Pile Takeoff & Materials Estimator

▾ Symbol classes (pile types)

Workflow: draw the Manual map area, choose a pile type, then click Find matching marks. Use Teach symbol only as a fallback when the sheet uses an unusual pile mark.

Estimator tip: keep the green map box around the pile plan only. Use Exclude for schedules, legends, title blocks, and detail views so examples do not inflate counts. Enter each mark's Schedule qty to reconcile against the drawings.

▾ When to use manual controls

Map area

Use on every real sheet before final count. Box only the actual pile plan so schedules, title blocks, and detail views stay out of the count.

Exclude

Use when the plan box must include notes, keys, callouts, or details. Red boxes are ignored by counts.

Teach symbol

Fallback for unusual marks. Box one clean mark, not a label, leader line, dimension, or schedule symbol.

Sensitivity

Lower when real piles are missing. Raise when dimensions, text, or grid marks are being counted as piles.

Review marks

Turn on when Find reports candidates. Keep real missed piles, dismiss junk, then export only after review is clean.

Clear / Reset

Clear marks when the scan is wrong but the taught example is good. Reset symbol when the example itself was bad.

Piles/mark

Use when the pile schedule says one drawn pad or mark represents 2 or more piles.

Schedule qty

Enter the schedule count to catch mistakes before pricing or sending the takeoff.

▾ Manual map area

No map area set. Counts can include schedules or details until you draw one.

X / Y

Width / Height

Fallback when auto area selection is wrong: click Drag map area, then draw a green box around the actual pile plan. Exclude schedules, legends, title blocks, and details separately with Exclude.

▾ Detection settings

Match sensitivity

0.66

Missing symbols? drag LEFT (looser). Marking junk? drag RIGHT (stricter). Re-Detect after each change.

Match rotations

also find symbols turned 90/180/270° (slower)

Min spacing (px)

0 = auto. Increase if two marks land on one symbol; decrease if piles sit very close together.

Number marks

show a number on every mark so each one can be eye-checked

Review candidates

show near-matches that are not counted yet

Auto-set scans every sensitivity and parks the slider where the count is most stable. Review marks are near-matches just below your setting: click real missed piles in Add mode, reject junk in Erase mode, or resolve all at once.

▾ Image cleanup (faint scans / lines)

Plan too light, or gridlines/columns hard to see? Clean it up here. This also improves symbol detection.

Preview cleaned

show cleaned image on the plan

Brightness

Contrast

Threshold

Invert

white lines on black background

Adaptive is best for faded blueprints with uneven lighting; Otsu makes crisp black/white. Detection uses the cleaned image whether or not Preview is on.

▾ Estimator QA

Use this before export: plan area reviewed, schedules/legends/details excluded, amber marks resolved, schedule quantities reconciled, and assumptions written down.

Assumptions / notes

▾ Design check (per pile, from load + soil)

Uses the selected class's pile type. Preliminary sizing aid based on published methods (torque-to-capacity; individual-bearing). Confirm with your engineer & geotech report.

Service load (kips)

Factor of safety

Soil at bearing

SPT N (blows/ft)

Su undrained (psf)

Eff. unit wt γ' (pcf)

Machine max torque (ft·lb)

▾ Bill of materials & cost

Item	Qty	Unit	Unit $	Total $
Project total				$0

Quantities come from your counts × each class's parameters. Edit unit prices to price the job.

▾ Estimate summary (install + totals)

Production (piles/day)

Crew cost / day ($)

Mobilization ($)

Load tests (#)

Load test each ($)

Spoil disposal ($/cy)

Contingency (%)

Labor = crew-days x crew/day (production rate sets days). Materials pull from the Bill of materials prices. Load-test and mobilization are standard deep-foundation bid lines. Tune to your rates.

▾ Export & save

Embed plan image in save

Larger file, fully restores the sheet + marks

Project name

Load a residential structural plan to begin

PDF or image (PNG/JPG). No internet needed for images.
Or click Load demo sheet to try teach-and-count right now.