A construction calculator has specific functions that allow you to more easily do construction-related calculations. Some people swear by them, and others paid a lot of attention in fifth-grade geometry and don't need them. What do you think?
I spent a good five years working on houses before I realized that construction calculators were a thing, and that they did useful calculations relating to building things. Before that, there was a lot of scratch paper in my life, and swearing at the memory of the middle-school math teacher who told me I'd definitely be using the Pythagorean theorem later in life. (I thought I was going to be a marine biologist… only one of us was right about what "later in life" would look like.)
If you haven't used a construction calculator before, here are a few things you can do with one:
- Work in feet/inches, yards and fractions (as well as metric)
- Slope- Slope is measured in rise for every 12" of run and often used for roof calculations
- Area, volume, perimeter
- Studs - Calculate the number of on-center studs needed for a particular length of wall.
- Paint - Calculates amount of paint needed for a given area
- Footers - Calculates the amount of concrete needed based on a particular length of wall.
- Drywall - Calculates number of drywall sheets (based on different sizes of drywall sheets) for an area of wall
- Blocks/bricks - Calculates the number of blocks or bricks needed for a given area
And a lot more.
Personally I used a construction calculator almost exclusively when I was building the addition on my last house. There were so many calculations to do at any given time, and the calculator provided a quick and easy way to estimate the materials I needed or to get a feel for the specific part of the project I was working on.
Now that I'm working on less intense projects, I find myself reverting to the good 'ol math-and-scratch-paper method of calculating materials.
Construction calculators—with varying levels of functionality—can be found both at big box stores and online (like this version) or as apps for your smartphone (like Carpenter's Helper.)
For those of you who do a lot of DIY and construction, what are your feelings on construction calculators? Would you recommend them to someone who is new to DIY, or is basic math the way to go?
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