Fulls, halves, and corners are counted from the first click as you draw your walls. The Masonry Modeler is masonry estimating software that connects the CMU wall you draw to the materials, crews, equipment, and markup in your bid.
Wall area is a useful starting check. For nominal 8-by-16-inch CMU, 1.125 units per square foot gives a full-unit equivalent. A purchase list also needs the actual fulls, halves, corners, bond beams, and cuts, plus the specified finishes and allowances.
A corner's position and its purchased unit are related, but the specified block determines what you buy. Smooth 8-inch CMU may use regular stock at a corner; textured units or other widths can need special units. Review the corners, openings, control joints, and non-modular heights before pricing.
Real job. Real numbers. The 88th Avenue pump station has a 280 linear foot perimeter broken into 12 wall segments. Rakes, a door, bond beam courses, non-modular height at the parapet.
Tracing it in TMM took 3.7 minutes. The block count came out automatically — not a square-footage estimate adjusted upward, but a rendered wall with every unit in its position.
The takeoff separated stretchers, corner blocks, bond beam units, and the half-high parapet course. Not estimated. Counted.
And the same model labels the wall: that block count travels straight onto the masonry shop drawings, course by course.
The masonry estimating software overview shows how the count connects to the bid. Below is one small worked example with all its assumptions visible.
A simple 20 × 8 ft wall in 8-inch CMU. Start with the units in the wall, then add the crew and equipment it takes to lay them.
Fully grouted example: 360 cells ÷ a sample yield of 240 cells/CY = 1.5 CY.
Mortar: 186 laid pieces ÷ a sample coverage of 31 pieces/bag = 6 bags.
1 mason × 8 hours/day × $20.00/hour. Production rates: 186 pieces and 1.5 CY per mason-day, one day each. Sample wage only; use your full crew cost, including helpers and payroll burden.
Price the fulls, halves, and specialty units, then add mortar, grout, reinforcing, and accessories. Apply your production rates, crew labor, and equipment costs. Review allowances, tax, overhead, and profit against the project scope before issuing the bid.
Square-footage takeoffs apply a factor — typically 1.125 blocks per square foot — then round up. That factor doesn't know about corners, openings, bond beams, or non-modular heights. Block-by-block counts each unit type individually, so the order matches what the crew actually lays.
Non-modular means a dimension does not land on the selected unit module. A remaining height may need a specified half-high unit or a cut from full-height stock. Review both the placed piece and the unit you need to purchase.
The 88th Avenue pump station — 280 linear feet of perimeter, 12 wall segments — took 3.7 minutes from blank canvas to a full block-by-block takeoff. Larger projects take proportionally longer, but the tracing step is fast because it counts as you draw.
Standard stretchers, corner blocks (inside and outside), bond beam units, lintel units, half-high blocks, sill blocks, and cut pieces at non-modular wall ends. Review the placed piece types and their purchased units separately from any waste allowance.
Trace the wall, get the count. Founder pricing at $300/mo while seats last.
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