| How much material is it going to take to do the job? | | | | be an involved process. It can bebroken down into |
| What is the labor cost for the project? | | | | two parts. First the square footage for the ceilings |
| These are questions a contractor asks himself when | | | | can be figured. Likethe deck this is figured length |
| bidding a job. In most cases a contractorwill use the | | | | times width. Then the lineal feet of all the walls is |
| square foot method to determine the answer to | | | | takentimes the height. Interior walls will be added in |
| those questions. | | | | twice because they have drywall on bothsides. Labor |
| This method of take off is particularly handy in | | | | to hang, tape, and paint the drywall is also figured |
| figuring sheet good type materials such aswall | | | | this way. |
| sheathing, plywood decking, roof sheathing and | | | | Besides drywall and painting, many other labor costs |
| drywall. To find the square footage forone of these | | | | are figured by the square foot. Roofingand siding are |
| areas, multiply the height or width times(x) the | | | | figured by the square. A square is 100 square feet. |
| length. For example if youhave an eight foot high wall | | | | For example if a roof is |
| by 40 feet long the square footage for the wall | | | | 1200 square feet, it will take 12 squares of shingles |
| would be 320square feet. Most sheet goods are 4 | | | | to cover it. The same unit ofmeasurement goes for |
| feet by 8 feet or 32 square feet. The square | | | | vinyl, wood, aluminum, steel and cement sidings. |
| footage ofthe wall is divided by 32. It will take 10 | | | | Carpentry makes use of this measurement also. The |
| sheets of plywood or insulated sheathing to coverthis | | | | cost to frame a house is usually figuredby the square |
| wall. | | | | foot. Costs to build a whole house are estimated this |
| This same method can be used to figure the | | | | way to help peopledetermine if a house or its house |
| plywood or OSB for the house deck and roof. | | | | plans are affordable for them to build. |
| Tofigure the deck simply multiply the width of the | | | | Flooring is also among one of those things that use |
| deck by the length to get the squarefootage and | | | | the square foot method to figure laborand materials. |
| divide by 32. Figuring the square footage of a roof is | | | | This includes ceramic and quarry tiles, hardwood, |
| similar but with a twist. | | | | laminate, and vinylflooring, and carpeting. Most |
| For the roof multiply the length of the rafters by the | | | | contractors and installers use a price per square foot |
| length of the roof. Take the resulttimes 2 for the | | | | fortheir labor when calculating their costs for |
| total square footage for both sides of a gable roof, | | | | installation. |
| then divide by 32 toget the amount of plywood to | | | | This information will help you understand contractor |
| sheet the roof. The square footage of a hip roof is | | | | estimates and help you do your owncalculations for |
| figured thesame way. | | | | projects. |
| Drywall is also figured by the square foot. This can | | | | |