CalcStack — free, instant, no signup. The interactive calculator loads automatically.
Takeoff numbers in, client-ready bid out.
Every bid starts as a pile of takeoff quantities — studs, sheets, gallons, hours. This bid sheet turns that pile into a priced estimate: editable line items split into materials and labor, your overhead-and-profit markup applied on top, the true margin shown next to it, and a price-per-square-foot reality check against your market. It auto-saves in your browser, so the bid is still there when the client calls back, and it prints clean for the kitchen-table meeting.
Contractors use it the night before the walkthrough: dump the takeoff counts from the framing, drywall, and paint calculators in as line items, apply markup, and print a bid. Homeowners run it in reverse — paste a contractor's quote in line by line and see the margin hiding inside it.
Markup is a percentage added to your cost; margin is the profit share of the final price. A 15% markup on a $2,428 cost adds $364.20 for a $2,792.20 bid — but $364.20 ÷ $2,792.20 is only a 13.0% margin. Overhead targets are expressed in margin, so quoting in markup without converting is how contractors undercharge.
It depends on overhead. Many residential remodelers and GCs target roughly 15–25% markup on small jobs, and specialty subs vary widely by trade and region. Work backwards from your real numbers: if running the business costs 15% of revenue and you want 10% profit, you need a 25% margin — which is a 33% markup on cost.
Only in your browser's local storage on this device — nothing is uploaded or shared. Clearing browser data resets the sheet, so use Print / save as PDF to keep a permanent copy of any real bid.