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Complete Lumber Takeoffs, Engineered Lumber Schedules & Cut Lists for Lumber Yards - Delivered in 24–48 Hours
A framing estimate is only as good as the lumber count behind it. Miss a doubled top plate on a long bearing wall, forget to count the king studs and trimmers at every window opening, skip the blocking at shear wall edges, or use the wrong I-joist series at a long floor span - and your material order comes up short, your framing sub runs out of lumber before the job is in the dry, and the job stalls while someone rushes to the yard for more. The Virtual Estimation produces complete, piece-by-piece lumber takeoffs for framing contractors, home builders, GCs, and lumber yards across 🇺🇸 USA, 🇨🇦 Canada, 🇦🇺 Australia, and 🇬🇧 UK - every member counted, sized, and organized so your order and your bid are both right the first time.
We estimate all CSI Division 06 11 rough carpentry scopes: wall framing plates, studs, headers, blocking, and cripples; floor framing sill plates, rim joists, floor joists or I-joists, bridging, and subfloor sheathing; roof framing common rafters, hip and valley rafters, jack rafters, ridge boards, collar ties, and fascia; or roof truss schedules by truss type, spacing, and span; plus engineered lumber - LVL beams, I-joists (Weyerhaeuser TJI, LP SolidStart, Boise Cascade), PSL and LSL columns, and glulam members. Sheathing, hardware, and connectors are counted and priced separately. Every estimate is delivered in Excel format with a piece-count list, a board-foot summary, and a lumber yard cut list formatted for material dealer quoting.
We use PlanSwift for digital quantity takeoffs directly from your PDF or CAD drawings, Bluebeam Revu for drawing review and markup, and RSMeans Building Construction Cost Data - updated quarterly - for regional material and labor pricing. Engineered lumber is priced from current manufacturer price lists, not generic database assemblies. Our estimators are AACE International certified cost professionals and AIQS members, with hands-on lumber estimating experience across custom residential, production homebuilding, multi-family, and commercial wood-framed projects.
At The Virtual Estimation, we understand the critical role accurate cost estimation plays in the success of your construction projects. Our team of expert Lumber Takeoff Estimators combines industry knowledge, cutting-edge software, and thorough attention to detail to provide you with precise cost estimates and Complete Lumber Lists.
Whether you're working on residential, commercial, or industrial projects, our estimators have the expertise to deliver reliable results that help you win more bids and stay within budget.
We review your full drawing set - architectural floor plans, sections, elevations, structural framing plans, and roof plan - plus structural calculations and specifications. We cross-check architectural openings against structural headers, verify floor joist spans against the structural engineer's joist schedule, and confirm LVL beam sizes match the structural calculations before counting a single piece of lumber. Missing or conflicting information is flagged before takeoff starts.
Every framing member is counted and measured digitally in PlanSwift with annotated drawing markups. Wall framing is counted bay by bay - plates by linear foot, studs by piece, headers by size and count, blocking by linear foot. Floor and roof framing is taken off member by member, not estimated from a coverage ratio. Engineered lumber members are listed by exact spec: ply count, depth, series, and length. Sheathing is measured in square feet with openings deducted. Hardware is counted from structural connection drawings.
Dimensional lumber is priced using RSMeans regional unit costs for your zip code, adjusted for current commodity market conditions. Engineered lumber (LVL, I-joists, PSL, glulam) is priced from current Weyerhaeuser, LP SolidStart, or Boise Cascade price lists for your region - not estimated from a generic database. Hardware and connectors are priced from current Simpson Strong-Tie catalog pricing. The final deliverable includes both a priced contractor estimate and a lumber yard cut list formatted for dealer quoting, in Excel format.
You receive Excel and PDF deliverables within 24–48 hours. The package includes the full priced framing estimate, piece-count list by member type, board-foot summary by species and size, and the lumber yard cut list. If structural drawings are revised before bid day - header sizes changed, beam relocated, truss layout modified - we update the count at no additional charge. We also flag any engineered lumber members with potential long lead times in your regional market.
We provide a complete range of Lumber & Wood Framing Estimating services tailored to meet your specific project needs:
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Request a Free ConsultationDetailed estimates for foundations, slabs, and structural concrete work.
Comprehensive electrical takeoffs for all project types and sizes.
Accurate plumbing estimates including fixtures, piping, and labor.
Precise masonry takeoffs for brick, block, and stone projects.
Complete lumber takeoffs for residential and commercial framing.
Professional roofing estimates for all materials and project types.
One of the most common questions framers and builders have when working with an estimator for the first time is why the lumber list shows three different numbers - piece count, linear feet, and board feet - and which one to use for what. Here is exactly how each measurement works and when you need it:
Board Feet (BF): The unit lumber yards use to price and sell dimensional lumber. One board foot equals a piece of lumber 1 inch thick, 12 inches wide, and 12 inches long. To calculate: Thickness (inches) × Width (inches) × Length (feet) ÷ 12 = Board Feet. A 2×4 at 8 feet = (2 × 4 × 8) ÷ 12 = 5.33 BF. A 2×6 at 12 feet = (2 × 6 × 12) ÷ 12 = 12 BF. Framing labor is also commonly estimated per thousand board feet (MBF) for production residential work. Lumber commodity market pricing - SPF, Southern Yellow Pine, Douglas Fir - is quoted per MBF and fluctuates with the Random Lengths framing lumber composite price index. Our estimates include a BF summary by species and size so your lumber rep can quote a package price at current market rates.
Linear Feet (LF): The measurement used for plates, sill plates, rim joists, ridge boards, fascia, and other members ordered in runs rather than by piece. Wall plates are measured in linear feet of wall length (both plates × 2 for double top plate). Floor joists are counted by piece but also summarized in linear feet at the specified spacing (16" OC, 19.2" OC, or 24" OC) so the yard can verify the order makes sense for the floor plan.
Piece Count: Used for studs, headers, hangers, and any member ordered in quantities. Wall studs at a standard height are typically ordered by piece - 92-5/8" precut studs for 8-foot walls, 104-5/8" for 9-foot walls - because the yard stocks them in those standard cuts. Headers are counted by piece with the size and length noted so the yard can cut from stock material or order specific lengths. Engineered lumber is always ordered by piece with the full spec: ply count, depth, series, and length.
Why all three matter: A lumber order built only from piece counts will get you the right number of members but your yard rep cannot check if the BF total looks reasonable for the project size. A BF-only order cannot be used by the framing crew to verify they have the right pieces for each part of the building. Our lumber takeoffs give you all three formats in one Excel file so your material order and your bid are both right, and both verifiable.
Engineered lumber now makes up a significant portion of the material cost on most residential and light commercial wood-framed projects - and it is the part of the framing estimate that generic estimating software handles worst. A dimensional lumber count is relatively straightforward. An engineered lumber schedule requires knowing exactly which product, which manufacturer's series, which size and ply configuration, and what current regional pricing is - because a 1-3/4 x 9-1/2 LVL and a 3-ply 1-3/4 x 11-7/8 LVL are both "LVL beams" in a generic database but cost very different amounts and perform very different structural functions.
Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) Beams: Used for headers, beams, ridge members, and moment frames. Estimated by piece with ply count (1-ply, 2-ply, 3-ply, 4-ply), depth (7-1/4", 9-1/2", 11-7/8", 14", 16"), and length. Weyerhaeuser Microllam LVL, LP SolidStart LVL, and Boise Cascade versa-lam are the dominant products in most US markets. Priced from current regional price lists - not from RSMeans, which carries generic unit costs that may not reflect current market pricing in your specific region.
Wood I-Joists (I-Joists / TJI): Used for floor systems and roof rafter applications where dimensional lumber deflection would be excessive. The Weyerhaeuser TJI series (TJI 110, 210, 230, 360, 560) and LP SolidStart I-joist series are specified by structural engineers at a series and depth (9-1/2", 11-7/8", 14", 16") determined by the floor span and load. Estimated by piece and length at the specified series. I-joist pricing is especially volatile - it moves with OSB market prices, which is the primary material in the I-joist web. We obtain current regional distributor pricing before finalizing I-joist costs in any estimate.
Parallel Strand Lumber (PSL) & Laminated Strand Lumber (LSL): PSL (Weyerhaeuser Parallam) is used for heavily loaded columns, long-span beams, and moment frames where LVL capacity is insufficient. LSL (TimberStrand) is used for stud walls at tall heights (10'+), rim board applications, and lintels. Both are priced by piece from manufacturer distribution pricing.
Glued Laminated Timber (Glulam): Used for long-span beams, exposed roof structures, and heavy timber construction. Glulam is estimated by piece with species (Douglas Fir, Southern Yellow Pine), stress grade (24F-V4, 24F-V8, etc.), width, depth, and length. Typically requires 4–8 week lead times from fabricators - a detail we flag in every estimate so your client can order before the framing crew is on site.
Wood-framed multi-family construction - apartment buildings, condominium complexes, and mixed-use buildings with wood-framed residential floors above a concrete or podium level - is the highest-volume wood framing market in the US. A 200-unit garden apartment complex can consume 1.5 to 3 million board feet of dimensional and engineered lumber. An error of 5% in a lumber takeoff at that scale is a $75,000 to $150,000 material cost problem that shows up when the framing crew runs out of lumber on the third floor and the project manager has to explain why he is paying rush delivery charges.
Multi-family lumber takeoffs have several characteristics that make them more complex than single-family residential:
Repetitive floor packages: A 4-story wood-framed building may have identical (or nearly identical) framing plans on floors 2, 3, and 4. We identify the repetitive zones, take off one floor in full detail, verify it against each upper floor for deviations (stacked openings, unit mix changes, mechanical shaft locations that shift), and build the count floor by floor rather than applying a blanket multiplier that misses the deviations.
Podium interface conditions: Where wood framing sits on a concrete podium slab, the interface requires sill plates anchored to the concrete with epoxy-set anchors or cast-in anchor bolts, post base hardware at column locations, and special framing at stair and elevator core openings that penetrate the podium. These conditions are often shown in structural details rather than the framing plan, and are easy to miss in a plan-only takeoff. We review structural details specifically for podium interface conditions before the count is finalized.
Shear wall hardware: Multi-family wood-framed buildings rely on wood structural panel shear walls for lateral resistance. Shear walls require holdown anchors at the ends of each shear wall panel, strap ties at floor-to-floor transitions, and anchor bolt schedules that match the shear wall schedule. We take off holdown hardware from the structural shear wall schedule - not as a generic allowance - because holdown quantities and sizes drive a meaningful portion of the hardware cost on a multi-family project.
Accurate framing takeoffs priced for your specific project type. No hidden fees. Get 30% off your first estimate.
Custom homes, additions, and standard tract housing.
Apartment complexes, student housing, and mixed-use.
Heavy timber, structurally complex wood frames.
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