Calculators

[Rich]

There are a couple useful calculators on the site - Construction Calculator (http://www.construction-resource.com/construction_calculator.php).
I ask everyone if there are other calculators that could be useful? It could be for take-offs or estimating.... or whatever you can think of.

[Scott Vickrey]

This is a calculator for figuring the electrical load of dwellings.
For a single family just enter the info and for multiple familys (apartments, duplexes and the others) do a calculation for each different layout.
Click here for the calculator (http://www.vickrey-s.com/SFDLoadCalc.asp)

[grumpydasmurf]

Do you have one that will calculate how many beers it will take me to get drunk after a long day?

[Scott Vickrey]

It's in the works. :wink:
I can tell you from personal experience about six.

[cataldus]

rich,
the calculators are teriffic....any chance you can recommend a shareware or freeware (or inexpensive) pc based takeoff program? i work in contractor sales (2yrs now) and we send plans out for takeoffs (they don't want the liability), some of which are pretty straightforward. i am curious, any experience with basic software for material estimating (i don't want anything too complex or fancy) please let me know....thanks :)

[Rich]

What specifically are you looking for.. framing take off, roofing takeoff, concrete, flooring, etc? The one that comes to mind is the National Construction Estimator by Craftsman Books. - http://www.craftsman-book.com/
It has it's own base assemblies database with crew production rates. It's fairly inexpensive and pretty intuitive to learn.
It also allows you to input your own production rates and costs - i.e. custom items. They also have plumbing, electrical, etc estimators.
These estimators do not really give you full fledged take-offs (2000 bf of 2x6 material). It's more geared towards estimates.
Personally I do everything long hand (with the help of the calculators I've made). An Excel spreadsheet goes a long way with customizing your own also. If you have a basic assembly (2x6 framing, sheathing on exterior, drywall on the interior) you can setup Excel to have an input of height and perimeter length and have it output total lf of material, sf of sheathing, and sf of drywall. The nice thing about Excel is that you can have it setup however you want.. you're not bound by what a program gives you or doesn't give you.
Let me know. I may be interested in setting something up for you - if you want to take it that far.

[cataldus]

:( rich,
your prompt reply is fantastic!!! i am an experienced computer user, but know $%^#*( about excel.....time to take a night course.....my usual routine is: a contractor brings a set of plans in - we chg $125.00 to send the plans out for framing/roofing materials (they'll do sticks to bricks, but i feel i do a better job w/ dr and window schedules) any engineered wood product is calc'd by our vendor @ no chg. i just need to be able to do a framing takeoff, so as to cut down on wait time for my customers. any ideas you have are welcomed and appreciated.

[Rich]

The one calculator I have for framing is being revamped a little bit and also is really close to being done as an Excel file. I'm going to be selling the lot of them as Excel files but would be willing to let you have a trial copy to test out.
You just gave me a suggestion for an addition to the framing calculator.. a door and window schedule that calculates the headers and R.O.'s for a project. I'll try and work on that this weekend.