Estimators Consortium

The Estimators Consortium

A discussion forum for estimators

It is a place to "talk shop" and share ideas with other professionals in the business. You are invited ask and answer questions, share your knowledge, discuss estimating formulas, recommend software, upload photos, and anything else you'd like to bring to the table.

December 08

Quickly Calculating Roof Surface Area

Here is something that I heard from a custom home builder buddy of mine, but have not tested it out. In a pinch, he calculates his roof surface area by multiplying his slab area x 1.5. So basically, a house with a 2000 SF slab will have 3000 SF of sloped roof surface. Any one else have a rule for roof surface area, roof decking or roofing?

7:33 PM GMT | Read comments(0)

Interior Wall LF Assumptions

I picked up a book named Estimating Tables for Home Building published in 1986. I found this very interesting.

The lineal feet of partition in dwellings is assumed to be:

10% of the ground-floor area in a 1-story dwelling

15% of the ground-floor area in a 1 1/2-story dwelling

20% of the ground-floor area in a 2-story dwelling

I'll do a little data mining on some recent takeoffs to see if this still my be a good rule of thumb for today's houses.

11:31 PM GMT | Read comments(0)

Quantifying Studs

Everyone knows the rule of thumb for estimating studs - "A stud a foot". Is anyone using this rule for their takeoffs? Are you using this for your full length studs only? Or, does this number account for all vertical members in a the wall including trimmers and cripples?

7:24 PM GMT | Read comments(0)

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