Masonry estimating software for CMU, brick and stone

Masonry estimating software measures wall area by wall type, deducts openings, and converts net square feet into units of CMU, brick or stone, plus mortar, grout, reinforcing, ties, lintels and labor. STACK, PlanSwift and ScopeTakeoff all offer masonry assemblies that turn each wall type into block, brick, mortar and labor¹³⁵. Published prices range from STACK's free plan² and $100 per person per month for ScopeTakeoff⁶ to $2,000 to $3,000 per seat per year for PlanSwift⁴.

By Agustín Policano, founder of AmpCount, which makes electrical takeoff software. Facts about other products and statistics link to their source, checked November 3, 2026.

What a masonry takeoff measures

Item	Unit	What to watch
CMU walls by type	SF, converted to units	Separate by thickness, finish (plain, split face, ground face) and fire rating. A nominal 8 by 16 inch face is about 0.89 SF, so roughly 1.125 units per SF before waste.
Brick veneer	SF, converted to units	Unit count depends on brick size and bond pattern. Soldier courses, rowlocks and accent bands are taken off as LF on top of the field area.
Stone veneer	SF and LF	Field stone by area; corners, sills, caps and watertable as LF or each.
Openings	EA and SF	Deduct door and window openings from the gross wall area, then add lintels, sills and jamb units for each opening.
Grout and reinforcing	CY grout, LB or LF rebar	Grouted cells follow the vertical bar spacing, bond beams and lintels. Solid grouted walls are a different quantity entirely.
Mortar, ties and joint reinforcing	Bags or CY, EA, LF	Mortar follows unit count; ties follow veneer area and spacing; ladder or truss reinforcing follows course spacing.
Accessories and flashing	LF and EA	Through-wall flashing, weeps, control joints and expansion joints from the wall sections.

How a masonry estimate is built

Read the wall types, elevations, wall sections and structural masonry notes, and list each wall type with its unit, grout, reinforcing and finish.
Measure gross wall area by type from the plans and elevations, following height changes and parapets.
Count and measure openings, deduct them, and add lintels, sills and jamb conditions for each.
Convert net area to unit counts per wall type, then add bond beams, grouted cells, reinforcing, ties and joint reinforcing from the sections.
Add flashing, control joints, cleaning and sealers, and scaffolding or lifts by wall height and length.
Price labor by wall type and height, apply waste by unit type, and review cost per SF of wall against history.

What to look for in masonry software

Wall-type assemblies

Each wall type should carry its own units, mortar, grout, reinforcing and labor so measuring area once produces every quantity.

Opening deductions

Look for area tools that exclude doors and windows inside the wall measurement, and add per-opening items like lintels automatically.

Elevation takeoff

Masonry is drawn in elevation as much as in plan. Software should handle measuring surface area on elevations and arcs for curved walls.

Editable waste and labor by wall type

Split face CMU, brick and stone each waste and install differently. Waste and labor rates should be per type, not one global setting.

Software masonry estimators use

Tool	What it does for masonry	Price
STACK STACK Construction Technologies	Masonry takeoff that calculates block, brick, CMU, rebar and mortar, measures walls while excluding doors and windows, and uses a masonry materials library with custom assemblies.¹²	Free plan; Premium $299 and Pro $349 per user per month, billed annually
PlanSwift PlanSwift (ConstructConnect)	Turns each wall type into the block, brick, mortar and labor behind the bid, with custom formulas for waste and labor by wall type and reusable templates.³⁴	$2,000 (Essential) or $3,000 (Core) per seat per year
ScopeTakeoff ScopeTakeoff	Masonry assemblies for CMU block, brick veneer, stone veneer and restoration, with unit counts, mortar and grout calculated from square feet, and schedule of values output.⁵⁶	$100 per person per month
Bluebeam Bluebeam (Nemetschek)	PDF area and length measurement on plans and elevations, used with a spreadsheet for unit conversions.⁷	$260 to $590 per user per year

As described on each vendor's own pages, checked November 3, 2026. Prices change; check with the vendor.

For tools that cover every trade on one plan set, see the construction takeoff software and construction estimating software guides.

Converting square feet to units

Unit counts are geometry: divide one square foot by the face area of a unit including its mortar joint. A standard CMU with a nominal 8 by 16 inch face covers 128 square inches, so 144 divided by 128 gives 1.125 blocks per square foot. A modular brick with a nominal 8 by 2 2/3 inch face works out to about 6.75 per square foot in running bond. Other sizes and bonds change the number, which is why wall-type assemblies matter.

Waste is not geometry. It depends on cuts, openings, color blending and handling, and it differs between block, brick and stone. Track it against delivered quantities on finished jobs and set it per wall type.

Boxes and conduit built into CMU walls

In a block building the electrician works inside the mason's schedule. Conduit is stubbed up from the slab into the cells before the first course, and boxes are set as the wall rises, so each lift waits for both crews. The mason cuts units around boxes and grouts the reinforced cells, which means a conduit drawn into a cell that the structural sheets show as grouted solid has to move. Agree on who cuts block for late boxes and who pays for the rework before either bid goes in.

Exposed block leaves no room for error. Under 314.20 in the 2023 NEC, a box in a noncombustible surface can sit no more than 1/4 inch behind the finished face, and Mike Holt's commentary lists brick, cinder block and other masonry among those surfaces⁸. On a painted or ground face CMU wall there is no drywall layer to absorb a deep box, so box depth and course height have to be right the first time. Masonry boxes come in several depths, and the depth sets how many conductors and devices fit, which is worth checking with a box fill calculator.

Card readers, cameras and data outlets in block walls need the same built-in rough-in, so bring the low voltage contractor into the wall schedule too. Where the architect furs out a block wall with studs, those devices move into the drywall and framing scope instead. AmpCount counts the receptacles, switches and devices on the electrical sheets, which tells both estimators how many boxes go into the block; the masonry quantities still come from a masonry tool.

Where masonry takeoffs go wrong

Using one unit-per-SF factor for every wall when brick size, bond pattern and CMU size all change the count.
Deducting openings but forgetting the lintels, sills and jamb units each opening adds.
Grout quantities based on a solid wall when only reinforced cells are grouted, or the reverse.
Missing parapets and wall height above the roof line, which only show in sections and elevations.
Scaffolding and lifts left out or priced as a lump sum regardless of how much wall is over the reach of a standing mason.

Trades that bid the same job

A masonry bid rarely stands alone. The trades next to it on the schedule read the same drawings and often share scope lines, so it pays to know how they take off too: concrete estimating software, rebar estimating software and steel detailing software.

Where AmpCount fits

AmpCount only counts electrical devices and fixtures, so it does not take off masonry walls, units or grout. On block buildings the electrical contractor rough-ins boxes and conduit in the CMU as the walls go up, and can count those devices on the electrical sheets with AmpCount; the masonry quantities belong in a masonry tool.

How electrical takeoff software counts a plan set

Questions

What is the best masonry estimating software?

For commercial masonry subs bidding from plans, STACK, PlanSwift and ScopeTakeoff all publish masonry assemblies¹³⁵. The best fit depends on whether you want a cloud tool with a free starting plan (STACK), a desktop-style tool with deep formulas (PlanSwift) or a lower monthly price with schedule of values output (ScopeTakeoff).

How many CMU blocks per square foot?

About 1.125 for standard units with a nominal 8 by 16 inch face, before waste and before deducting openings.

How much does masonry estimating software cost?

From the vendors' pages, checked November 2026: STACK has a free plan and paid plans at $299 and $349 per user per month billed annually², ScopeTakeoff is $100 per person per month⁶, and PlanSwift is $2,000 or $3,000 per seat per year⁴.

Does masonry software calculate grout and rebar?

STACK describes calculating rebar and mortar with block and brick¹, and ScopeTakeoff calculates grout fill⁵. You still have to set grouted cell spacing and bond beams from the structural sections for the numbers to be right.

Guides and tools for any trade

Sources

Product names are trademarks of their owners. AmpCount is not affiliated with any vendor on this page.