Calculate Building Materials Needed

While working out a job for construction, a few formulas will facilitate to accomplish a successful project.

This civil engineering article highlights some important formulas which play an important role to measure the quantity of material necessary for different building projects.

The calculation can be done for concrete, lumber for framing wall, wall sheathing, framing & decking for a roof, shingles or other roofing materials.

Given below, the details of formulas :-

Concrete
Width x Length x 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 x length, divided with 100 = number of squares of shingles required.

Siding
Width x Height, divided with 100 Square Feet = number of squares of siding required.

Carpet
Width of room x length of room, divided by 9 = number of square feet required for room.

Wood Siding
Width of board less distance of lapping = coverage of wood siding per board.

Also Read: “Building Materials in Civil Engineering” – A useful reference book for construction & civil engineers

Width of area required to be sided x height of area to be sided, divided with coverage calculated above = lineal feet of siding required.

Brick
7 bricks = one square feet of coverage.

Width of area to be covered x height of area to be covered, divided with 7 = number of bricks required.

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

Standard measurement is 12 inches per foot.

Convert Elevation to Inches
One Foot of Elevation measurement is equivalent to 1.2 inches of normal measurements.

Common Terms Used
Board feet = (thickness (in inches) x width (in inches) x length (in inches)) divided by 12 Lineal feet = length only of board.