A masonry take-off looks like straightforward tonnage and square-footage math off the wall types: block sizes, bond patterns, veneer extents, all sitting right there on the architectural drawings. That read is real, and most bidders do it well. The number that actually moves is buried somewhere else.
What the wall types show you
- Unit masonry complete — CMU and brick veneer supply and installation per the wall types: block sizes and strengths, bond patterns, veneer extents, parapets, shaft walls.
- Ties, anchors and accessories — veneer ties and spacing, seismic clips, weep vents, control-joint gaskets, compressible fill.
- Scaffolding for own work — supply, erection and dismantle, real cost against real height and duration, not a GC freebie unless the tender says so.
What the S-series decides that the wall types never mention
Skip this document and even a careful wall-type read still under-prices the job. Five things live here specifically:
- Grouting and reinforcing. Mortar types per location, grout strengths, and the block-core grouting called up on the structural notes. Grouted cells are a real quantity driver, and the plans rarely total them for you. Joint reinforcement and vertical bars in grouted cells and bond beams get placed per the same notes — extract rebar supply as its own fact, since placement and supply aren't always the same trade even on the same wall.
- Prism-strength requirements. Sits beside the grouting language and never appears on an architectural wall type at all.
- Control joint locations and spacing. Spacing rules or explicit locations, each one real labour and material. Miss them at bid time and they get saw-cut in later, at cost, instead of laid out from the start.
- Sample panels and mockups. Sizes, acceptance rules, and whether the approved panel gets to stay in the finished work or has to come down once approval's granted.
- Hot and cold weather limits. Temperature thresholds, protection periods, admixture restrictions on both ends of the thermometer.
Winter work, specifically
Heating, hoarding and admixture requirements for cold-weather masonry are a genuine cost centre on a winter schedule, not a footnote sitting inside the weather limits above. Find the trigger temperature and confirm who supplies the heat and the enclosure — a winter schedule can turn a straightforward wall into a heated-tent operation, and the tender needs to say whose tent it is before the wall goes up, not after the first cold snap.
Where the supply chain gets complicated
Cast stone bands, sills and caps, glass block, and acoustic or burnished units all extract as standard items, but the supply route needs a name attached to it. Who fabricates a cast stone unit changes the lead time and cost structure entirely from a standard CMU order, and treating it like any other masonry line is how a long-lead specialty unit ends up ordered late.
What isn't yours, even when it looks close
- Loose lintels and shelf angles. Supply is typically the steel or misc-metals trade; masonry installs the loose lintels. Extract the split as written — a classic gap where both trades quietly assume the other one is buying the steel.
- Through-wall flashing where by envelope trade. Record who supplies and who builds it in. Masonry usually builds in what another trade supplies, and every set assigns this split differently, so it can't be carried forward from the last job.
- Sealants at control joints. Caulking is usually the sealant trade's. The joint spacing and the joint itself are still masonry's to lay out and price; only the caulk that finishes it belongs to someone else.
Who you're sharing the wall with
| Trade | What to reconcile before you price |
|---|---|
| Steel trade | Loose lintels, shelf angles, embed plates and anchor bolts — supply-versus-install at every interface, checked individually rather than assumed uniform. |
| Waterproofing trade | Through-wall flashing tie-ins, dampproofing at grade, and cavity drainage. |
| Concrete trade | Dowels out of foundations, bond-beam bearing, and grout supply if it's coming from ready-mix rather than site-mixed. |
| General contractor | Scaffold sequencing against other envelope trades, weather protection, and hoisting windows. |
The document worth a second look
Read the wall types once for the product. Then read the S-series structural general notes on purpose, not as a formality, for grouting, reinforcing and prism strength. The wall types tell you what the wall looks like. The structural notes tell you what it actually costs.