Estimating Basement Walls

Basement & Stem Walls

The BidMagic construction estimating software includes a section for basement foundation walls, whether built of masonry, concrete or some other material.

Turn on this choice if you will be building any foundation walls, whether of poured concrete, masonry units, or some other material. These walls may consist of any of the following items:

• Basement walls around a finished or unfinished basement.
• Basement partitions inside a finished or unfinished basement. Only include interior basement walls if they are built similarly to the exterior walls. If they are wood frame walls, include them elsewhere.
• Stem walls supporting a concrete slab or wood framing over a crawl space. Stem walls may be on the perimeter of the building, or in the building interior.
• Retaining walls, whether part of a foundation, or part of the landscaping.

Enter the total length of the wall into the Length field. If you lock this field, the larger of the basement perimeter or first floor perimeter will be used.

HINT: Watch out for any interior support walls, and be sure to add them to the length of exterior walls.

Enter the average height of the wall above grade--as measured from average ground level to the top of the wall. Normally this will be a positive number, but it may be negative if the wall ends below grade. Also enter the depth of the wall below grade, measured from average ground level down to the bottom of the wall.

For a poured concrete wall, enter the thickness of the wall, in inches.

The total vertical area of the wall will be calculated for you if it is locked, based on the length and height of the wall.

NOTE: You may need to adjust the vertical area of the foundation wall if you have foundation walls of different heights in different parts of the construction project.