Tools tagged #estimating

Every ecech. tool tagged estimating: 14 free calculators and utilities across Home & Construction. No signup, runs in your browser.

A 10 by 10 slab at four inches is 1.24 cubic yards. In 80 lb bags that is 56 of them, which is where ready-mix starts to look sensible.

Pressure-treated lumber is sold wet and shrinks across the width. Boards laid tight open up to the right gap on their own.

Sheet length decides how many butt joints you have to hide, and butt joints are the seams that still show two years later.

Rates run from 0.5 to 8 lb per thousand square feet depending on the species, and overseeding is half of new seeding. One number cannot cover that.

A four inch compacted base needs about a quarter more material than its finished volume. Order the finished figure and you run out.

Grout fills joints, and small tiles have far more joint per square foot. The floor size is the least important input.

R-value comes from trapped air, so compressing a batt throws the extra away. R-19 in a 3.5 inch bay gives R-10.6, below the R-13 made for it.

The first coat is partly absorbed and the second is not, so multiplying by the number of coats overestimates. This splits them.

The pavers are the visible cost. The compacted base underneath is the bigger pile, the longer day, and the reason it stays flat.

Shingles cover the slope, but rain falls straight down. The catchment is the footprint, so a steep roof collects no more than a flat one.

A 1,600 sq ft footprint at 6/12 pitch is 1,789 sq ft of roof. At 12/12 it is 2,263. Measuring from the ground is only the first step.

Corners, T-intersections, kings, jacks and cripples are most of the difference between the formula and the pile of lumber you actually need.

Ten per cent is right for a straight layout and short for a diagonal. The same floor needs 132 or 138 square feet depending on the pattern.

Paper is hung in full-height drops, and every drop on a patterned paper is cut to a whole number of repeats. That is where the extra rolls come from.