and mortar quantities for exterior walls, partitions, veneer, and structural masonry. Unit counts, coursing, grout fill, and mortar volumes are broken out by assembly type. Having that detail makes it straightforward to check a masonry sub's quote for missing scope items.
Bar sizes, spacing, lap lengths, hooks, and bends counted from structural drawings. Slabs, beams, columns, shear walls, and foundations are each broken out. Tonnage and cut-list formats available for fabricator use.
Structural steel tonnage, metal framing, miscellaneous metals, stairs, and railings. Prefabricated components are counted separately. Steel tonnage is the kind of number fabricators and erectors need before quoting. Getting it right early has a real impact on where your overall project budget lands.
Dimensional lumber, engineered wood products, sheathing, trusses, headers, and rough framing. Board-foot quantities are organized by assembly and floor level, helpful when getting competitive pricing from multiple lumber suppliers.
Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing combined into one estimate. GCs typically order this when they need a full MEP cost picture for owner budget reviews, design development phases, or value engineering before individual subcontractors submit their own numbers.
Heating and cooling equipment, ductwork, diffusers, grilles, thermostats, and controls. Equipment and ductwork quantities are organized by system and zone. The breakdown works whether you're putting together an early budget or comparing it against HVAC sub proposals coming in.
Boilers, chillers, pumps, heat exchangers, and mechanical room equipment with piping connections. Labor and material costs are separated by system type, which is helpful when you need to nail down the mechanical budget before the owner signs off on the project.
Domestic water, sanitary, storm, and vent systems covering pipe sizes, fittings, fixtures, water heaters, and rough-in. Material types are specified rather than generalized: copper, PVC, CPVC, or cast iron depending on what's shown on the drawings.
Process piping, utility distribution lines, fittings, valves, expansion joints, and pipe supports measured from mechanical and P&ID drawings. Most commonly ordered for industrial facilities, manufacturing plants, and large commercial mechanical rooms where piping complexity drives significant cost variance.
Rectangular, round, and oval sheet metal ductwork with fittings, transitions, flex connections, hangers, and insulation sleeves. Quantities are measured to SMACNA standards and organized floor by floor so the duct takeoff lines up cleanly with the equipment schedule.
Service entrance, panels, conduit runs, wire, devices, lighting fixtures, and low-voltage systems. Quantities are organized by panel and circuit, referenced to NEC requirements. Covers new construction, TI work, and service upgrades without needing to rebuild the format for each.
Shingles, standing-seam metal, TPO, EPDM, and built-up roofing systems with flashing, underlayment, ridge, valley, and edge details. Roof area is calculated from plan dimensions accounting for slope and pitch, not just footprint square footage.
Batt, rigid board, spray foam, and blown-in insulation for walls, roofs, floors, and mechanical systems. R-value requirements, vapor barrier specs, and energy code compliance details are factored into the takeoff rather than left as assumptions.
Below-grade waterproofing, above-grade dampproofing, air barriers, building wraps, joint sealants, and expansion joint assemblies. This scope gets underestimated in early budgets more than most, partly because it spans multiple trades and gets split across drawings. A dedicated takeoff fixes that.
Spray-applied fireproofing, intumescent coatings, and cementitious systems for structural steel and concrete assemblies. Fire-resistance ratings from the drawings drive the material thicknesses and quantities, which are verified against UL assembly requirements.
Gutters, downspouts, leaders, conductor heads, and drainage connections measured by linear footage and unit count from the architectural drawings. Sized against roof area and rainfall data for the project location.
Metal stud framing, gypsum board, track, tape, compound, corner bead, and accessories. Board counts are broken out by thickness and fire-rating assembly. Framing labor and board installation labor are priced independently. That breakdown is particularly useful on tenant improvement projects where the drywall scope keeps getting revised.
Tile, hardwood, LVP, carpet, epoxy, polished concrete, and specialty flooring systems. Net square footage is measured per room, waste factors applied by material type, and subfloor prep costed independent of the flooring itself. Transitions, bases, and adhesive are in there too.
Wall, ceiling, trim, door, and exterior surface areas measured by elevation and assembly. Paint systems and primer coats are specified by surface type rather than lumped together. The breakdown is detailed enough that you can cross-reference it against a painting sub's proposal line by line.
EIFS, stucco, cladding, siding, fascia, soffit, trims, and specialty coating systems. Covers both interior and exterior finish scopes in a single estimate when projects require a comprehensive view of all finishing costs before budget sign-off.
Cabinets, casework, countertops, shelving, paneling, base and case molding, and custom woodwork. Quantities are pulled from both architectural drawings and available shop drawings when they exist. Interior fit-out costs tend to get questioned late in the process, and a properly detailed millwork takeoff gives you something solid to stand behind.
Doors, frames, hardware sets, windows, curtain walls, storefronts, and glazing systems. Each opening gets its own schedule entry with unit count, frame type, rough opening dimensions, and hardware specification. Door and frame costs stay separate from glazing so you can value-engineer either one without rebuilding the whole estimate.
Clearing, grading, excavation, backfill, compaction, paving, curbs, site utilities, and drainage structures. Cut-and-fill volumes are calculated from site plans and civil drawings. Sitework quantities can shift a lot between schematic design and bid documents, and that gap bites more projects than most owners expect.
Softscape and hardscape quantities separated by type: planting, sod, mulch, irrigation, pavers, retaining walls, site furniture, and drainage. Landscape scopes frequently get pushed to the end of the budget process and then rushed. Getting a proper takeoff earlier keeps the numbers from being a placeholder that everyone argues about at the end.
Most contractors send their drawings, confirm the trades they need covered, and have a flat-fee quote back within 30 minutes. The estimate comes back formatted for your bid package with no cleanup required on your end.