How to Count Doors and Windows From Plans (and Check Them Against the Schedule)

To count doors and windows from plans, find the door and window schedules (usually on an architectural sheet near the floor plans), then count every tag on every floor plan and compare your count to the schedule quantity for each type. Where the two disagree, the plan count is usually right but the difference needs an RFI. Once the counts reconcile, use the schedule sizes to figure rough openings, header lengths and trim, and keep doors and windows as separate line items by type and size.

That is the whole job in one paragraph. The rest of this guide is how to do it without missing anything, with a worked example.

Where door and window information lives in a plan set

You need three things, and they are rarely on the same sheet:

1. Floor plans. Every opening is drawn and tagged. Doors usually get a number (often tied to the room number, like 104A) or a type letter in a circle or hexagon. Windows usually get a letter or type code in a different shape. The legend or general notes tell you which shape means what.
2. Door and window schedules. Tables listing each tag or type with size, material, operation (single hung, casement, slider, fixed), glazing, fire rating, hardware set and remarks. On houses they are often on the first floor plan sheet or a dedicated schedule sheet. On commercial sets they can be on an A-6xx sheet with door elevations and frame types.
3. Elevations. Exterior elevations show window heights, head heights, mulled units and transoms that are hard to read on the plan. If a "window" on the plan is actually three mulled units on the elevation, the elevation wins.

Also check the specs (division 08 on commercial jobs) for hardware, glazing and installation requirements, and the structural sheets for header sizes.

If plan symbols are new to you, our plan symbols reference covers door swings, window types and tag shapes.

How to read window size codes

Residential schedules often use four-digit size codes. The first two digits are width in feet and inches, the last two are height:

Watch for whether a schedule lists unit size, rough opening or frame size. They differ, and mixing them up shifts every header and every piece of trim.

Step-by-step: the door and window count

1. List every type from the schedules in a takeoff sheet: tag, size, operation, material, hardware set, schedule quantity.
2. Count tags floor by floor. Mark each tag as you count it. On a PDF, drop a count marker on each one so you can see what you have and have not counted.
3. Count untagged openings too. Cased openings, pass-throughs, garage overhead doors and attic hatches often have no tag. They still need framing and trim.
4. Check elevations for mulled units, transoms and basement or clerestory windows that are easy to miss on the plan.
5. Reconcile. For each type, compare your plan count to the schedule quantity. Note every difference.
6. Resolve differences with an RFI or a clearly stated assumption in your proposal. Don't silently pick one.

Example: reconciling a window schedule

Example: a single-family plan set with this window schedule. The counts below are a worked example.

The plans show a third D window in the second bathroom that the schedule doesn't carry. Maybe the schedule was not updated after a revision, maybe the window was deleted and the tag left behind. Either way, it is an RFI: "Window D appears at Bath 2 on A-102 but schedule on A-101 lists qty 2. Please confirm." Until it is answered, price what you believe is right and say so in your proposal.

Window glass area for the schedule quantities: A is 15 SF x 8 = 120 SF, B is 8 SF x 4 = 32 SF, C is 25 SF x 2 = 50 SF, D is 6 SF x 2 = 12 SF, for 214 SF total. You will use that number for energy calcs, wall area deductions on siding or paint, and sometimes for window pricing.

Rough openings and headers

Once the count is right, the framing math follows from the sizes.

Rough opening (RO). Use the manufacturer's published rough opening whenever you have it. Without it, common rules of thumb are:

• Windows: unit size plus 1/2 in in each direction
• Prehung interior doors: door width plus 2 in, and about 82-1/2 in tall for a 6'-8" door

Header length. For a typical opening with one jack (trimmer) stud on each side, the header is the RO width plus 3 in (1-1/2 in bearing on each jack). Header depth and ply count come from the structural sheets or the code header tables your jurisdiction uses, not from a rule of thumb.

Example (continued): header lengths for the scheduled windows.

If the headers are built from two plies, that is 101.4 LF of header stock before waste and before you round to buyable lengths. In practice you cut headers from standard lengths, so lay out the cuts (a 39.5 in header pair comes out of an 8 ft board with room to spare) rather than just multiplying LF by a waste factor.

Each opening also adds framing beyond the header: two king studs, two jacks, cripples above and below, and a sill for windows. A common estimating shortcut is to carry "1 stud per LF of wall" for framing, which covers the extra studs at openings and corners. If you count openings separately, you can be more precise. Our wall linear footage guide covers how openings affect wall LF.

The door side: hardware, hand and trim

Doors carry more line items per opening than windows:

• Slab or prehung, size and core (hollow core, solid core, fire rated)
• Hand and swing for ordering prehung units
• Hardware set from the schedule: passage, privacy, keyed entry, dummy, deadbolt, closers on rated doors
• Casing per side: about 17 LF per side for a standard 3'-0" x 6'-8" door (two legs at roughly 7 ft plus a head), so both sides is about 34 LF
• Specialty types: pocket door frames, bifold and bypass closet doors, barn doors, garage overhead doors with openers

Count hardware by set, not by door. If the schedule lists hardware set 3 (privacy) on six doors, that is six privacy sets regardless of door size.

Where AI detection helps, and what to review

Counting tags by hand on a large set is slow and error-prone, which makes it a good job for software that does a first pass you check.

In Foreman AI, you upload the plan set and the AI reads every sheet, including the schedules. You can ask "How many type A windows are on the schedule?" or "What hardware set is on door 104?" and the answer cites the sheet. In Takeoff Studio, doors and windows detection finds openings on the floor plans and returns counts, then an AI clean-up pass fixes detection mistakes. You review the result on the sheet and accept it. Every detected opening is an object you can see, move or delete, so the count is auditable.

What to check after any AI count:

• Compare against the schedule. The reconciliation step above still applies. A detection count that doesn't match the schedule is a flag, not an answer.
• Look at dense areas. Closets with bifolds, double doors, and mulled window groups are where any detector, human or software, is most likely to over- or under-count.
• Check untagged openings. Cased openings and garage doors may need a manual count marker.
• Confirm the scale before using any opening widths for headers or wall deductions.

The same plan set also gives you wall linear footage (one-click wall tracing) and room SF, so the door and window counts sit next to the framing and drywall quantities they affect. See the framing takeoff page for how those pieces fit together.

Door and window takeoff checklist

• [ ] Found door schedule, window schedule, hardware schedule (if any)
• [ ] Confirmed whether sizes are unit, frame or rough opening
• [ ] Counted every tag on every floor, with markers
• [ ] Counted untagged openings (cased openings, garage doors, hatches)
• [ ] Checked elevations for mulled units and transoms
• [ ] Reconciled plan counts to schedule quantities, wrote RFIs for differences
• [ ] Pulled header sizes from structural sheets
• [ ] Calculated RO and header lengths from manufacturer data where available
• [ ] Counted hardware by set
• [ ] Carried casing and trim LF per side
• [ ] Kept each type and size as its own line item

Try it on your plans

Upload a plan set, run doors and windows detection, and check the counts against the schedule the way you would by hand. Start free with AI credits, no card required.

FAQ

How do you count windows on a floor plan?

Find the window tags (usually letters or type codes in a symbol) on each floor plan and count every one, marking each as you go. Then check exterior elevations for mulled units, transoms and windows that are hard to see on the plan. Compare your total for each type to the window schedule quantity.

What if the plan count doesn't match the door or window schedule?

Write an RFI that names the tag, the sheet and the discrepancy, and ask the architect to confirm. Until it is answered, price what you believe is correct and state the assumption in your proposal. Don't silently choose one number.

How do you calculate a window rough opening?

Use the manufacturer's listed rough opening for the exact unit. If you don't have it yet, a common rule of thumb is the unit size plus 1/2 inch in width and height. Confirm before framing, because manufacturers differ.

How long should a header be for a window?

For a typical opening with one jack stud on each side, the header is the rough opening width plus 3 inches. A 36-1/2 inch rough opening gets a 39-1/2 inch header. Header depth and plies come from the structural drawings or the applicable code tables.