Free construction calculators online. Calculation of the amount of material for construction Calculator materials for building a house
The very first thing a home owner thinks about is how much the new building will cost, whether there will be enough savings to complete the plan or whether everything will have to be put off until better times.
There are, indeed, a lot of fears here, and even more fears that are not confirmed by anything. You can calculate the budget for building a house in advance, slowly and very thoroughly.
In this case, everything will be taken into account. Unless it will be impossible to count an accidental lightning strike on a construction site or another force majeure event. Although, with rational planning, even such things can be foreseen in advance and should not cause confusion in the work on the construction site. We will try to give the answer to how to simply and correctly calculate the price of implementing a planned house project in our publication.
House price calculation
The easiest way to calculate the price of a future home is to, having in hand a project or at least a sketch of the future structure, contact the specialists of the construction company InnovaStroy. Specialists will offer you a free consultation on questions regarding building a house. The price of the house is calculated by the company's specialists based on your needs and capabilities. The calculation of the project itself and the design of the house can also be carried out by the company’s specialists.
You can take a different route - look at the company’s website for ready-made house designs and ask about current prices according to finished house projects In any case, it is better to directly contact a specialist who can clearly answer the question that concerns you. In particular, he can expertly calculate how much design and construction, decoration, home design or geological surveys will cost. If you want to review these calculations and conduct your own analysis of potential construction costs, then listen to our advice.
The calculator is great, but... Nowadays it is quite fashionable to calculate the cost of construction using an online construction calculator. Sometimes such systems are well designed graphically and present the essence of the issue in detail. However, all these are too rough calculations that have a large level of error, sometimes reaching 50% or more. The reason is obvious - construction calculations cannot be carried out according to general ideas and by substituting visually suitable construction elements into the general estimate. This is too rough a calculation. Therefore, such calculators, despite their apparent professionalism, very often sin with calculations that are too approximate and far from reality.
There is one advantage in these methods of finding out the price of a future home - you can at least see, as they say, the order of the numbers. But nothing more, because in addition to the price of building materials, you also need to find out the cost of their delivery, loading and unloading, installation, and post-installation processing. The cost of transport services alone can range from 5% to 20%. There are many other factors that are often not taken into account in such calculations. Therefore, the longest and most difficult, but perhaps the most correct option is still working with a finished project. Part of any complete construction project for a house is its estimate, which details the price of all materials, as well as the cost of services for their installation and putting the house into operation. Let's take a closer look at how to correctly calculate the cost of construction work.
Foundation price
One of the most expensive jobs in building a house is building the foundation. The cost of installing it depends on the following factors:
- climatic conditions of the area;
- house structure - frame, solid brick or aerated concrete blocks;
- soil type, soil properties;
- selected type of foundation.
When you have this data in your hands, then you can accurately calculate the amount of materials needed for construction and their range. Here are a few indicators that will give you a general idea of how much materials you need to spend on foundation work:
- with a brick foundation wall thickness of 510 mm, the mass of the wall will be 920 kilograms;
- if it is a hollow brick with a wall thickness of 380 mm, then the weight of the wall will be 450 kg;
- lightweight concrete panels with a thickness of 250 to 400 mm will weigh 230-550 kg.
On average, both work and materials for building a foundation of various options will cost 20-30% of the cost of building a house, if you do not take into account the internal design in the cost of the house. You can reduce the cost of building a foundation by arranging a foundation on piles. However, a lightweight pile foundation must be for a small house, otherwise you will need to use special equipment. Meanwhile, a pile foundation may be cheaper due to the fact that there is no need to remove a lot of soil, mix and pour concrete formwork, or build a brick foundation wall. Taking into account such a reduction in the cost of a house project, the price of foundation work may even reach minus 40-50%.
If you are building a regular concrete strip foundation, then you should take into account that for 1 cubic meter of masonry of such a foundation, more than 1 cubic meter of rubble stone or brick will be spent. meters, and cement mortar - 0.4 cubic meters. meters. The construction of pillar foundations for lighter houses with a simple design or built from light wall materials will require a consumption rate of stone or brick at the level of 1-1.2 cubic meters. m per 1 cubic. m of masonry. In this case, no more than 0.27 cubic meters of cement-lime mortar is needed. m. Separately, you should take into account the costs of installing the base and waterproofing.
Walls are an important part of the house
Calculating the price of construction cannot do without calculating the cost of erecting walls. Depending on the materials that can be used in construction - wood, brick, concrete - the price of construction also changes.
There are several practical examples of calculating the price of wall construction:
- a house made of profiled timber should be designed so that for one degree of winter cold there is 0.8 cm of timber;
- if the house is built from solid brick, then with an average air temperature in winter not lower than minus 30 degrees Celsius, the wall thickness should be at least 65 cm;
- the construction of walls from different materials requires different calculation data, therefore, when calculating wall structures, the height and length of the elements that make up the wall should be taken into account.
There are norms for the consumption of bricks during the construction of walls, for example, when laying a wall with a thickness of 250 mm. If you take 1 cubic meter of masonry into account, then it will require at least 400 solid ceramic bricks, 0.2 cubic meters. m of mortar. Based on these standards, it is possible to calculate the need for brick and cement, sand, and other components of masonry.
How much does a roof structure cost?
Calculation of the necessary building materials for the roof begins with the exact figure of the roof slope. It can range from 5 to 60 degrees. Depending on this, the consumption of building materials will be normalized.
For this, a simple formula is used - half the span width of the house is multiplied by the relative value. For example, with a slope of 25 degrees and a house width of 8 m, the calculation will be as follows: 4 m multiplied by 0.47 = 1.88 m - by this height (1.88 m) the rafters must rise. When constructing a roof, an overhang of rafters is usually made, which is from 0.5 m. Roofing materials are taken into account by estimating the roof area. Each material has its own margin of accuracy and joining. For slate roofing it is small, but the need to calculate the length of each element should be taken into account.
If the length of the roof or its width turns out to be greater than required, you will have to cut off half or most of the slate slab and thus, the consumption of this roofing material will increase regardless of the roof area. The situation is similar with metal profile structures for roofing work. It is easier to calculate tiled roofs or roofs made of soft tiles and other materials that can be cut without sections and supplied for construction. However, it should also be taken into account that soft roofing materials can be supplied in roll bags of a certain length, which may also entail additional costs compared to the calculated ones.
Engineering and Design
After the “box” is constructed, construction of utilities should begin. Often, interior decoration of walls and rooms is also done together with them.
Typically, interior, engineering and finishing works include:
- sewerage and water supply;
- construction of a heating system, including installation of a “warm floor” system;
- wiring of electrical networks, installation of engineering electrical appliances. These could be, for example, split air conditioning and ventilation systems;
- construction of any partitions or design objects
- installation of internal fences, fastenings, plastering and interior decoration, including draperies, stretching, wallpapering.
Elements of landscape design should also be included in design decisions. Is it possible or not to count all the necessary nails, screws, sockets and other little things? In principle it is possible, however, this is hardly the developer’s primary task. There is a simple recommendation on how to check the need to install one or another electrical system or plumbing facility.
Check the data with the project, calculate the average number of the same sockets or taps. Take into account only large components, since they will make up the largest part of the construction cost. To the estimate for all these materials, you can safely add 50% of their cost, and in some cases, for example, when installing a specific bathtub or equipping an indoor pool with a self-cleaning system, then even 100%. This will be a rough, but quite close to reality, estimated cost amount construction work.
It should be noted that the cost of unique work, for example the construction of a decorative fountain, can be significantly more expensive than traditional bricklaying, although in fact they are the same thing. The fact is that such specific types of work are usually undertaken by narrow specialists, therefore the price of such work may be higher and this is justified.
Three myths of calculating construction costs
There are some important tips that will help you avoid unnecessary risks when calculating the cost of building a house.
To reduce the cost of construction as much as possible, since savings or cash are not always in the right amount, some developers make three mistakes that can, instead of saving money, cost them significant unforeseen expenses. These are the typical mistakes:
- Hiring unprofessional builders who can reduce the cost estimate by up to 50-60%. As it turns out later, laying certain building materials requires experience, and unprofessional pouring of the foundation or starting to lay walls will lead to more disastrous consequences - deformation of walls or ceilings, poor foundation stability. In addition, the consumption of building materials will be much higher, since non-professionals simply do not know how to lay mortar correctly and on time, rationally lay bricks or do roofing work. There are especially many questions regarding internal and engineering work. As a result, all actions aimed at supposed “savings” will result in an even larger budget.
- The price of work without a project or a detailed design is cheaper, and construction work without an estimate, which can “save” 10-15% of the construction cost, is better than the full development of project documentation.
We have already explained what unprofessional work with building materials can result in. Approximately the same will happen when you do not have complete documentation on hand. The finished house project with all its necessary components also includes detailed plans, including utility lines, placement of certain devices and components. The estimate can be clarified and drawn up specifically for the house, for certain materials and models of windows, walls, drywall, nails, screws, taps and similar construction details.
On the one hand, this may seem like unnecessary and overwhelming detail, and you really may not require such overly accurate calculations. On the other hand, if you are building a large house, then such details can ultimately make up a significant part of the construction budget. In any case, the presence of estimate documentation disciplines both the developer and the builder, since there is a document and specific technical instructions for construction.
- You can find out the price of building a house from your friends and use it as a guide when making decisions.
This is not entirely the right decision. If the start of construction of a house follows all the rules and in this case:
- geodetic work is carried out;
- the house project is drawn up by a competent professional designer;
- all conditions for the placement of the house, the need or, conversely, the absence of the need to erect a heavy, powerful foundation, the construction of a certain type of walls or roof, are established based on the results of research;
- The calculation of materials is done according to standards, and not by “eyeball”, then the results of calculating the construction price may differ significantly.
The price of a house is individual, just like a person’s character. In one area with a difference of hundreds of meters, the composition of the soil may change. The architectural and planning solution may also change. The simplest thing that can significantly increase or decrease the cost of a house is the presence or absence of utilities, including electricity and water. Therefore, assessing the price of a building based on friendly advice may turn out to be very inaccurate information.
How to count correctly
If you decide to correctly calculate the price of a house, then you should take into account many factors. Independently calculating the construction price can lead to gross miscalculations. And the point is not only that the developer does not always have complete information about the price of materials or the cost of construction work. The fact is that there are many other circumstances that influence the price of construction:
- seasonality of work;
- payment and its form;
- materials recommended for construction;
- discounts offered by the order executor;
- rational construction methods.
We have named only a few additional, but significantly influencing the price of construction, factors. For example, if you decide to finish building a house in winter, then the price of construction will increase, since you will need to pay for more expensive labor and the necessary additives to the solutions, the use of frost-resistant binding materials, which are not used in the spring-summer season.
If we summarize our research, we can come to the obvious conclusion - construction and its calculations are not easy and require significant special knowledge or extensive construction experience. Correct calculation will save your money and time, and most importantly, it will give you confidence that you will be able to complete the construction of your house on time and without difficulties.
Construction work largely depends on the correct preliminary calculation of all necessary materials. Since a very large number of different types are used in this area, it is not possible to immediately come to the store and say: give me this or that, so that there is enough.
Before purchasing materials on the website pyramida.kh.ua, you should first evaluate the entire scope of work and roughly estimate how much to buy. There are many rules on how to correctly count such purchases.
Let's start the calculations
Performing calculations is a fairly simple process, but there are certain rules you should know when doing them. Each type of material has its own specific technique, which is tailored to certain conditions.
Today, to facilitate such procedures, you can use special services on the Internet, where you just need to indicate your parameters and the calculator will give you the required amount.
But to understand how this procedure occurs, let’s consider the basic rules for calculating some building materials:
- Concrete is always calculated according to the required volume. To do this, you first need to know this parameter. The volume itself is calculated based on the amount of crushed stone.
- Putty. The consumption of this material varies, but in most cases it is indicated on the packaging. To find out the full volume of material required, multiply the working area by this parameter.
In construction, there are many different materials that are used as finishing. To find out the required quantity of some of them you need:
- Tile. When calculating the number of pieces required, you first need to know the area (wall, floor). After this, you need to calculate the area of the material itself (the area of 1 tile) and then divide the total parameter by the last number found. To find out the exact quantity, you need to round the resulting parameter to the nearest upper number.
- Wallpaper. Calculating the required number of such products is not difficult and roughly boils down to the previous technology, where you need to find out the total area, height of the walls, length and height of the walls. The height of the ceiling often plays a role, since the length of the roll is not always a multiple of a certain number of strips, which can lead to large residues.
When calculating all building materials, the entire procedure boils down to finding the required quantity and calculating them based on average use for a certain volume, area, etc.
Building a house is a responsible and complex process, the nuances of which are known only to professionals. But the cost of building a house is primarily influenced by the amount of building materials used and the size of the building, so it is possible to roughly estimate the cost of construction for the selected project using online calculators.
Using a calculator and a house project, you can imagine its approximate cost Source zen.yandex.ru
Types of house construction calculations
There are several types of calculations, and a specific construction calculator is usually created for one of them. To understand what results to expect from the calculations, you need to understand what type of calculations are used:
By total area of the house. A very approximate method of calculation - you indicate the linear dimensions of the building, the estimated number of floors and material for the walls, and the calculator gives an estimated cost.
By project type. A more complex method of calculations, which is carried out in several stages - based on architectural, structural and engineering projects. The cost of building the “box”, finishing work and the cost of laying out utilities are shown separately here. The accuracy of the calculations depends on the number of templates included in the calculator.
Foundation calculators. Allows you to roughly imagine the amount of building materials (concrete, reinforcement, boards for formwork) that will be required for the work. The accuracy of the calculations also depends on the number of templates included in the calculator.
Interface of the online foundation calculator Source nkkconsult.ru
Universal calculators that allow you to include in the calculations the types of floors and the material from which they are made (blocks, bricks, wooden beams, or even). In some cases, you can even consider houses designed using half-timbered technology.
Video description
In this video we will discuss what the cost of a wooden house consists of:
Depending on the templates and formulas included in the construction calculator, as a result you receive a calculation of the cost of building a house as a whole, or part of the work, so that you can choose the best option.
In what cases and how is a construction calculator used?
To properly use an online construction calculator, you need to clearly understand its pros and cons. At the same time, first of all you have to focus on the shortcomings:
Lack of flexibility. Any calculator makes calculations solely based on its built-in templates and formulas. If you need to calculate data for which the calculator is not provided, then you won’t be able to reconfigure it and you will have to do everything manually.
Low transparency of calculations. Even if the calculator contains exact formulas, the user has no way to check what exactly and how correctly he thinks, since everything is hidden behind the user interface intended exclusively for entering primary data.
Behind the user interface, the formulas by which the calculations are performed are not visible - only the initial data and the result Source nkkconsult.ru
Despite such significant disadvantages, various construction calculators are still very popular - this is due to the following positive aspects:
Based on the initial data that the calculator requires, you can still imagine the progress of the calculations and what to look for when choosing a project or communicating with the specialists who will perform the work.
Based on the results generated by the calculator, you can compare the cost of work with different materials or compare the price of houses built using different technologies.
As a result, the main task of a construction calculator is to clearly show the user how approximate calculations are made and what the difference is in the cost of houses built using different technologies.
At the same time, it is not recommended to use a building materials calculator for building a house for any precise calculations, since it is often unknown what formulas and with what tolerances the calculations are made.
What do construction calculators calculate?
In order to carry out the most correct calculation of the main building materials for the construction of a building, it is necessary to decide in advance on the design of the house that will be built. When the configuration of the future cottage is known, this data can be used in an online calculator to calculate the amount of materials needed.
An example of a finished wooden house project Source nkkconsult.ru
Calculation of materials for the foundation
The foundation accounts for approximately a third of all construction costs. Laying out the foundation is one of the first stages of work and calculations usually begin with it. To calculate the amount of building materials, it is proposed to select or manually set the following data:
type of foundation - strip or pile-grillage (it is impossible to calculate a completely pile foundation online, since too many variables must be taken into account);
foundation shape – usually rectangular or with additional load-bearing walls;
linear dimensions - depending on the accuracy of the calculator;
solution proportions - concrete grade;
thickness, and in some cases, the desired length of the formwork boards;
type of reinforcement.
After calculations, the calculator displays the volume of future pouring, the amount of reinforcement and wire for tying, and the cubic capacity of boards for formwork
The nuances of the calculation that arise can be clearly seen in the example of calculating the amount of mortar for pouring a strip foundation measuring 5x6 m for a small country house with two rooms.
A strip foundation is a concrete foundation laid along the perimeter of the house frame under all its load-bearing walls and transferring the load from the cottage to the ground.
Strip foundation Source lyfo.ru
On our website you can find contacts of construction companies that offer house design services. You can communicate directly with representatives by visiting the “Low-Rise Country” exhibition of houses.
When calculating the volume of fill, the width of the base (for example, 40 cm) is multiplied by its depth (50 cm). The resulting cross-sectional area is multiplied by the length of the walls (3 x 5 m and 2 x 6 m).
The simplest calculation could look like this: 0.4x0.5x((6x2)+5x3)) = 0.4x0.5x27 = 5.4 cubic meters. m of solution.
But there is one nuance here that must be taken into account - when the 6 m sides are filled with concrete, then part of the 5 m wall volume is also “captured”. If you do not pay attention to this point, you can order more concrete than necessary. In fact, the calculation will be 0.4x0.5x((6x2)+(4.2x3)) = 0.4x0.5x24.6 = 4.92 cubic meters. m of solution.
Correct calculation of the volume of a strip foundation Source nkkconsult.ru
As you can see, even on a small foundation the difference is noticeable - a mistake of half a cube of solution, and that’s 1.5-2 thousand rubles...
To find out the approximate cost of various types of foundations, use the following calculator:
Nuances of calculating the consumption of bricks and blocks for walls
Since bricks and building blocks have a rectangular shape, the calculation of building a house is carried out with approximately the same initial data, so most calculators for calculating walls can be used for each of these materials.
To calculate the number of blocks or bricks, the online construction calculator will request the following data:
the total length of all walls of the house (perimeter, m);
area of door and window openings;
the thickness of the building walls (the thickness can be half a block, as well as 1, 1.5 or 2-2.5 blocks);
The width of the masonry is 2 bricks Source azbuka-stroy.ru
weight and price of one block (kg and rub.);
thickness of the mortar in the masonry (cm) - usually this indicator ranges from 3 to 10 mm;
height of walls at corners (cm);
type and size of future blocks: length, width and height (mm), and some calculators allow you to take into account the voids of blocks, which is used in a number of calculations.
Building Blocks Options Source nkkconsult.ru
Important! In some calculators, the thickness of the masonry joint is not indicated separately. This means that either it is not taken into account at all, or the “format” rule applies, in which the dimensions of a unit of building material are increased by 1 cm (by the standard seam thickness).
Based on all these indicators, the total area, weight and cost of the masonry are calculated. Approximately the cost of constructing block (brick) walls will be 1/3 of the cost of building the entire house.
Video description
The video provides an example of manual calculation of the number of bricks:
What is pre-calculated during the construction of frame houses?
The frame-type house construction calculator allows you to pre-calculate the approximate amount of materials before contacting the specialists of the selected construction company.
To prepare an estimate, the following parameters are calculated:
foundation (for the construction of ordinary frame houses, a pile foundation is excellent, and in the case of unstable soil or for a heavier cottage, a strip or slab foundation);
the amount of material required for insulation - calculated depending on local climatic conditions;
roof dimensions - there is a significant difference between a regular roof and an attic roof;
parameters of utility networks and other communications - not a single calculator can provide all the nuances;
amount of wind and vapor barrier materials;
external and internal finishing of the future building - depending on the selected materials.
To correctly select the foundation and type of roof, it is necessary to perform a detailed calculation of the specific gravity of the walls, floors and roof. Depending on the size of the cladding material, the dimensions of the building and the roof structure, builders select a transverse or rack beam for the load-bearing structure of the house.
Source market.sakh.com
The basis of any frame house is the upper and lower frame, which also need to be calculated - both in terms of strength and in terms of the volume of building materials used. The cross-sectional area of the timber is usually taken as the basis here.
Video description
An online calculator will help you make an approximate calculation of materials, as shown in the following video:
Calculation of the amount of finishing materials
To calculate the construction of a house, it is important to determine the amount of finishing material for the walls. One of the most common materials is various types of lining, using an example of which you can consider the nuances of calculations.
The first parameter that affects the price is the type of lining (wooden or plastic), which determines its dimensions.
Wooden lining is a natural material that is durable and has a long service life. The only drawback of this building material is its high susceptibility to moisture content in the air, which is why it is necessary to include various impregnations, varnishes or paints in the estimate. The dimensions of the lining vary in the following ranges: length - from 210 cm to 600 cm; width – 8, 10, 11, 12, 15 cm; thickness: 1.3 cm, 1.6 cm, 1.9 cm, 2.5 cm.
Plastic lining has an increased service life and absolute moisture resistance, making it excellent for finishing the exterior surfaces of a house. For this type of lining, the dimensions will be as follows: length - from 300 cm to 600 cm; width – 10, 12.5 or 15, 20, 25 cm; thickness: 5, 7, 8, 10 mm.
Calculating the amount of lining using an online calculator Source iapplenews.ru
To calculate the required amount of lining, the following data is used:
number of windows, their height and width;
number of doors and their sizes;
building perimeter and wall height.
Knowing the area of the building facades and the area of a unit of facing material, you can calculate the amount of lining or other type of siding by dividing the first by the second. The same thing happens when calculating floor coverings inside the house.
Such a building materials calculator will also help calculate the number of specific elements, for example, cornices, strips (starting or finishing), soffits, trims, and other things.
Also, when calculating finishing materials for interior work, the volumes and quantities of paint or wallpaper, flooring and plaster are taken into account.
Video description
Video example of calculating the amount of linoleum required:
The consumption of many of them (for example, primers or paints) is indicated on the label by manufacturers. Therefore, you only need to know the coverage area (height times width, minus the area of windows or doors).
Universal online calculators
To determine the approximate cost of the entire construction, a universal, easy-to-use construction calculator is used. This program is designed to perform a preliminary calculation of the price of a house, taking into account the basic parameters.
Online calculator for calculating building materials Source apkpure.com
By choosing a specific construction technology using a construction calculator, you can quickly compare the cost of building a building in different configurations.
When calculating the cost of construction using an online calculator, the following indicators are taken into account:
foundation type;
area of the house;
number of storeys;
type of roof;
type of floors (material used for their construction);
types of construction and finishing materials.
In universal calculators, it is possible to enter the dimensions of the building (height, width and length), as well as window and door openings, certain dimensions of each room, the depth and width of the foundation, the angle of the roof and the type of heating.
An example of an online calculator for calculating the cost of a turnkey house Source nkkconsult.ru
For example: building an economy option (a one-story cottage with an area of up to 80 sq. m) can cost 1 million rubles or more. Basic two-story houses with an area of 150 square meters. m, will cost at least 2 million rubles. The highest price will be for the construction of large and spacious premium class mansions with a total area of more than 350 sq. m. m – from 5 million rubles.
Conclusion
The main purpose of using an online calculator is to save time. The program makes it possible to calculate the approximate cost of building a house quickly and easily. However, it is worth considering that such software implies a considerable error in the calculations. Accordingly, accurate results can only be obtained from a specialized company.
Using an online calculator, it is easier to decide on a suitable project for your future home. The process of calculating the cost of a house is not influenced by the human factor, and the application itself is often free and accessible to everyone. And yet, in order to reduce errors in calculations to a minimum, it is recommended to contact specialized companies with experienced craftsmen.
Regardless of whether you want to build a house from timber or brick, you definitely need calculation of building materials, which will be used for the foundation at the beginning and finishing at the end, not to mention the roofing.
You are about to build a house. This is a very serious undertaking and, undoubtedly, you decided to approach it with all responsibility. This means that it must be decided what the external and internal walls will be made of, what kind of ceilings and floors there will be (this is not always the same thing), what material will be laid on the roof. If the cottage is made of brick, this does not mean at all that you will not need boards or hardware. Therefore, we begin to compile a list of everything necessary in order to then calculate the building materials.
Foundation calculator
The foundation is the basis of everything, so let’s look at it first. There are options here. Most often, in order to save money, a tape type is made. That is, a ditch is dug strictly along the perimeter of the building, which is filled either with ready-made reinforced concrete blocks with additional cement filling, or simply with concrete mortar. Therefore, you at a minimum need sand, crushed stone and water in certain proportions. To lay blocks, which are quite large in size, into a trench, you will need to use a crane. A columnar foundation is less commonly used, which will save a lot of building materials; even less often, houses are built on wooden piles, which are separate beams or logs.
Next, you should make calculations for the walls, including the plinths. Different types of blocks, timber or logs are used for construction. Determining the amount of materials for each of the listed options is carried out separately, however, the formulas for woodworking products are quite similar. Since beams, as well as bricks, are sold by cubic meters, you will have to operate not only with areas, but also with volume, correlating these completely different units of measurement. The main difference in determining the number of building blocks and is precisely in the area of the walls, since for the first all openings can be subtracted, but for the second they will have to be included in the cost.
The calculation of rafter legs can be performed separately or combined with the calculation of the amount of timber for building a house. In addition, it is quite possible that the project will include metal trusses, which means it will be necessary to purchase hardware, at least a corner, or pipes with a square or rectangular profile. This will require additional calculations of rolled metal, especially with regard to the resistance of the structure to loads. The amount of roofing covering is calculated separately, based on the roof area and its shape, for example, a multi-gable version will require more materials due to the high percentage of waste.
The foundation of any building must be reliable, and if the cottage is built from ordinary brick or gas silicate, we discard the piles immediately. Let's focus on strip and columnar foundation options, without reinforced concrete blanks, so as not to involve equipment. Typically, pouring under a house is done in a ratio of 1:3:5 or 1:4:4 cement, sand and crushed stone, respectively. It is much more important to choose the right amount of water; for this, the W/C ratio is used, that is, dividing the volume of water by the mass of cement. You can also use the table of ready-made W/C results, thanks to which, knowing the amount of cement, it will be easy to calculate how much water is needed:
| Concrete grade | ||||||
| Cement brand | ||||||
| 300 | 0,75 | 0,65 | 0,55 | 0,50 | 0,40 | |
| 400 | 0,85 | 0,75 | 0,63 | 0,56 | 0,50 | 0,40 |
| 500 | 0,85 | 0,71 | 0,64 | 0,60 | 0,46 | |
| 600 | 0,95 | 0,75 | 0,68 | 0,63 | 0,50 |
The volume of the strip foundation is determined by the formula V=SL, Where S is the cross-sectional area of the fill, and L– its length, consisting of the perimeter of the building, added to the lintels for the internal walls. A columnar foundation is defined in a slightly different way; the formula looks like V=SHn, Where S– cross-sectional area of the support, H is its height, and n– number of pillars. The cross-section of a square or rectangular base is determined by the formula S=ab, Where a And b– lengths of the sides. The round cut of the support is calculated as follows: S=πR 2, Where R is the radius, and π – constant equal to 3.14.
The number of blocks that will be needed to build walls can be calculated in several ways. It is usually known in advance how many units of ordinary brick or gas silicate are in a cubic meter. Now it is enough to find out the volume of the walls, for which we multiply the area of each by the thickness and subtract from the result the sum of the areas of window and door openings. However, in this case the result will be slightly overestimated, since we did not take into account the angles. In order for the calculation of building materials to be correct, we determine the error. It is enough to carry out the same calculations for the area of the internal walls and subtract the second result from the first. Now all that remains is to multiply the total by one cube, and we get the total amount of materials. You can also use the table:
Number of blocks in 1 m2 of masonry
Type of masonry | Brick size | Quantity excluding mortar joints, pcs. | Quantity including mortar joints, pcs. |
|---|---|---|---|
0.5 bricks | single | ||
one and a half | |||
1 brick | single | ||
one and a half | |||
1.5 bricks | single | ||
one and a half | |||
2 bricks | single | ||
one and a half | |||
2.5 bricks | single | ||
one and a half | |||
If you want to build a good-quality log house or a small bathhouse, you will need to determine the height of the building in the crowns, which will build up the walls row by row. But, first of all, it is recommended to find out how many beams or logs, given their dimensions, are contained in one cubic meter. If the cross-section is large enough, rest assured that the number of woodworking products will amount to only a few units. Let's start by determining the volume of one product, with an eye to the cross-sectional shape.
For timber, the formula will be simple: V=abl, Where a And b– sides of the section, and l– length of lumber. For a log, the calculation will be different: V=πR 2l, Where R– section radius. If all parameters are taken in meters, then the result will be in cubic meters. When purchasing, you should do the full calculation, as some sellers tend to reduce the volume to whole numbers if the end result is a decimal.
We have a formula of the form V=HPb, Where H– height, and P– perimeter. The total number of beams is calculated by dividing the result by the volume of one product with a rectangular cross-section. With a log it is somewhat more complicated; here you should multiply the number of crowns by the number of walls, including internal ones (a typical option is a five-walled structure), and then by the volume of one rounded lumber. There are usually as many logs in the crown as there are walls in the building. For more complex cases, you will need a building materials calculator.
Today, the construction of houses made of foam concrete is gaining momentum. And this is not surprising, because this material has such parameters that cannot but attract buyers. There are several opinions on how to correctly calculate the cost of building a house made of foam blocks.
We will focus on this issue in this article.
Why foam block
First of all, let us remind you: do not confuse foam concrete with aerated concrete. One of the articles on our website discusses in detail the fundamental differences between these two materials. It is worth noting that the price of foam concrete is more favorable.
What he really is
A foam block is a small “block” made by mixing a concrete mixture with special foaming components. It is the foam that forms cavities in the concrete, which reduce its weight and increase its thermal insulation parameters.
Its standard size is 200*300*600 mm. For clarity, look at the photo below and imagine how much time you can save on laying foam blocks.
Houses made of this material cost significantly less than houses of the same size made of brick or, for example, timber. And if you are not lazy and build everything yourself, then the savings will exceed even your wildest expectations.
Having an attractive price, foam block houses or cottages are in no way inferior in their parameters to stone or wooden ones. Another attractive feature of the material is its environmental friendliness.
Advantages of the material
- No additives that negatively affect human health are used in production, which makes it possible to build children’s or health complexes from it. With such a construction, considerable attention is paid to sound insulation - and foam concrete has no equal in this regard.
- The structure of the material itself is favorable for further processing. With the help of simple tools you can give the block any desired shape.
- The porous structure does not interfere with gas exchange and the house “breathes” no worse than a wooden one.
- From the previous point it logically follows that such a house is not characterized by excessive humidity and dampness. With foam concrete you will forget about mold and drips.
- Not only the size, but also the principle of laying will help save time and mortar. After all, the gap between the blocks should not exceed 3 mm.
- Both exterior and interior decoration will also not cause you unnecessary trouble, because the layer of plaster does not have to be thick.
- Foam concrete has excellent fire resistance. At high temperatures, the material does not crumble or crack and protects the reinforcement from heating. In the event of force majeure, such a house will not let you down.
Disadvantages of the material
There are few of them, but they are still present:
- Low weight with a large volume, of course, leads to a loss of strength. For this reason, foam block has not received and will not receive widespread use in multi-story construction. Although, after all, you are building a private house, and this is unlikely to be a problem, because cottages are rarely higher than 3 floors.
- The need to monitor the correctness of the masonry. If the solution layer exceeds 3-4 mm, then you risk losing both heat and sound insulating properties.
Let's move on to the main question
So, our main task is to calculate the cost of building a house from foam blocks. It cannot be done separately from clarifying the stages of construction. After all, only by analyzing the entire process in parts can you take into account every detail.
Count
The calculation of foam blocks for building a house should be based on the area of the walls. Foam blocks are sold in cubic meters and to find out the quantity you need, simply multiply the thickness of the block by the area of the walls.
Related articles:
The full cost calculation for building a house made of foam blocks is as follows:
- Let us immediately stipulate that our sample has a width of 8 m, a length of 10 m and a height of 3 m. Main and external walls are taken into account.
- the cost of the roof, foundation and other work can be calculated using separate calculators on our website.
- So, let’s calculate the perimeter of the building: 10*2+7.4*2=34.8 m (rounded to 35). A reasonable question arises: how much is 7.4 meters and not 8? The answer is simple: you stacked 2 walls of 10 meters each, and from eight you need to subtract the width of the block, that is, 30 cm.
- Now we find out the area of the walls: 35*3=105 sq.m. Everything is clear here: perimeter multiplied by height.
- From the resulting area, subtract the area of windows and doors. This is purely individual for each project, so for convenience, let’s assume that they occupy 10 sq.m. 95 sq.m. left.
- We find out the area of the foam block: 0.6*0.2=0.12 sq.m. It turns out that for 1 sq.m. accounts for 1/0.12 = 8.3 foam blocks.
- So, we complete the calculation: 95 * 8.3 = 788.5 blocks are needed for the external walls.
- It would seem that the calculation of materials for building a house made of foam blocks is complete, but no! We did not take into account the main wall.
- Its length in our sample will be 9.4 meters. Multiply by height - we get an area of 28.2 square meters. Again, let’s assume that the windows and doors will take up 5 square meters. We get 23.2 sq.m. 23.2*8.3= 192.5 blocks.
- We add up the resulting numbers: 788.5+192.5=981 blocks are needed for such a construction.
So, calculations for building a house from foam blocks showed that we need 981 blocks. There are 27.7 blocks in one cubic meter. With a simple calculation we find out that we need 35 cubic meters.
The cost of 1 cubic meter is about 3,000 rubles. As you can see, a house of a given size will cost a very modest amount. Of course, this is just the frame of the building, but you must admit that the same brick would cost 2-3 times more.
It is worth noting that these instructions are approximate and accurate calculations are only possible with a thorough knowledge of the project.
Construction progress
- First of all, the foundation for the house is built from foam blocks. Since the foam block is lightweight, there is no need to spend money on an expensive monolithic foundation. An excellent replacement for it can be a belt one, which uses much less crushed stone, sand, concrete, and even uses reinforcement of a smaller diameter.
- After the base has gained the required strength, it is time for laying. It starts with laying roofing felt between the base and the first row as waterproofing.
- The corner blocks are laid first. Moreover, special attention is paid to the corner, which according to the plan will be the highest. The corner is leveled and proceed to the next one.
- then a cord is pulled over the corners and the space between them is filled. If a whole block does not fit in one of the rows, then the excess part is cut off and the resulting piece is placed in the gap.
- Each next row is installed according to the same principle: from the corners. Verticals and horizontals are checked by level and cord.
Advice!
Remove possible unevenness immediately with a plane.
- To prevent the walls from cracking during shrinkage, the masonry must be reinforced. Reinforcement with a diameter of 8 mm is placed in pre-cut grooves measuring 4 by 4 cm, which after installation are filled with glue or mortar.
- Electrical wiring is also laid in grooves according to the same principle, but the laying pattern depends on the specific project.
- Particular attention is paid to door and window openings. All cut grooves are lined flush with a metal corner.
Another little tip: to cut the blocks you need to use a special hacksaw for foam concrete with large teeth.
If you cut correctly, you will avoid crumbling of the material.
- For interior decoration, drywall, boards and textured plaster are excellent options. It’s even easier on the outside - use siding or finishing bricks.
Let's sum it up
As you can see, calculating the construction of a house made of foam blocks cannot be called a very complicated process. But this in no way detracts from its importance when planning work.
To further understand the process of constructing a foam block building, pay attention to the video in this article. See you again on the pages of our website.
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