Practical construction calculators, guides, and helpful resources for estimating materials, measurements, project costs, and quantities. Find simple tools and information for concrete, gravel, lumber, roofing, and other construction projects.
A crawl space foundation is a raised foundation. Perimeter footings and short walls, often with interior piers and beams, hold the floor framing above the soil. That leaves a shallow, unfinished space, usually about 18 to 36 inches high, under the house. The space gives access to plumbing, wiring, and ductwork. It also separates the … Read more
A stem wall is a vertical foundation component built above a concrete footing to support a building and transfer its structural loads into the ground. It is commonly used in residential construction to raise a building above surrounding ground level, create a level building platform, and connect the footing to the structure or floor system. … Read more
A cinder block is a hollow, rectangular masonry unit used to build walls. Strictly speaking, the name describes a block made from cement and coal cinders. In the US today, nearly everything sold under that name is a concrete masonry unit (CMU) made from cement, water, and aggregate such as sand, gravel, crushed stone, or … Read more
If you are asking, ‘How much self leveler do I need?’, the short answer is: divide your floor area by the coverage per bag at your pour thickness, add about 10%, and round up to a whole bag. For example, for 100 square feet at 1/4 inch, a typical 50 lb bag that covers 24 … Read more
If you’ve ever worked on a concrete project, you know that shuttering and shuttering isn’t just about throwing up some boards. It’s the backbone of any successful pour. Shuttering is the temporary mold—sometimes permanent—that holds fresh concrete in the exact shape, size, and position you need until it’s strong enough to stand on its own. … Read more
Screeding is the process of leveling a freshly placed material (concrete, bedding sand, mortar, or a floor layer) to a set height, slope, or flat plane using a straight edge, a screed board, or a machine. The word can also name the tool itself, and in floor work it can name the finished layer. Which … Read more
Whether you’re building a driveway or a base layer, a crushed concrete calculator is the best way to figure out exactly how much material you need without the guesswork. The standard formula is straightforward: multiply your length (in feet) by your width (in feet) by your depth (in inches), and then divide that number by … Read more
1 ton how many cubic yards? The quick answer is that it depends on the material. A ton measures weight, while a cubic yard measures volume, meaning there is no universal conversion. However, as a general rule, 1 U.S. short ton (2,000 pounds) of gravel, sand, or fill dirt equals roughly 0.7 to 0.9 cubic … Read more
Need to figure out how much concrete to order for a patio, driveway, or foundation? The math is straightforward. For a rectangular slab, multiply the length by the width, multiply by the thickness, and convert to cubic yards: Cubic Yards = Length (ft) × Width (ft) × Thickness (in) ÷ 324 For example, a 20 … Read more
To calculate roof square footage, measure the flat footprint of each roof section (length × width), multiply by a pitch factor to account for the slope, and add the sections together. Divide the total by 100 to get roofing squares. Roof area = horizontal area × pitch factor Roofing squares = roof area ÷ 100 … Read more