Construction quantity calculators are formulas that allow you to calculate the quantity of materials needed for a job when the unit of measure in which you purchase the material is different than the unit of measure in which you estimate it.
For example, if you’re estimating the construction of a brick wall, you’ll estimate it in terms of length, width, and height of the wall. But to estimate the cost and buy bricks, you need to know how many bricks to purchase.
A quantity calculator for a brick wall allows you to enter the dimensions of the wall, the dimensions of each brick, and the thickness of the mortar between bricks, plus a waste percentage, and it will calculate the number of bricks you need to purchase.
ContractorTools offers 55 different industry specific construction quantity calculators. You can access these by selecting the "Calculators" button in the number key pad that appears when you enter the quantity of an estimate item.
The "Calculators" button will display a list of 55 industry specific construction materials calculators, grouped by category. When you select a calculator, the screen prompts for entries required for the calculation and displays the total quantity. Tap "Apply" to use that quantity for the estimate item.
When you calculate the quantity of an estimate item using a quantity calculator, "Calculator: (calculator name)" will appear above the quantity in the item information screen to let you know that the quantity was calculated. When you tap on the quantity, this will open the quantity calculator and allow you to make changes to the amounts entered in the previous calculation.
If you want to override the calculation and enter the quantity instead of using a calculator, scroll to the bottom of the calculator and select "Use the Keypad Instead". If you want to use a different calculator, select "Use a Different Calculator".