About Tradesman Calculator: Who We Are and Why

Tradesman Calculator is a set of free construction calculators and reference charts for roofing, framing, drywall, painting, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, flooring and landscaping. Each tool answers a question that comes up on a real job, such as how many sheets, how many bundles, what size wire or how much fall, and shows how it got the answer.

What makes it different

Formulas on the page. Every calculator shows the equations it uses and a worked example, so you can check a result by hand.
Sources cited. Where a number comes from a code table or manufacturer data, the page names the document, edition and section.
Tested before it is published. Each calculator is written up as a specification, implemented from it, checked line by line and covered by automated tests. The methodology page explains the process.
Corrections in public. When we fix an error, it goes in the changelog with a date.
Fast and light. No accounts, no pop-ups, no tracking cookies. The pages work on a phone in a basement with one bar of signal.

Who writes it

Tradesman Calculator was created by Matt, a contractor with over a decade of experience in the trades. It started as the numbers that kept getting worked out by hand on the job: how many bundles for this roof, how many sheets for this room, what size wire for that run. The goal is calculators that show their math and cite the code table they use, so a result can be checked before the material is ordered.

Pages are published under the name of the Tradesman Calculator editorial team. Every calculator goes through the same written-spec and testing process, described on the methodology page.

The calculators

Get in touch

Questions, suggestions for a new calculator, or a result that looks wrong: see the contact page. These tools give estimates; read the terms of use before relying on them for anything structural or code-related.