Bidfident for drywall contractors
Estimating software for drywall and ceilings
Drywall and ceiling contractors price in square feet and linear feet, and Bidfident lets you do the same. Metal stud framing, board on both sides, taping by a taper at their own rate, ceiling grid with a scissor lift that runs less than the crew, and soffits by the foot. Dumpsters go in by the number of swaps, and the foreman follows the schedule.
Enter your email and Bidfident sends you a sign-in link. New companies start with a starter rate library. Who runs Bidfident, and what it keeps about you.
Sound familiar?
Taping priced at the hanger's rate
When everything sits on one labor rate, the taping is priced like framing and the bid is off. In Bidfident each line takes its trade's rate, so the taper and the drywall carpenter are each priced at their own.
Board waste added in your head
Ten percent on board, five on studs, all worked out at the end. In Bidfident each line carries its own waste percentage, so the material is right line by line.
Floors that don't add back to the total
Three floors on three tabs, and a change on one never reaches the summary. Bidfident groups one estimate by floor or area with subtotals, and it all adds up to the cent.
How Bidfident fits your work
Drywall carpenters and tapers at their own rates
Give the framing and board lines the drywall carpenter's trade and the taping line the taper's, and each takes its rate from the library. Add a new trade in the Trade cell without leaving the sheet.
Square feet and linear feet, line by line
Studs, board and ceiling tile by the square foot, soffits by the linear foot. Each line takes a quantity, hours per unit, a material price with a waste percentage, and equipment by the hour.
Floor by floor, with subtotals
Tag each line with a floor or area and group the sheet by it, with a subtotal for each. Collapse the groups to see all three floors at once.
Change a whole floor at once
Tick the lines for level 2, then set their area, trade or equipment on all of them in one go. The totals for just the ticked lines show as you pick them.
The lift on the ceiling line only
The scissor lift on the ceiling grid gets its own hours per square foot, so it's charged for the time it's used, not every hour the crew is on the line.
Insulation bids side by side
Enter each bid for acoustical insulation in the partitions, see the lowest flagged, and carry it or the one you pick. No number yet? Carry a plug.
Worked example: drywall and ceilings for a three-story office
A made-up job, priced in Bidfident: 33 lines of your own work, 3 subs and 5 general conditions items over a 12-week job. The 5 lines this page talks about are listed one by one, and the rest are added up in one row. It's the same job you can open as an example project in Bidfident, so every figure below matches it.
To open this job in Bidfident: sign in and set up your company in the US, then on the Projects screen, under Example project, pick "Specialty contractors" and "Drywall and ceilings" and press Add example project.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Metal stud partitions, 3-5/8 in. at 16 in. o.c., 6,030 SF
| $17,291.03 |
1/2 in. gypsum board, both sides, 12,100 SF
| $15,742.10 |
Tape and finish, Level 4, 12,100 SF
| $7,744.00 |
Acoustical ceiling tile, 2 x 2 grid, 9,690 SF
| $43,062.36 |
Soffits, framed and hung, 230 LF
| $7,797.00 |
28 more lines of your own work
| $304,318.42 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Acoustical insulation in partitions
| $17,120.00 |
Firestopping at penetrations and joints
| $10,080.00 |
Stairwell scaffold, allowance
| $3,600.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Supervision, part-time foreman
| $13,200.00 |
Project manager, part time
| $5,316.92 |
Small tools, screw guns and stilts
| $1,824.00 |
Board delivery and boom truck stocking
| $2,720.00 |
Dumpster swaps
| $3,150.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Own work
| $395,954.91 |
| Excluded lines, not counted | $1,382.58 |
| Subcontractors | $30,800.00 |
General conditions
| $26,210.92 |
Direct cost
| $452,965.83 |
Contingency
| $13,588.97 |
Fee
| $46,655.48 |
| Subtotal before the bond | $513,210.28 |
Bond
| $5,132.10 |
Insurance
| $2,566.05 |
Bid total
| $520,908.43 |
See it in Bidfident
Coming soon Ask your estimate anything. Claude first, ChatGPT to follow. See how it will work
Questions
Can I price in square feet?
Yes. Units are free text, so SF, LF and EA all work. Bidfident doesn't convert between units, so price each line in the unit its rate is in.
Can taping have a different rate from hanging?
Yes. Set up a taper as its own trade with its own rate, and give the taping line that trade. Each line then takes its trade's rate.
Can I build a partition type as one line?
Yes. Save it in the rate library as an assembly, such as a framed and hung wall. Pick it from the line picker and it fills the whole line at once.
Can I price each floor separately?
Yes. Tag each line with an area or location, then group the sheet by it to see a subtotal for each floor.
Does it measure walls from the drawings?
No. Bidfident doesn't read quantities from drawings. Type your square feet in, or paste them from a spreadsheet.
Can framing, board, taping and ceilings each have their own cost code?
Yes. Paste your cost code list in from Excel or QuickBooks, check the preview, and give each line its code. The cost report then totals framing, board, taping and ceilings code by code.
Does Bidfident work with Claude or ChatGPT?
Not yet, but it's coming. You'll be able to connect Bidfident to your own Claude or ChatGPT account and ask about your estimates in plain English. The answers will come from Bidfident's own figures, so they match the estimate. It will use the account you already have: Claude first, ChatGPT to follow.
Price your next drywall bid in Bidfident
Enter your email and Bidfident sends you a sign-in link. New companies start with a starter rate library. Who runs Bidfident, and what it keeps about you.