Free Framing Estimate Template

Take off the real quantities first, then price them. Measure wall run in linear feet, floor and roof area in square feet, and count headers, beams, and posts as units. Price wall framing at $20-$50 per linear foot, floor framing with subfloor at $5-$12 per sq ft, and trusses set and sheathed at $3-$8 per sq ft. Add labor at $45-$85 per man-hour, then carry a 10-15% contingency on any remodel. Run your wall lengths through our stud calculator to get stud counts, then drop the totals into the line items above.

Complete house framing labor runs $11-$30 per square foot of heated floor area, with $18 per sq ft as the typical number. Lumber and hardware are on top of that. Broken out by phase: floor framing and subfloor is $5-$12/sq ft, truss roofs are $3-$8/sq ft, and deck framing is $15-$35/sq ft before any decking goes down. Prices vary by region and lumber moves month to month, so quote from local supplier rates and get multiple bids on any subbed work. Check your total against our framing cost calculator.

A complete framing estimate should list: demolition and tear-out, wall framing by linear foot, floor joists and subfloor, roof rafters or trusses, wall and roof sheathing, headers and structural beams, posts and point loads, blocking and bracing, joist hangers and hardware, crane or lift rental if you are setting trusses, permit and dumpster fees, cleanup and haul-away, a contingency line, payment terms, and exclusions like foundation work, engineering stamps, and electrical, plumbing, or HVAC rough-in.

Most framing crews bill $45-$85 per man-hour and run a three to five carpenter crew on a residential rough-frame. Price each line item by its own labor hours so the bid totals itself and you can see which phase is carrying the job. Remodel framing carries more hours than new construction because nothing in an existing house is square, plumb, or level. Check your billing rate against your real overhead with the contractor hourly rate calculator, then build the itemized bid in the template above.

Studs are spaced 16 inches on center in most residential walls, which works out to roughly one stud per linear foot of wall once you add corners, channels, and openings. Add a 10% waste factor on dimensional lumber and more on a cut-up plan with lots of angles. Use our lumber calculator for board footage and our joist span calculator to confirm your joist size carries the span before you price it. Then enter material cost per unit and quantity in the template to price each line.

Most framing contractors run a margin of 20-35% over their material and labor cost to cover overhead and profit. Price your true costs first, then apply markup. Do not guess at a round number. Framing bids also carry lumber risk, so keep your estimate valid for 30 days rather than 90. Use our markup calculator to convert your target margin into the right multiplier, then set your line-item prices in the template above.

Because you cannot see what is behind a wall until demo day. On a remodel the same surprises show up over and over: rot in sill plates and rim joists, joists notched through by a plumber decades ago that now cost $100-$325 each to sister, missing headers over old openings, and code upgrades the inspector adds once you open one system up. Carry 10-15% on any framing tied into an existing structure, write concealed-condition language into your exclusions, and bill the change order at cost plus markup. An honest bid says this upfront instead of making it up in change orders later.