Estimating & Quoting Software for Cabinetmakers and Joiners

A joinery takeoff is the measured lineal metres of cabinetry, board area, benchtop area and hardware count for every run shown on the plans or elevations, broken down so each can be priced with its own material and labour rate. A complete takeoff typically covers:

• Base units — lineal metres of run, by kitchen, laundry or vanity
• Overhead units — lineal metres of run, priced separately from base units
• Tall units — pantry, fridge and linen towers, usually counted individually rather than by the metre
• Sheet material — board area in square metres (particleboard, MDF or plywood carcass) plus edging in lineal metres
• Benchtops — measured in lineal metres or square metres depending on whether the material is laminate, stone or timber
• Hardware — hinges, runners and handles counted per door and drawer, plus soft-close and kick rail allowances

Benchtops are priced differently depending on material, and treating them all the same way is one of the fastest ways to under-quote a kitchen. A laminate benchtop is usually priced per lineal metre off the joiner’s own rate; a stone benchtop is typically templated and supplied by a stone fabricator as a subcontract cost priced per square metre, with the joiner adding coordination and margin; a timber benchtop sits between the two, priced per lineal or square metre depending on species and finish.

Hardware is a similar trap. Hinges, runners and handles are individually inexpensive, but a kitchen with two dozen doors and a dozen drawers adds up to dozens of individual hardware items, each with its own unit cost — and soft-close mechanisms, corner units and pull-out systems all carry a higher rate than a standard hinge or runner. Counting hardware by door and drawer, rather than estimating a lump-sum allowance, is what keeps a joinery quote accurate.

Kitchens, wardrobes, vanities and commercial joinery are all cabinetry, but the scope and the way you price each is different enough that a rate built for one will not sit neatly on top of another.

Kitchens carry the widest mix of components — base, overhead and tall units, a benchtop in its own material, and the highest hardware count per lineal metre of any residential joinery. Wardrobes are simpler, mostly overhead-height carcass runs with sliding or hinged doors and a lower hardware count, while vanities are smaller runs again, but are often paired with a stone or laminate top and tap and waste penetrations that need to be allowed for. Commercial joinery — reception desks, servery counters, retail fit-out cabinetry — is priced against a specification rather than a homeowner’s brief, usually with tighter tolerances, a fire or moisture-rated board material, and a formal Bill of Quantities.

Custom joinery, built to a specific design and site dimensions, takes longer to measure and price than modular or flat-pack cabinetry, where standard carcass sizes and off-the-shelf components let you price from a catalogue rather than from scratch — but both still need an accurate lineal-metre takeoff before a rate is applied.

My Trade Hub’s automated quantity takeoff reads your uploaded PDF plans and elevations and measures lineal metres of base, overhead and tall units automatically — separating runs by room and by unit type — instead of you scaling each elevation off a printed kitchen or wardrobe layout with a tape measure.

Because the takeoff is automated rather than manual, it is 60 to 75 per cent faster than measuring cabinetry runs and converting them into board area and benchtop quantities by hand, so a set of kitchen or joinery drawings becomes priced quantities in minutes rather than an evening’s work.

The output is a structured, itemised set of lineal metres and areas — not a single black-box total — so you can check every run against the plans before a board area or a benchtop quantity goes anywhere near a quote.

Once lineal metres, board area and benchtop quantities are measured, pricing a joinery job means applying your own rate for each component — base and overhead units per lineal metre, tall units per piece, benchtop per lineal or square metre by material, and hardware per item — then adding install labour and margin on top.

Rates vary with carcass material and finish, door style, benchtop material, and whether the install requires removal of an existing kitchen or vanity first, so the rate needs to reflect the actual job rather than a figure carried over from the last one.

My Trade Hub’s editable rates library holds your own labour and material rates, by unit type and by pricing method, and applies them automatically to the measured quantities — so the same rate structure you use in the workshop is the one that ends up in the quote.

Most joinery under-quotes come down to a short list of recurring mistakes, all of which are avoidable with a consistent takeoff process.

• Pricing a benchtop at the carcass rate instead of its own material rate — laminate, stone and timber all cost and install differently.
• Estimating hardware as a lump sum instead of counting hinges, runners and handles per door and drawer.
• Missing tall units in the lineal-metre count, because they are priced per piece and get overlooked in the run total.
• Under-pricing commercial joinery specifications that call for fire-rated or moisture-resistant board, which cost more than standard particleboard.
• Quoting install labour as part of manufacture, when access, existing kitchen removal or site conditions can add a full day on their own.