
Calculators for Contractors, Builders, Remodelers, Carpenters, Woodworkers - thrower123
https://www.blocklayer.com/
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AstroJetson
So for lots of things like stairs and rafters you can use a good framing
square
[http://www.johnsonlevel.com/News/FramingSquare](http://www.johnsonlevel.com/News/FramingSquare)

My goto build device is the speed square
[https://www.popularmechanics.com/home/how-
to/a3999/4306646/](https://www.popularmechanics.com/home/how-
to/a3999/4306646/)

And for fractions, thank you Mr Shimel for teaching how to do fraction math.

But I do have a construction calculator that will figure sq feet, cu feet for
concrete. It's a standalone device for about $30, but there are a ton of
builder apps out there.

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qrbLPHiKpiux
In my lifetime I want to see the US convert to metric. It’s so much easier.

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SECProto
I live in Canada where everything is metric. Contractors still use feet and
inches. Concrete people talk about how many "yards" they are getting delivered
(but the slips are in m³ – never figured that out).

I'd like to see the US switch as well, so that we can switch to 5x dimensional
lumber

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vk5tu
The Canadian experience is probably the short distance from the USA.
Contractors in metric Australia use millimetres. If mm get a bit ridiculous
then we use metres. The translation between the two is simple (1m = 1000mm).
Context is usually enough to know which unit is being used.

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DoofusOfDeath
I recently wanted something similar to this for drywalling.

I'm a DIY homeowner renovating my basement and adding an office.

There were a lot of rules regarding where/how to use floating corners, what
screw lengths/diameters to use, where to place the screws, etc. It was really
hard to keep them straight, and in some areas I used way more screws than is
ideal.

The issue was further complicated by inconsistent advice from the Gypsum
Association (the main trade group, AFAICT) and various contractors who post
advice on Youtube, diy.stackexchange.com, etc.

I really wished for a website that let me enter the shape and framing details
of my room, and have it show me an optimal plan for the shape / placement of
drywall pieces, and the attachment method.

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tomohawk
I've found many pros have quite a bit of disagreement over these kinds of
details, and that this varies quite a bit by region as well - often for good
reason. For example, the framing style, climate, and available materials in
one region many dictate a different way of doing things than in another.

Many sheetrockers join sheets on studs or joists, but that puts the edge onto
the structure, and increases the likelihood that the joint will fail,
particularly in the ceiling. It's actually better to join the sheets between
structural members with a plywood or osb spline that floats with the wall.
This moves the joint off of the structural member and also makes for a flatter
(if not flat) joint.

Really high end sheetrockers will put up 2 sheets of drywall. The first is
glued and screwed onto the structure. The 2nd is glued and screwed to the
first layer. The screws are then removed from the outer layer when the glue
sets. This makes getting a pop impossible, and makes the soundproofing a lot
better.

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DoofusOfDeath
> It's actually better to join the sheets between structural members with a
> plywood or osb spline that floats with the wall. This moves the joint off of
> the structural member and also makes for a flatter (if not flat) joint.

When I was doing my research before starting to hang drywall, I had difficulty
determining a few things about the various techniques being advocated:

\- Is the technique required for what I'd consider "normal" quality results?
I.e., when I walk into most houses I just don't notice anything about the
drywalling. I was shooting for that level of quality.

\- How well would the technique stand up over time, given the particulars
about my climate, house age, framing style, etc.? I saw lots of confident
statements about how the longevity / reliability of various techniques, but
not much evidence that people had actually verified these statements
empirically. (I.e., I saw few statements of the form "I've used technique X in
over 200 houses in Georgia, and after 10 years I've only been made aware of
problems with 3 of the jobs."

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peterwwillis
Pipe notching templates work exceedingly well (once you figure out printer
scaling vagaries and measure multiple times) because you can just hack off
what's marked on the outside of the pipe, and then take a grinding wheel to
the inside angles until they fit flush with a sample pipe. But does anyone
actually use a paper template to lay out dovetails?

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pier25
The design is outdated but this seems to be made in pure vanilla JS and all
the diagrams are rendered on canvas without any third party library. Pretty
impressive if that's the case.

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aurels
"The main Navigation tabs at top of each page are Metric versions of
Calculators. If there's an Imperial version, directly under the main tab is a
smaller 'Imperial' tab for the Feet and Inch version"

I think I'm too dumb to switch it to metric or I miss something.

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aphextim
There probably are already some out there, but I would love to have all of
these formulas on an app.

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mikemac
There is - my brother is a contractor and uses DEWALT Mobile Pro

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ohyea
I clicked around a bit but I really disliked the experience.

At one point I thought I was clicking on a button to do something and it turns
out that it was an ad and I was redirected to another site.

Resorting to dark patterns like this for ad clicks is scummy IMO.

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dwater
I've made extensive use of the stair calculators, this site is excellent.
Built 2 sets of staircases with landings so far. I hadn't thought to explore
the rest of the site, I see plenty here that will be useful in the future.

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donquichotte
7 years ago I worked for a company that builds pumps. I spent days on
[http://www.druckverlust.de/Online-
Rechner/](http://www.druckverlust.de/Online-Rechner/)

