Craft Quantities: construction material calculators

Searches the site's construction pages for a question in everyday words, such as how much concrete or tile a job needs, and returns the matching pages: id, kind, title, link, description and slug. It finds; it computes nothing.

Returns the full text of one Craft Quantities page, identified by its id: what the page works out, its inputs or measurements with units and opening values, and its sources.

Returns the input fields of one calculator, identified by its slug: each field's id, label, accepted units, range and default value in metric and US units, with the calculator's version, page and citation. It computes nothing.

Computes the result of one calculator, identified by its slug, from the input values given: the amount of material a job needs, such as the bags of concrete for a slab or the sheets of drywall for a room, counted in bags, sheets, studs, tiles, litres, gallons, cubic yards or m³. Returns it in metric and US units with the inputs used, sources, a citation and the page link. No prices.

Converts one value from one unit to another, for example 2 m³ to cubic yards, with the exact factor the site's calculators apply, and returns the converted value and the factor.

Where does a figure come from, and how is it cited? Returns a calculator's sources as it cites them, the codes and standards they name, the site's standards pages, and a citation in plain, APA, Harvard and BibTeX. It adds no source the calculator does not cite.

Returns a link that opens a construction calculator's page on craftquantities.com with the reader's figures filled in and their unit system, so a person can see or change the working on the page.

Returns the measurements one whole-job takeoff needs, identified by its id: each measurement's id, unit and opening figure, its build-up choices, the calculators it runs and what it leaves out.

Works one whole-job takeoff, identified by its id, from the measurements given: the materials list of a job such as a slab or a deck, each line from its own calculator, with what to order, waste allowances, metric and US units, labour hours (not a price), what is not counted, a citation and the page link. It does not size structure.

Returns one worked construction estimate from the site, identified by its slug: the measurements, the steps in order with the calculator each uses, the figure each step pins and the waste chosen.

Re-runs every pinned step of a worked construction estimate now, in both unit systems, and returns whether each still meets the published figure.

Creates one My Project backup file from a list of calculator lines (each a calculator slug and its input values). Each line is computed as the site's page adds it; the reader restores the file on craftquantities.com as a new project. Nothing is stored or sent; no prices.

Creates one My Project backup file from a list of whole-job takeoffs (each a takeoff id and its measurements). Each takeoff's lines are worked as its page commits them; the reader restores the file on craftquantities.com as a new project. Nothing is stored or sent; no prices.

Creates one My Project backup file from a House Estimator form: the house's lines, and its drawing, which the site's canvas reopens. The reader restores the file on craftquantities.com as a new project. Nothing is stored or sent; no prices.

Creates one My Project backup file from a room plan: one planned space, or several spaces and a roof. Its lines and its plan are saved as the site's planner saves them; the reader restores the file on craftquantities.com as a new project. Nothing is stored or sent; no prices.

Creates one My Project backup file from a Construction Canvas drawing: its lines, and the drawing itself, which the site's canvas reopens. The reader restores the file on craftquantities.com as a new project. Nothing is stored or sent; no prices.

Is a builder's quote right on quantities? Reads a contractor's quote (pasted text) against the reader's own job and returns each quoted quantity against the range the job's calculators give, the lines it leaves out or adds, and the questions to ask. Money is removed and not judged; a difference is a question, not a verdict.

Estimates the materials to build one rectangular house of one or two storeys from a few figures (footprint, walls, roof, openings): every quantity with what to order, assumptions, plans of each storey and labour hours, as the site's House Estimator does. It counts; it does not design a structure. No prices.

Returns the room planner's fields for one kind of space: its figures, surfaces and finish ids, scope questions and rows, with their ids.

Plans one space, such as a room or a bathroom, from its size, openings and the finishes chosen, as the site's room planner does, and returns its materials list: each row with its quantity, what it still needs, what is not built and why, and labour hours. Quantities only; it does not size structure.

Plans several spaces together, with an optional roof over them, as one project in the site's room planner, and returns each space's rows, every line together, labour hours and the plan. Quantities only; it does not size structure.

Draws one plan on the Construction Canvas from the shapes, house figures, drawing commands or canvas document given, and returns its materials list, a plan of each level, labour hours, a link that opens the drawing on the canvas, and a file. It does not size structure.

Turns a supplier's or builder's quote the reader has, prices and all, into a My Project file, as the site's Quote to Estimate does, and checks its own arithmetic. The prices are the reader's figures from their document, not the site's.

Matches one building defect described in plain words, such as a crack, a damp patch, a water leak or a tripping breaker, to the site's diagnosis pages, and returns the candidate causes, what tells them apart, the checks in order and when to call a professional; ambiguous words return candidates. It does not say which cause it is.

Works out how far one amount of material goes, such as 40 bags of concrete or 24 gallons of paint: the area it covers and the size of slab, room, deck or wall that is, as the site's Solve Backwards page works it, waste taken off. It does not size structure.

Finds which family of building codes or standards governs one kind of work in one market (US, Canada, UK or Australia, or a country mapped to one), who publishes it and the site's standards page. It does not say which edition is in force: adoption is local, and the answer names who decides.

Translates one building-trade word between US, Canadian, UK and Australian usage, such as plasterboard (drywall in the US): the concept, each market's word, how close each is, and a false-friend warning where the same word means something else, with the glossary page. Words only: no figures.

Creates a request for quote from a materials list or bill of materials (the lines of a takeoff, house, plan or calculation, or the reader's own): Markdown to paste, a CSV, the site's link a merchant opens to price it, and a My Project file. It carries no price and sends nothing to anyone.