Usage
How to calculate building materials for building a house calculator. Online construction calculator, or how to calculate your house? What do construction calculators calculate?

How to calculate building materials for building a house calculator. Online construction calculator, or how to calculate your house? What do construction calculators calculate?

Before starting construction work, it is necessary to determine the amount of materials used. We are talking about bricks, of course, it will not be possible to calculate the exact quantitative value down to one piece, but you will get an approximate volume figure from which you can start.

Design data for construction

Why do you need a preliminary calculation of the number of brick products? It will help you decide on volumes and not buy too much. And for high-quality construction, it is advisable to use blocks from the same batch, because products from different purchases may differ in shades, which are obtained with different clay consistencies during production. Shades that are different from each other will significantly degrade the appearance.

Necessary parameters for calculation actions

For the perimeter you will need the size of the walls.
Structure height.
Type of building material used: single, one-and-a-half or double brick monolith.
The type of layout that will be used for construction.
Seam thickness. For horizontal ones, the standard is 12mm, and for vertical ones – 10mm.

brickwork diagram photo

Depending on the type of monolith and installation, you can create a table with average consumption rates of building materials per 1 square meter. These tabular indicators can be used for many methods of laying schemes.

view of the clinker width layout	brick product used	number of units taking into account the width of the seams	number of units not including seams
two and a half	250x120x65	1 5 5	3 1 7
	250x120x88	1 9 5	2 3 5
	250x120x138	1 3 0	1 5 0
two	250x120x65	2 0 4	2 5 6
	250x120x88	1 5 6	1 9 0
	250x120x138	10 4	1 2 0
one and a half	250x120x65	1 5 3	1 8 9
	250x120x88	1 1 7	1 4 0
	250x120x138	7 8	9 0
single	250x120x65	1 0 2	1 2 8
	250×120x88	7 8	9 5
	250x120x138	5 2	6 0
half	250x120x65	5 1	6 1
	250x120x88	3 9	4 5
	250x120x138	2 6	3 0

Varieties of layout affect the width of the wall layer. It will depend on how the installation work will be carried out:

with a folding half version, the width will be in millimeters - 120;
for laying in 1 product it will increase to 250;
at 1.5, respectively, 380;
for 2.0 the thickness will be 510;
with the 2.5 option, the layer is presented as 640;

Calculation sequence

We calculate the perimeter of the building. To do this, we summarize the lengths of the outer wall surfaces.
Determine the area. We multiply the sum of the walls by the height of the room.
Using the list presented above, we determine the number per 1 m², knowing the dimensions of the clinker for construction and the width of the wall layer.
We multiply the found value by the area of the building, and get the required amount for the entire structure. The resulting figure is rounded up during the calculation process.

Calculation example

Material calculation table

Our future building according to the project has walls of 12 m, 10 m, 12 m, 10 m. The height of the building is 3 m. Laying is done in 1.5 bricks, for this work a one and a half block is taken.

We determine the sum of the lengths, it is equal to 12+10+12+10=42 m.
We calculate the area 42*3=126 m².
Using the table, we select a value taking into account seam joints for masonry of 1.5 bricks, it is equal to 117.
We calculate the number of bricks 126*117=14742 pcs.

For the given building parameters, we need 14,750 pieces of building material.

IMPORTANT! Do not forget that up to 7% of the purchased product will be defective; therefore, the quantity must be purchased taking into account this amendment.

Of course, you can calculate the necessary building materials using calculators, which will be offered to you on many construction sites. But as you have seen, the independent option will not be difficult. You can use the online assistant to check your own results.

Features of the construction calculator

The calculator on the page of our website allows you to perform the following operations:

Calculation of materials for building a house. The main ones are taken into account (foundation, walls, roofing). Calculation of the cost of installing communication networks (water supply, sewerage, ventilation, etc.), as well as basic interior and facade finishing.
Calculation of the required dimensional parameters.
Coordination of raw material characteristics with SNiP parameters.

If desired, the customer will be able to contact the company’s specialists in St. Petersburg to order a full estimate for turnkey construction, where the materials desired for use in finishing or construction will be calculated. We work throughout the Leningrad region.

Methods for calculating estimates - determining construction volume

The methods for determining the full estimate are as follows:

Measuring the project area. Calculations are carried out according to an approved package of documents, which includes drawings and sketches of the future structure.
Calculations based on the area of the site. A visit by a specialist to the site of future development will allow you to determine the approximate parameters of the property.

The error of the result is up to 15–20%. The methods are suitable for multi-story or commercial construction, where it is difficult to take into account all the nuances. For the construction of a private house, a method for determining the construction volume is suitable. This method of calculation is considered by experts to be more objective and complete and consists of an expert assessment of the cost of construction for each segment. Not only the cost of building materials is taken into account, but also the price of work

How to use the calculator

The Osnova online service will help you calculate an estimate for building a house yourself and free of charge. However, it should be understood that without experience and understanding of construction processes, the result will still have an error. The sample given by the site is only suitable for preliminary calculations to assess your own financial capabilities. So:

In the “Walls” column of the calculator, you need to select the desired construction materials - aerated concrete, frame or brick. The same applies to roofing and finishing materials.
They do the same with other columns - floors, engineering, finishing, double-glazed windows, etc.
The types of technologies used are selected.

If the desired materials and technologies for building a cottage are not on the list, it is recommended that you contact the consultants directly and order a full estimate for construction. It takes into account any “little things”.

The nuances of using an online calculator

Of course, it will not be possible to calculate the project thoroughly. Any virtual calculator has errors. In addition, during the construction process, nuances may arise - the customer will make adjustments, or other factors beyond the control of the parties will arise. However, they must be reduced to a minimum in order to ultimately obtain the optimal result.

Why is it worth ordering a construction estimate from us?

The advantages of working with the Osnova company are obvious:

Affordable cost of projects for housing construction, as well as related facilities. Prices are favorable for both private and corporate developers.
Opportunity to find cost-effective solutions. Our specialists are competent in any construction issues and will suggest the best option for materials and technologies, according to the customer’s budget.
In addition to detailed projection and calculation of load-bearing structures, the company offers construction services.
Convenient receipt of documented results - the customer will be able to receive the result by email and subsequently print it for ease of use.

Our specialists have more than 10 years of experience. Strict adherence to deadlines and excellent results are favorable conditions for working with numerous clients.

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.

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.

In the modern construction industry, more and more innovations are appearing that are designed to make the work of architects and their clients much easier. In this article we will talk about such a tool as construction programs, which allow you to determine with the necessary accuracy the main costs, construction time and many other parameters.

Any Internet user can download construction programs for free. Most modern applications are developed and uploaded to the network by popular construction companies, which thus conduct a competent advertising campaign for their services on the domestic market.

As a rule, construction programs of any class have an intuitive graphical interface and many tutorials. Thus, any user of a personal computer can independently, without the help of an experienced designer or architect, create a 3D model of their dream home. A secondary program for construction calculations will help you estimate the cost of upcoming work with maximum accuracy.

It is not uncommon for many users, both private and corporate, to use illegal or “pirated” copies. It is important to remember that many construction calculation programs from the “hacked” class have an unlimited validity period, but a simplified and reduced set of tools. Because of this, many difficulties can arise not only with demonstrating the model, but also with its addition or re-development.

Before you turn your attention to free construction programs, you should note that professional applications for modeling and estimating a home have either paid or limited access. Therefore, if you do not need to delve into the basics of the architectural and design profession, you can use free services.

This section discusses the main parameters that construction design programs should have.

Construction drawing program

A standard program for construction drawing must comply with all real laws of physics and take into account the characteristics of each building material. A simplified version of this type of program is Home Plan Pro. Using this tool, the user can create a basic drawing of the house with pinpoint accuracy, as well as draw up a detailed plan of the interior. Basic skills in drawing and architecture are required to use this application. Thanks to the simple interface, the user will quickly get used to the presented professional environment.

House drawing in Home Plan Pro program

And another important parameter of any construction software is a rich set of software tools. The program for construction drawings is equipped with a special designer, where each element is assigned a place in the appropriate category. Also, when constructing certain structures, any application should provide the user with the opportunity to see how a real model will behave under different weather conditions.

Initial data

Step 1: The calculator is designed to calculate any types of building blocks. To begin, set the exact dimensions of the building block without taking into account the masonry joint. Be careful here: set the length, width and height of the block in relation to how the block will lie in the masonry. Next, enter such building parameters as the height of the wall and the total length of the wall along the outer perimeter of the building.

Step 2: Then indicate how the blocks will be stacked. The thickness of future walls directly depends on these data. This can be a structure of half a block (the thickness of the wall will be equal to the width of the block) or a whole block (the thickness of the wall will be equal to the length of the block). Choose the installation method depending on the designed number of storeys of the building, the type of floors and other features of the structure.

Step 3: To make the calculation more accurate, it is necessary to take into account the thickness of the masonry joint, consisting of mortar, or glue and other materials. Sometimes the thickness of horizontal and vertical seams is different.

Step 4: To calculate the masonry mesh, you need to decide how many rows you will lay it in. You don’t have to enter data about it by leaving the “Ignore” option in the column. Or count it, indicating that it lies through the Nth number of rows.

Step 5: Block weight is an optional parameter. But if you want to calculate the approximate weight of the finished walls and the load from the walls on the foundation, then it is still advisable to indicate it. Price is also an optional parameter. Specify it if you want to calculate the total cost of blocks.

Step 6: To take into account the gables of the building, as well as windows, doors and additional openings in the calculations, check the appropriate boxes and set the necessary parameters in the list that appears.

Step 7: After filling in all fields, click the "Calculate" button. You can print the results obtained or send them by email.

For convenience, it is better to count the various elements of the building separately. For example, external walls and interior partitions may differ both in height and in the way the blocks are laid. In this case, perform two independent calculations.

Explanation of calculation results

Building perimeter	The sum of the lengths of all walls taken into account in the calculations
Total masonry area	The area of the outer side of the walls. Equals the area of the required insulation, if it is included in the project
Wall thickness	The thickness of the folded wall, taking into account the mortar joint(s). Minor deviations from the final result are allowed depending on the masonry method
Number of blocks	The total number of all blocks required to build walls according to the specified parameters
Total weight and volume of blocks	Net weight and volume of blocks (excluding mortar and masonry mesh). This information may be useful for choosing a delivery method.
Quantity of mortar for the entire masonry	The volume of mortar that will be required to lay all the blocks. Deviations in the indicator are allowed. Depends on the ratio of components and added additives
Number of rows of blocks including seams	It is determined by the height of the walls, the size of the materials used and the thickness of the masonry mortar. Gables are not taken into account
Optimal wall height	The recommended height of a wall made of blocks, which, as a rule, should be a multiple of the height of the block itself along with the seam. You may agree with this recommendation - then recalculate by entering a new value for the height of the walls in the calculator
Quantity of masonry mesh	Required quantity of masonry mesh in meters. Used to reinforce masonry, increasing solidity and overall strength of the structure
Approximate weight of finished walls	Weight of finished walls, taking into account all building blocks and masonry mortar, but excluding the weight of insulation and cladding
Load without taking into account the weight of the roof and ceilings. This value is needed to select the strength characteristics of the foundation