Bidfident for masonry contractors
Estimating software for masons
Masonry contractors price brick and block by the square foot in Bidfident, with tending as its own line at the laborer's rate. The mast climber is charged for its own hours, not the masons', and ties, cast stone sills and through-wall flashing sit on their own lines. Winter heat and enclosures go in by the week, and the cleaning sub's bids sit side by side.
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Sound familiar?
Tending buried in the mason's rate
Laborers mixing mud and stocking for the masons cost less per hour, but a blended rate hides it. In Bidfident tending is its own line at the laborer's rate, beside the brick at the mason's.
The mast climber priced for every hour
The mast climber doesn't run for every hour the crew lays brick. In Bidfident the mast climber on a line can have its own hours per unit, so it's charged for the time it runs.
Winter heat guessed as a lump
Heat and enclosures run for the cold weeks, not the whole job, and a lump guess is rarely right. In Bidfident general conditions go in by the week, month, lump sum or each, so winter heat is priced for the weeks it's needed.
How Bidfident fits your work
The mast climber for its own hours
Give the mast climber on the brick line its own hours per square foot and it's charged for that time, not every hour the masons are on the wall.
Masons and laborers at their own rates
Price the brick at the mason's rate and the tending at the laborer's. Each line takes its trade's rate from the library, and a line can carry its own rate when it needs one.
Winter heat by the week
Winter heat and enclosures by the week for the cold weeks, and the foreman by the week, linked to the job duration so a longer job is priced longer.
Square feet of wall, linear feet of sill
Brick and ties by the square foot, sills and flashing by the linear foot. Each line takes a quantity, hours per unit, a material price with a waste percentage, and equipment by the hour.
Cleaning bids side by side
Enter each bid for masonry cleaning and sealer, see the lowest flagged, and carry it or the one you pick.
Elevation by elevation
Tag each line with an area, such as the north elevation or the courtyard, and group the sheet by it with a subtotal for each.
Worked example: brick veneer for a three-story senior living building
A made-up job, priced in Bidfident: 35 lines of your own work, 3 subs and 6 general conditions items over a 14-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 "Masonry" and press Add example project.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Brick veneer, modular, running bond, 5,600 SF
| $70,476.00 |
Mason tending, 5,600 SF
| $12,600.00 |
Brick ties and joint reinforcing, 5,600 SF
| $4,480.00 |
Cast stone sills, 144 LF
| $3,674.88 |
Through-wall flashing, 427 LF
| $2,724.26 |
30 more lines of your own work
| $288,584.82 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Masonry cleaning and sealer
| $9,400.00 |
Scaffold at courtyard and entry canopy
| $11,840.00 |
Cast stone entry surround, allowance
| $5,200.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Supervision, foreman
| $16,800.00 |
Winter heat and enclosures
| $18,000.00 |
Project manager, part time
| $6,203.08 |
Small tools, masonry saws and blades
| $2,912.00 |
Safety orientation, fall protection and PPE
| $1,064.00 |
Dumpsters for broken brick and mortar
| $1,440.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
Own work
| $382,539.96 |
| Excluded lines, not counted | $28,246.06 |
| Subcontractors | $26,440.00 |
General conditions
| $46,419.08 |
Direct cost
| $455,399.04 |
Contingency
| $22,769.95 |
Fee
| $47,816.90 |
| Subtotal before the bond | $525,985.89 |
Bond
| $5,259.86 |
Insurance
| $2,629.93 |
Bid total
| $533,875.68 |
See it in Bidfident
Coming soon Ask your estimate anything. Claude first, ChatGPT to follow. See how it will work
Questions
Can tending be priced at a laborer's rate?
Yes. Put tending on its own line with the laborer's trade, and it takes the laborer's rate while the brick takes the mason's.
Can I price brick per square foot or per thousand?
Yes. Units are free text, so SF, LF, M and EA all work. Bidfident doesn't convert between units, so price each line in the unit its rate is in.
Can winter heat be priced for only part of the job?
Yes. Add it as a weekly general conditions item with the number of weeks you need. Items linked to the job duration follow it instead.
Can the mast climber run fewer hours than the crew?
Yes. Give the line's equipment its own hours per unit. Leave it blank and it runs for the crew's hours.
Does it measure wall areas from the drawings?
No. Bidfident doesn't read quantities from drawings. Type your areas in, net of openings, or paste them from a spreadsheet.
Can sills and through-wall flashing go on their own lines?
Yes. Price each by the linear foot on its own line, with the mason's hours per foot and its own material price, so they don't hide inside the brick.
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 masonry 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.