Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 2: Determining the dimensions of material for a project
• Method 2 of 2: Using the measure of height to find other values
• Commonly used formulas for determining an area
• Tips

One of the most important parts of planning an upcoming home remodel or improvement is determining how much material is needed for something. In that case, you will use the dimensions of the material used, because many of the materials you use for such projects (such as wood and metal) are sold in certain fixed dimensions. In addition, if you have the correct dimensions, you can convert them to square and cubic dimensions. That is why it is extremely important to know how to determine the dimensions of a particular material and is an essential skill for any construction project.

To step

Method 1 of 2: Determining the dimensions of material for a project

1. Divide the materials of the project into different categories. All construction projects (and most projects involving home improvement) involve assembling individual raw materials into a complete whole. To know how much of each type of material you need for a project, you will first need to divide the materials into categories, grouping similar materials together.
   • As a running example, let's take planning a relatively simple project: building a bookcase. Suppose the sides of the bookcase are made of 5 × 10 shelves and the top, bottom, and the three center shelves are made of 2.5 × 30 shelves. In this case, we divide the building materials into two categories: 5 × 10 planks and × 12 planks.
2. Use a tape measure or ruler to measure each part. When you know what kind of materials you will be using in your project, you can measure the length of each part. Because we are dealing with one length measure (instead of a square meter), we don't have to worry about the width or thickness of the building materials. When measuring, be careful not to measure the same parts again - it can be extremely helpful to sketch your project and label each part with the length on it.
   • In our example, we say that the 5 × 10 shelves we use for the sides of our bookcase both 2.5 meters long and that's the 2.5 × 30 for the top, bottom and the bookshelves, all of them 1.8 meters long to be.
3. Add the lengths of the different parts together. Then add up the lengths of the individual parts belonging to the same type of material to get the total length of each material. This value indicates how much length you would need of a particular type of material if you were to buy a long plank for the project and cut it into parts. If your project contains multiple parts of the same material with equal lengths, you can save time by multiplying the length of one of the parts by the number of parts needed.
   • In our example, we are talking about two parts of each 2.5 meters for the 5 × 10 shelves and five parts made of 2.5 × 30 shelves (three bookshelves + the top and the bottom shelf). We can find the totals in the following way:
     • 5 × 10 planks: 2.5 × 2 = 5 meters
     • 2.5 × 30 planks "1.8 × 5 = 9 meters
4. Use the totals to calculate what the materials will cost together. When you know how much of each material you need required is for your project, then you theoretically know how much you have to do to buy. Determine the price of each material (per meter) and multiply this by the total number of meters you determined for each type of material to get an estimate of the material cost.
   • In our bookcase example, we need 5 meters of 5 × 10 shelves and 30 meters of the 2.5 × 30 shelves. Suppose 5 × 10 planks are sold for $ 1.50 a meter and 2.5 × 30 planks for $ 2.25 a meter. In this case, you can determine the cost of these materials by multiplying as follows:
     • 5 × 10 shelves: 1.50 × 5 = $24,00
     • 2.5 × 30 planks: 2.25 × 9 = $67,50
5. Convert the number of meters to another unit of length, if necessary. Not all building materials are sold in meters. Some are sold in other units of length, while others are sold in units where no length is specified (such as area or volume, etc.). If your materials are not sold in meters, but in a different unit of length, convert the value in meters to that of the other unit before calculating the price. Usually this is a matter of simply multiplying or dividing by a constant. Below are the instructions for converting meters to various other common length units:
   • Meters to decimetres: Multiply by 10
   • Meters to Centimeters: Multiply by 100
   • Meters to millimeters: Multiply by 1000
6. Don't be too frugal with your purchases. When it comes to construction projects, one of the most common use tips is something buy more equipment than you think you need. This gives you some "leeway" to account for errors in your calculations, or errors that you may make during the construction project. While you will spend a bit more on material this way, it is usually wise to do so as it will save you the hassle of having to go back to the hardware store as the wood or other material will have run out halfway through the project (plus, extra material can be saved for future projects).
   • In our example, we calculated that we would need about 5 feet of 5 × 10 planks and 9 feet of the 2.5 × 30 planks. To be sure we can respectively 20 meters and 35 meters to buy. If we then have material left over, we can always use this to install vertical dividing shelves in some of the bookshelves.

Method 2 of 2: Using the measure of height to find other values

1. Find the square meter by the length and the width. If you know the length of all the materials you need for the project, you can often use this information for other calculations you need for your project. For example, because the area of ​​a rectangle is equal to its length x width, you can often use the dimensions of the materials that make up a rectangle, for the total area of ​​the building materials. In this case, all you have to do is multiply the lengths. To get the dimensions you need for a good area calculation, you may need some extra measurements.
   • Let's take another look at the example above. Suppose we want to seal the entire back of the bookcase with some type of board, which is sold in square meters (and not in linear meter). In this case, you might think that since the sides of the bookcase are 8 feet high and the top and bottom are 6 feet wide, we should calculate 2.5 x 1.8 for the answer. However, this does not take into account the thickness of the 5 × 10 shelves used as sides of the bookcase, making the entire bookcase just a little wider than 1.8 meters.
   • Suppose after measuring that we know that the 5 × 10 planks are 5 cm thick. Because the bookcase has two side shelves, it is actually 10 cm wider than 1.8 meters. So to determine the area of ​​a particular piece of board, we multiply it as follows:
     • 2,5 × 2 = 5 square meters.
2. Know the different calculations of non-rectangular shapes. Not all projects are limited to rectangles - many other shapes are possible. If you come across a simple shape (such as a circle or a triangle), you can usually use a certain length that you simply measured into a certain equation to calculate the area of ​​that shape. As long as all measurements are recorded in meters, your answer will be given in square meters. Below are some equations for calculating the area of ​​common shapes:
   • Circle: π (r) - r is the distance from the exact center of the circle to the edge (called the "radius").
   • Triangle: (hb) / 2 - b ("base") is the length of one of the sides and h ("height") is the length of the line from the point opposite the base, which is perpendicular to the base.
   • Square: s - s is the length of one of the sides.
   • Trapezoid: (1/2) (a + b) (h) - a and b are the lengths of the two parallel sides and h is distance between the sides.
3. If possible, divide irregular shapes into smaller regular pieces. Some projects use two-dimensional shapes for which a simple area formula is not available. In those cases you can try to break the irregular shape into several regular shapes, the area of ​​which you can calculate by means of a simple equation. In some cases, this may require you to break up the results of an equation because you are only going to use part of the shape.
   • Let's return to the example exercise above. Imagine that, in addition to adding the hardboard to the back of the bookcase, we want to attach a half-circle, 90 cm wide piece of hardboard on top of the bookcase so that we can place a clock in it. There is no simple equation for finding the area of ​​a rectangular shape with a semicircle extending above it. But in this case, we can just use the value we already calculated for the rectangular part and add it to half the area of ​​a circle with a diameter of 90 cm, for the total area. This is done as follows:
     • 5 + (1/2)(π(0,9)) = 5 + (1/2)(2,83) = 6.41 square meters
4. Calculate the number of cubic yards with the length, width and height. Some projects will require you to determine the volume of a three-dimensional shape. Since volume equals length x width x height, you can find the volume of a box-shaped object by using the dimensions of your materials and multiplying them. As noted above, some additional measurements may be required.
   • Suppose in our example problem we want to determine the estimated volume of our bookcase. We know how high and wide the cabinet is, so now we measure how deep the shelves are (0.45 meters). With these three measurements we can calculate the volume of the bookcase, just by multiplying the dimensions together:
   • 2,5 × 2 × 0,45 = 5 × 0,45 = 2.25 cubic meters.

Commonly used formulas for determining an area

• Rectangle or square: length x width
• Non-equilateral triangles: (length x width) / 2
• Equilateral triangles: The square root of 3 divided by 4 multiplied by the length squared of a side.
• Ellipse (circular): length radius x width radius x pi.

Tips

• Suppliers have already indicated the length, width and thickness of the material. Pay attention to the labels.