Louisville · Lexington · Northern Kentucky · Bowling Green
Construction estimating services in Kentucky
Takeoffs and priced estimates for Kentucky general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers, measured from your drawings and priced to the ZIP code the job is built in.
- Louisville, Lexington, Northern Kentucky
- Priced by ZIP code
- 24 to 48 hours
In short
Estimating in Kentucky at a glance
MassBid Estimation prepares quantity takeoffs and cost estimates for construction projects across Kentucky. Every trade on the drawings is measured, priced to the project's ZIP code and checked twice, and the package is typically delivered in 24 to 48 hours. Recent Kentucky work includes the storefront package for a 5,600 square foot automotive service building between Louisville and Lexington.
- Markets
- Louisville, Lexington and the Bluegrass, Northern Kentucky, Bowling Green, Owensboro and Western Kentucky
- Recent Kentucky work
- Storefront, doors and windows for an automotive service building
- Kentucky cost drivers
- Limestone and rock excavation, sinkhole-prone ground, a flat 6% sales tax on materials
- Code
- Kentucky Building Code, statewide
- Turnaround
- 24 to 48 hours on most projects
- Checked by
- A separate QA team, twice on every job
- Team
- 20+ in-house estimators, typically 7 to 10 years in the trade
- Quote
- Free, usually back in about 20 minutes
Central Kentucky · Bid day
In Kentucky the surprise is under the topsoil. The estimate should say so before the excavator does.
Kentucky sits at the middle of the country's freight map, and its building follows: distribution centers and manufacturing around Louisville and Northern Kentucky, automotive suppliers along the interstates, and retail and service buildings in every town between.
Most of it is straightforward to build. What catches bidders out is the ground and a few local rules. Four things decide whether a Kentucky estimate holds.
Four things a Kentucky estimate has to get right
01 · The rock
Limestone a few feet down
Much of central Kentucky is shallow limestone. Footings, utilities and detention ponds that would be ordinary digging elsewhere become rock excavation.
What changes
Earthwork is calculated from the grading plan, and rock is separated wherever the soils report shows it.
02 · The ground
Sinkhole-prone sites
The same limestone dissolves. Soils reports in karst areas often require undercutting, engineered fill or grouting that is not on the civil drawings.
What changes
The geotechnical report is read with the drawings, and its requirements are priced or clearly excluded.
03 · The tax
Sales tax on materials
Kentucky charges a flat 6% state sales tax with no local add-ons, and contractors generally pay it on the materials they buy.
What changes
Tax is carried as its own line, so it is never lost inside unit prices.
04 · The map
Louisville rates statewide
Louisville and Northern Kentucky price with their metros; Eastern and Western Kentucky run lower on labor and higher on freight.
What changes
Labor and material are priced to the project's ZIP code.
Kentucky markets
Four Kentucky markets, priced separately
Each prices on its own labor and supplier base.
Louisville
Logistics and air freight, healthcare, manufacturing, distilling and downtown renovation in the state's largest metro.
Lexington and the Bluegrass
University, healthcare, equine and automotive-supplier work, with Georgetown, Richmond and Frankfort.
Northern Kentucky
Covington, Florence and Newport: distribution and commercial work priced with the Cincinnati metro.
Bowling Green and Western Kentucky
Manufacturing and battery plants around Bowling Green and Elizabethtown, with Owensboro and Paducah.
Real Kentucky work
Sample takeoff from a Kentucky project
Two pages from one finished Kentucky job: the storefront package for an automotive service building. The client name, address and title block are removed; the quantities are as delivered. Click either page to enlarge.
Takeoff
Storefront takeoff for a Kentucky automotive service building
Protects you fromOpenings counted from the elevations alone.
Priced estimate
Priced storefront estimate for the same Kentucky building
Protects you fromA price per square foot of opening.
Every estimate is built to the client's own specification, so yours may be laid out differently. To see a past project in your own trade, ask for an example. Examples are finished work for other projects, not an estimate of yours; for pricing on your own job, send your Kentucky drawings for a free quote.
Real Kentucky figures
What the storefront cost on a Kentucky service building
Line totals from the estimate we delivered for the building shown above. Kentucky is a newer market for us, and this is the finished job we can show; the same method applies to every trade.
Glazing came to $24,945 in trade cost, or $4.42 per square foot of building.
Figures are trade cost before markups, from the delivered estimate. They are specific to that project and are not a price guide.
Real jobs, not a price list. Each figure comes from one project, priced for its own ZIP code and that client's wages, overhead and profit. Prices change by region and over time. Yours will be priced for your location.
| Opening | Qty | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Storefront, 13'-10" × 8'-0" | 1 | $4,697 |
| Storefront, 10'-8" × 8'-0", second type | 1 | $4,473 |
| Storefront, 10'-8" × 8'-0" | 1 | $3,372 |
| Storefront window, 4'-0" × 8'-0" | 2 | $3,354 |
| Entrance doors, 3'-0" × 7'-0" | 2 | $4,494 |
Full sample
Read a full sample, page by page
Storefront, doors and windows, from a finished job: a automotive service building, 5,600 sq ft in Kentucky. Open it full screen, scroll through all 5 pages and zoom in on any line.
This is one real job, shown as an example. It was built to that client's own specification: their wage rates, labor style, type of pricing, and overhead and profit. Prices also change by region and over time, so yours will be priced for your location.
Want a current sample in your own trade or specialty, or have a question? Use the contact form, email [email protected] or call (832) 356-4237.
Trades and cities
Services Kentucky contractors ask for most
Storefront and glazing
The job above: frames, doors and glass by mark.
Storefront estimatingEarthwork
Cut and fill with rock separated where the report shows it.
Earthwork estimatingIndustrial and distribution
Slabs, tilt-wall, steel and site for warehouse work.
Industrial estimatingCommercial buildings
Retail, service and office buildings, every division.
Commercial estimating
Kentucky cities we price
- Louisville
- Lexington
- Bowling Green
- Owensboro
- Covington
- Florence
- Georgetown
- Richmond
- Elizabethtown
- Frankfort
- Shelbyville
- Paducah
- Hopkinsville
- Newport
Pricing data
How a Kentucky project is priced
Quantities are priced from our own pricing database, built with local vendors across the United States. The estimator enters the project's ZIP code and gets current material prices for that part of Kentucky.
Material prices change from region to region and from month to month, so a price book or a national average is out of date before the bid goes in.
Priced by ZIP code
Current local material prices for the place the job is built, not a national average.
Updated by vendors
Local vendors update their prices in the database as they change.
Labor as you bid it
Union, open shop, or Davis-Bacon and prevailing wage rates with fringes.
How it works
From Kentucky drawings to a finished estimate
Send the drawings
Plans, specifications and addenda, with the project address or ZIP code, the bid date and any bid form or template you have to fill in.
Free quote
We review the set and reply with a quote and a delivery date, usually within about 20 minutes.
Takeoff, pricing and two QA reviews
Quantities are measured on the drawings and priced to the project's ZIP code. A separate QA team checks the quantities against the plans, then the priced estimate.
Delivery and revisions
The package typically arrives within 24 to 48 hours. Addenda and revisions are free, with no limit and no time limit, and are handled on priority.
The work is done in-house by more than 20 estimators, typically with 7 to 10 years of industry experience.
What it costs
Estimating prices for Kentucky projects
- Single project
- From $199. Simple scopes typically run $100 to $250.
- Larger buildings
- Typically $200 to $500. Large or multi-building projects are quoted individually.
- Monthly plan
- From $1,499 for 10 to 15 projects, for contractors who bid every week.
Every job is quoted individually from the drawings, and the quote is free. See all pricing
After delivery
An editable Excel workbook and free revisions
- Formulas built in
An Excel workbook you can change yourself
The estimate arrives as an editable Excel workbook with the formulas built in. Change a quantity, a rate or a markup and every total follows. Move overhead and profit from 25% to 30% and the whole bid recalculates on the spot.
- No waiting
Adjust your bid at the last minute
If something changes just before the deadline, you do not have to send the estimate back and wait. Open the workbook, change the number and submit. The control stays with you.
- Priority turnaround
Free revisions, with no limit
Addenda, scope changes and pricing updates are all free, however many times you come back, and there is no time limit. Revisions are handled on priority and typically come back within an hour to a few hours.
Questions
Kentucky construction estimating FAQ
Yes. We estimate projects in Louisville, Lexington, Northern Kentucky, Bowling Green, Owensboro and the rest of the state, each priced to the project's ZIP code.
On a 5,600 square foot automotive service building in Kentucky that we estimated, the storefront, windows and entrance doors came to $24,945 in trade cost, or $4.42 per square foot of building. A 13'-10" by 8'-0" storefront frame was $4,697.
Yes. Where the soils report shows rock, it is separated from ordinary excavation so it can be priced at its own rate. If there is no report, the estimate says rock is excluded.
Kentucky's sales tax is a flat 6% statewide with no local additions. It is carried as its own line on material.
Kentucky has no statewide general contractor license; some cities and counties license contractors locally. Electrical, plumbing and HVAC trades are licensed by the state.
Yes. Slabs, tilt-wall or precast panels, structural steel, roofing, site work and MEP are taken off as separate trades.
Both. General contractors get every trade on the drawings; subcontractors get their own trade isolated and returned in the GC's format. Suppliers get quantities only.
Yes. This page shows a full sample from a finished job (storefront, doors and windows, for a automotive service building, 5,600 sq ft in Kentucky), which you can open full screen and read page by page. It was built to that client's own specification, so the wage rates, pricing and overhead and profit are theirs. Ask us for a current sample in your own trade.
From our own pricing database, built with local vendors across the United States. An estimator enters the project's ZIP code and gets current material prices for that part of Kentucky, and vendors update their prices as they change. Labor is priced as union or open shop, or at Davis-Bacon rates with fringes on government work.
Yes. The estimate is delivered as an editable Excel workbook with the formulas built in. Change any quantity, rate or markup and the whole estimate recalculates. If overhead and profit was set at 25% and you want 30%, change that one cell and every total updates, so you can adjust your number minutes before the bid is due without sending it back to us.
As many as you need. Every revision is free, including addenda, scope changes and pricing updates, however many times you come back, and there is no time limit. Revisions are handled on priority and are typically returned within an hour to a few hours, depending on the size of the change.
Most packages are delivered in 24 to 48 hours. The quote is free and usually comes back in about 20 minutes.
A single project starts at $199, and simple scopes typically run $100 to $250. Larger buildings typically run $200 to $500. Every estimate is built to the client's own specification.
Other service areas and services
Bidding a Kentucky project? Send the drawings.
Free quote in about 20 minutes. Takeoffs and estimates typically in 24 to 48 hours, priced to the project's Kentucky ZIP code and built to your format, with free revisions with no limit.