What to Order — The Lumber Takeoff Worksheet

Count the frame on paper first — so you buy once, and you buy right. 22 pages of formulas, a worked example, and four blank worksheets.

🔨 The cheapest hour you will spend

Two things go wrong without a takeoff. You under-order, and lose half a day driving back to the yard instead of framing. Or you over-order, and a pile of lumber sits in the weather until it is too bowed to use — which is money you spent on firewood.

There is a third, quieter cost. Counting the frame on paper forces you to think through how it goes together before you are standing there with a saw running. People who do a takeoff make fewer framing mistakes, and not because of the list.

📐 What's inside

• The one rule underneath all of it — members = (length ÷ spacing) + 1 — and how it handles studs, joists and rafters alike
• Wall counts done properly — base studs, then the extras for corners, wall intersections and every opening: kings, jacks, headers, sills and cripples
• Floors, roofs and sheet goods — joist and rafter counts, rafter length by roof pitch, and why you never deduct window openings from a sheathing count
• A 12 × 16 shed counted end to end — every step shown, assumptions stated, finishing with the order you actually read out at the counter
• Waste factors that are honest — 10% on dimensional lumber, 15% on sheet goods, and the reason it is realism about wood rather than pessimism about your skill
• Four blank worksheets — walls, openings and plates, floor and roof and sheet goods, and the final order. Print them or fill them on screen

🏠 Who it's for

The owner-builder about to place a first lumber order and not wanting to guess. The DIYer who has been quoted a materials list and would like to check it. Anyone who has driven back to the yard mid-build and would rather not do it again.

Written as a companion to The Very Efficient Carpenter by Larry Haun.

📖 Product details

• Format: PDF, instant digital download
• Length: 22 pages, US Letter, print-ready
• Includes: 4 fill-in worksheets, full worked example, reference tables
• Language: English

A counting method, not a structural design. It tells you how many joists at the spacing your plans specify — it does not tell you what size they should be or how far they can span. Those come from your approved plans and your local code.