Building Calculation Formulas

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Written: May 10, 2004          By: Warren Goodrich 

WHILE EXTREME CARE HAS BEEN IMPLEMENTED IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS SELF-HELP DOCUMENT, THE AUTHOR AND/OR PROVIDERS OF THIS DOCUMENT ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ERRORS OR OMISSIONS, NOR IS ANY LIABILITY ASSUMED FROM THE USE OF THE INFORMATION, CONTAINED IN THIS DOCUMENT, BY THE AUTHOR and / OR PROVIDER.

CONCRETE

Width multiplied times Length times Height, divided by 27 = NUMBER of YARDS of CONCRETE NEEDED.

FOUNDATION MASONRY BLOCK

8" HIGH / 16" LONG / 3/8" MORTAR NORMAL JOINT HEIGHT.

ROOFING

Width multiplied times Length, divided by 100 = NUMBER of SQUARES of SHINGLES NEEDED. 

SIDING

Width multiplied times Height, divided by 100 Square Feet = NUMBER of SQUARES of SIDING NEEDED.

CARPET

Width of Room multiplied times Length of Room, divided by 9 = NUMBER OF SQUARE FEET NEEDED for ROOM.

WOOD SIDING

Width of Board MINUS DISTANCE OF LAPPING = COVERAGE OF WOOD SIDING PER BOARD.

Width of area to be sided multiplied by height of area to be sided, divided by COVERAGE CALCULATED ABOVE = LINEAL FEET OF SIDING YOU NEED.

BRICK

7 BRICKS = ONE SQUARE FEET OF COVERAGE.

Width of Area to be Covered Multiplied Times Height of Area to be Covered, divided by 7 = NUMBER OF BRICKS NEEDED.

ELEVATION CONVERSION

Elevation measured in 10ths per foot. 1 of elevation = one foot or 12" equals one foot.

Normal measurement 12 inches per foot.

Convert Elevation to Inches

One Foot of Elevation measurement equals 1.2 inches of normal measurements.

COMMON TERMS USED

BOARD FEET = (THICKNESS [in inches] TIMES WIDTH [in inches] TIMES LENGTH [in inches]) DIVIDED BY 12

LINEAL FEET = LENGTH ONLY OF BOARD.