A concrete estimate template that prices the access, not just the pour.
Cubic yards, forming, reinforcement, and finish, with the placement method that quietly decides the labor bill.
Get the concrete estimate template
A working spreadsheet, not a picture of one. The totals, overhead, and margin are live formulas. We email it over, so no download to lose track of.
One email with the template attached. We will not pass your address on.
Concrete punishes rounding in a way most trades do not. Order short and the pour stops with a cold joint you will be explaining for the life of the slab. Order long and you have paid for material sitting in a truck. Neither gives you time to think once the drum is turning.
The template
| Section | Line item | Unit | What decides it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volume | Slab or footing dimensions | L x W x D | Same units throughout |
| Volume | Cubic yards | Cubic yards | Cubic feet divided by 27 |
| Volume | Waste and overdig | Percent | 5-10% flatwork, more on soft ground |
| Volume | Short load fee | Flat | Supplier minimum |
| Prep | Excavation | Cubic yards or hours | Soil, and whether a machine can reach |
| Prep | Haul-off | Loads | Spoil volume |
| Prep | Base material and compaction | Tons or square feet | Gravel depth |
| Prep | Vapor barrier | Square feet | Interior or to-be-covered slabs |
| Forming | Forms, stakes, bracing | Linear feet | Perimeter, not area |
| Forming | Curves, steps, radius work | Linear feet | Far slower than straight runs |
| Forming | Strip and clean | Hours | Form footage |
| Reinforce | Rebar, mesh, or fiber | Linear feet / sq ft / yards | Load and spec |
| Reinforce | Chairs and tie wire | Lot | Reinforcement type |
| Place | Placement method | Chute / barrow / pump | Access, the biggest swing on the sheet |
| Place | Pump truck | Day rate plus minimum | Beyond chute reach |
| Finish | Finish type | Square feet | Broom, exposed, stamped, polished |
| Finish | Color, release, sealer | Square feet | Decorative work only |
| Finish | Control joints | Linear feet | Cut or tooled |
| Finish | Curing | Square feet | Compound or covering |
| Weather | Hot or cold weather measures | Lot | Accelerator, blankets, retarder |
| Totals | Job cost, overhead, profit | Sum, percent, percent | Three separate lines |
Access is close to a binary cost event
If the truck can back up and run the chute, placement is cheap. Past chute reach you are into wheelbarrows and a much larger crew, a pump truck with its own day rate and minimum, or a conveyor. A backyard patio behind a narrow gate can cost more to place than a driveway twice its size.
Walk the route on the site visit and photograph it. Gate widths, slope, soft lawn the truck would rut, overhead wires, and the distance from legal parking to where the concrete has to land. This is the most commonly underpriced item in residential concrete.
Forming scales with perimeter
Not with area. A round patio, a curved walkway, or a slab with steps takes far more forming labor per yard than a rectangle, which is why a flat per-square-foot rate quietly loses money on the interesting jobs. The sheet keeps forming on linear feet for that reason.
The arithmetic and the common errors are covered in how to estimate a concrete job.
Finish as its own line
A broom finish and a stamped, colored, sealed finish are the same volume of concrete and nothing like the same job. Keeping finish separate means a customer who changes their mind after seeing the number is a quick adjustment rather than a full requote.
Getting the site conditions into the estimate is most of the accuracy. A quote built from photos of the actual grade and access prices the pour you are going to do, not a simplified version of it.