Quick Answer: A tile takeoff measures every tile surface off the drawings, floors, walls, shower surrounds, backsplashes, sizes the tile pieces at the module from the notes, and sizes thinset, grout, and waterproofing membrane against the area. CyanBuild reads your tile sheets, pulls each of those quantities off the scaled drawings, and ties every line back to the room and location it came from, with a confidence flag on every measurement so your estimator knows what to verify.
Tile takeoff is the process of measuring every quantity on a tile plan, the units your trade actually bills on. Done by hand it means tracing each floor and wall surface with a scale wheel and dividing by the tile module, which is slow and error prone on a layout heavy set. AI reads the same sheets in seconds and reports the same quantities, with the math shown for every number. The result is a line item takeoff tied back to the room and location it came from, so your bid is defensible and your material order is accurate.
What Trade Specific Takeoff Means for Tile
Tile sits under CSI Division 09 00 00, Finishes, and the work spans floors, walls, shower surrounds, and backsplashes. That breadth is what makes tile takeoff different from a single surface trade. A tile takeoff has to read floor plans, wall elevations, and shower details, and pull quantities in three different shapes: SF for the surface area, eaches for the trim pieces, and cubic feet or bags for the thinset and grout. A trade specific takeoff understands that a 12 by 12 floor tile and a 4 by 4 wall tile are billed at different costs, and that the piece count comes from the module, not from the SF alone.
Trade specific takeoff also understands the wet area package. A shower surround is not just tile SF. It is tile SF, plus waterproofing membrane SF behind the tile, plus a sloped mortar bed in cubic feet, plus a drain assembly, plus corner trim pieces at every vertical edge. Generic takeoff tools that only measure floor SF miss the wall tile, the membrane, and the trim, which is where a lot of tile bids lose money. A trade aware takeoff reads the floor plan, the wall elevation, and the shower detail together and sizes the full package.
What Counts on the Drawings
On a typical tile plan set, the quantities you need to pull are: floor tile SF by room and tile type (ceramic, porcelain, natural stone), wall tile SF by room and elevation, shower surround SF, backsplash SF, tile piece count at the module from the notes, base shoe and cap trim LF by type, transition strip LF at every doorway, thinset bags by tile type and substrate, grout bags by joint width and tile size, waterproofing membrane SF in wet areas, backer board SF in wet walls, and any sealant or caulk.
The floor plans carry the floor tile layout and the tile type, with a tile schedule that lists type, size, finish, and location. The wall elevations carry the wall tile and the backsplash, with the height and the trim. The shower details carry the waterproofing, the mortar bed, and the drain. When the floor plan and the elevation disagree on the room size, which happens on a lot of sets, the estimator has to decide which to trust. That decision is where a lot of tile bids lose money, because the SF drives the thinset, the grout, and the membrane at the same time.
What Good Takeoff Software Does for This Trade
Good tile takeoff software reads the scaled floor plan and the wall elevation, measures each surface in SF, and sizes the tile piece count at the module from the notes. It sizes thinset in bags by tile type and substrate, because modified and unmodified thinset are different costs and the coverage depends on the trowel notch. It sizes grout in bags by joint width and tile size, because a 1/8 inch sanded grout joint and a 1/16 inch unsanded joint take very different amounts of grout per SF.
A capable tool also handles the things that quietly eat tile margins. It keeps the floor tile and the wall tile tied to the same room so a room that grows on a revision also updates the trim and the membrane. It flags wet areas where the membrane is not called out, where you have to fall back on a default. And it keeps every quantity tied to the room and elevation it came from, so when the plan is revised you can see exactly what moved instead of redoing the whole sheet.
Must Have Features
- Scaled SF off the floor plan and elevations. The tool has to read the scale bar and report SF for floors, walls, and surrounds. Without the elevations, the wall tile is a guess.
- Tile piece count at the module. The tool has to divide the SF by the module from the notes, with a waste factor. A tool that only reports SF leaves you doing the piece count by hand.
- Thinset and grout by type. Modified and unmodified thinset are different costs, and sanded and unsanded grout are different costs. The tool has to split them.
- Waterproofing membrane in wet areas. The tool has to size the membrane SF in showers and wet walls, not just the tile SF.
- Trim and transition LF by type. Base shoe, cap, and transition strips are billed by the foot. The tool has to measure them and let you tag by type.
- Confidence flags on every line. Every measurement should carry a High, Medium, or Low confidence flag, with the math shown on low confidence items so your estimator can verify in seconds.
- Export tied to room and elevation. The takeoff has to leave the tool in Excel or PDF, with every quantity traceable to the room it came from.
What to Watch Out For
Most generic takeoff tools measure floor SF and stop there. That is fine for pricing a simple floor, but it misses the wall tile, the shower membrane, the trim package, and the thinset and grout, which are typically more than half the cost on a tile job. If the tool you are evaluating only reports floor SF, you are still going to be tracing elevations and counting trim by hand, and that defeats the point of paying for software.
Watch for tools that report tile SF without the piece count. A takeoff that gives you 400 SF of 12 by 12 tile but no piece count leaves you doing the math by hand, and the waste factor matters. The same goes for thinset and grout. If the tool does not size them against the SF and the tile type, you are guessing on the most variable part of the order.
Watch for tools that ignore wet areas. A shower surround without the membrane and the mortar bed is half a takeoff. And watch for tools that do not tie quantities to the room. When the plan is revised, you want to see what moved in that room, not redo the whole sheet.
How CyanBuild Fits
CyanBuild reads your tile sheets, measures every tile surface off the scaled drawings, floors, walls, shower surrounds, and backsplashes, and sizes tile pieces at the module from the notes. Thinset and grout are sized per tile size and joint width, and wet areas get waterproofing membrane in SF. The materials AI identifies include ceramic, porcelain, and natural stone tile, thinset mortar, grout, waterproofing membrane, trim and transition strips, and backer board. Each line item carries a confidence flag so your estimator knows which rooms to verify. Export to Excel or PDF, with every quantity tied to its room and location, ready for pricing and bid.
Putting It Together
A tile bid is only as good as the surface takeoff behind it. When the takeoff only reports floor SF, you are left to trace the walls and the shower by hand and size thinset on a guess. When the takeoff splits the surfaces, sizes the piece count at the module, sizes the thinset and grout by type, and carries the membrane in the wet areas, the bid is defensible and the order is accurate. That is the gap CyanBuild is built to close.