Course outline

Module 11 · Capstone: bid the Amazon Distribution job 3 minUpdated September 14, 2026

Capstone part 2: take off and price the three finishes

In part 2 you price the job. The takeoff already gives you 10,861 SF of polished concrete, 3,692 SF of sealed concrete and 533 SF of epoxy. First, turn the specification's coverage rates into material quantities. Then price each finish with the scope calculator — crew days, crew size, your burdened rate and material cost per square foot — and add mobilization. A worked answer with illustrative rates follows so you can compare your approach.

By Michael Reddy, IntelBid

After this lesson you can

Calculate material quantities from specified coverage rates
Price three finishes line by line with the scope calculator
Assemble a base bid and sanity-check it

Use your own numbers first

Price the job with your own crews, rates and supplier costs before you read the worked answer. The worked answer uses illustrative rates — it shows the method, not market prices.

Step 1: material quantities from the spec

Section 03 3565 gives coverage rates for the polished concrete products. Use them the way the order quantity lesson teaches — round up to whole units, and remember the range.

Densifier and protective treatment for PC-01Worked example · illustrative numbers

Polished area: 10,861 SF
Densifier coverage (spec range): 500–700 SF per gallon
Protective treatment coverage (spec range): 2,000–3,000 SF per gallon
Protective treatment coats planned: 2 (spec allows up to 3)

Densifier at the midpoint: 10,861 ÷ 600 = 18.1 → 19 gallons.
Densifier at the low end of coverage: 10,861 ÷ 500 = 21.7 → 22 gallons — price to the range, not the best case.
Protective treatment: 10,861 × 2 coats = 21,722 SF ÷ 2,500 = 8.69 → 9 gallons.

Order around 22 gallons of densifier and 9 gallons of protective treatment, plus diamonds, pads and consumables. For EPX-01, get coverage per gallon at the specified mils from the manufacturer's product data.

Step 2: price each finish

Use the calculator below once per finish. Think about what drives crew days on each: polished concrete needs multiple grinding and polishing passes plus 1,035 LF of edge work with hand equipment; sealed concrete is fast; epoxy needs prime, coat and topcoat passes with cure time between them.

Price one scope

Scope calculator

The same calculator that's built into IntelBid's proposal and change order builders. Enter the crew days and your material cost — your crew, hours, rates and margin are remembered in this browser.

Labor type

Crew days

days

Material cost (incl. tax and freight)

$ / SF

Quantity

Unit

Crew size

workers

Hours per day

hrs

Burdened rate — Open Shop

$ / worker-hr

Material waste

Gross margin (overhead + profit)

Total cost: $12,511; Labor $2,560 · material $9,951
Sell price: $25,022; $12,511 gross profit at 50% margin
Unit price: $8.34 / SF; 750 SF per crew-day

In IntelBid this applies straight to a proposal line and remembers the numbers for that scope. Start your free trial

Worked answer — illustrative ratesWorked example · illustrative numbers

Burdened open shop rate: $42 / worker-hour, 8-hour days
Gross margin: 50% on each finish — double direct cost, to cover overhead and profit
PC-01: 9 days, crew of 3, $0.85/SF material, 5% waste
SC-01: 2 days, crew of 2, $0.35/SF material, 5% waste
EPX-01: 3 days, crew of 2, $3.10/SF material, 10% waste

PC-01: labor 9 × 3 × 8 × $42 = $9,072; material $0.85 × 10,861 × 1.05 = $9,693.44; cost $18,765.44 ÷ 0.50 = $37,530.88 → $3.46/SF, line $37,579.06.
SC-01: labor 2 × 2 × 8 × $42 = $1,344; material $0.35 × 3,692 × 1.05 = $1,356.81; cost $2,700.81 ÷ 0.50 = $5,401.62 → $1.46/SF, line $5,390.32.
EPX-01: labor 3 × 2 × 8 × $42 = $2,016; material $3.10 × 533 × 1.10 = $1,817.53; cost $3,833.53 ÷ 0.50 = $7,667.06 → $14.38/SF, line $7,664.54.
Lines: $37,579.06 + $5,390.32 + $7,664.54 = $50,633.92.
Mobilization, including the mockup trip: $1,500 of cost at the same 50% margin = $3,000.

Base bid of about $53,630 — double the direct cost. If your overhead runs 25% of revenue, about $13,400 of that pays overhead and about $13,400 is profit. Your number will differ — what matters is that every finish is priced from crew days, material and a margin that covers your overhead.

Step 3: sanity-check before you move on

Did you price the 23-mil aggregate area at the scrubber dump differently from the 12-mil areas?
Did you include the mockup — its labor, material and extra trip?
Did you carry gloss testing and re-burnishing until possession, or plan to qualify it?
Is edge work in your polished concrete days? 1,035 LF with hand equipment is slow.
Does your margin cover your overhead? A gross margin below your overhead percentage loses money even if every cost is right — see markup vs. margin.
Compare price per SF with similar past jobs — see checking your bid price — and set your walk-away number.

Key points

Turn spec coverage ranges into whole-unit orders — and price to the range.
Price each finish separately from crew days, material and margin.
Check hidden cost items: mockup, aggregate areas, edge work, protection.

In IntelBid · Sample project → Proposal builder

Price the sample project's lines

In your IntelBid sample project, run Auto Draft to turn the takeoff into these three lines, then open the calculator icon on each line and enter your crew days and material cost. The price lands on the line, and the calculator remembers your numbers for each scope.

Try it in IntelBid

A 2-minute guided tour on a sample project — nothing touches real data. New to IntelBid? You'll start a free trial first.

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About the author. Michael Reddy builds IntelBid, bid management software for commercial flooring subcontractors. These lessons come from the bid desk: how the work is priced, won and paid for.