Finishes Takeoff Excel Sheet: Blockwork, Plaster, Paint and Skirting per Room

Finishes takeoff is one of the most repeated jobs in a contractor office: how many square meters of blockwork, plaster and paint, and how many meters of skirting? Most mistakes come from forgetting to deduct doors and windows, or from adding up repeated rooms by hand.

This sheet turns the takeoff into one table. Enter each room internal dimensions, how many identical rooms there are and their openings, and it calculates floor, perimeter, net walls, ceiling, plaster and skirting, then converts the areas into materials you can order.

Who is it for?

• Quantity surveyors and estimators in contracting companies
• Site engineers ordering materials and checking subcontractors
• Home owners estimating finishing costs before signing a contract

What is inside the sheet?

• Editable settings: blocks per m², waste, plaster thickness, paint coverage and coats, door width
• A table for twenty room types with count, length, width, height, openings and doors
• Automatic floor, perimeter, net walls, ceiling, plaster and skirting for each row
• Totals and materials: blocks with waste, dry plaster mortar in m³, liters of paint
• A complete guide sheet in English

How to use it

1. Adjust the settings for your project, for example 12.5 blocks per m² for 40×20 cm blocks.
2. Enter the room name, the number of identical rooms and their internal dimensions in meters.
3. Enter the door and window area for one room and the number of doors.
4. Read the totals under the table, then the material quantities.

Formulas used

• Perimeter = count × 2 × (length + width)
• Net walls = perimeter × height − count × openings
• Plaster and paint = net walls + ceiling area
• Skirting = perimeter − count × doors × door width
• Blocks = net walls × blocks per m² × (1 + waste)
• Paint liters = area × coats ÷ coverage

Worked example from the sheet itself

The example is a small villa: living room, three bedrooms, majlis, kitchen, three bathrooms and a corridor.

• Floors 161.96 m² and net walls 449.90 m².
• Plaster and paint 611.86 m² (walls + ceilings).
• Blocks with 5% waste = 5,905 blocks, and dry plaster mortar 15.54 m³.
• Two coats of paint at 10 m² per liter = 123 liters, and skirting 146.6 m.

Tips for best results

• Take off external walls in a separate row using the outer building perimeter, since their thickness and plaster are usually different.
• If bathrooms are tiled to the ceiling, deduct the tiled area from paint, or use the tiles takeoff sheet alongside this one.
• Check blocks per m² for your block size: 40×20 cm blocks need about 12.5, small clay bricks need many more.

Frequently asked questions

Are dimensions internal or external?

Internal for each room, because plaster, paint and skirting are done inside. The blockwork here is an estimate for internal walls.

What is the 1.27 dry mortar factor?

Wet mortar shrinks after mixing, so the volume is multiplied by about 1.27 to estimate the dry materials needed.

Can I add more rooms?

The table has twenty rows, and each row can hold any number of identical rooms through the count column.

Download the sheet

Press the download button at the top of the page to get the Excel file. It includes a full guide sheet, yellow input cells and formulas protected from accidental edits. The sheet is also available in Arabic from the language switcher.

Quantities are estimates for planning and pricing. Check drawings and specifications before the final order.