The Basics Part 1: Area of a Rectangle
September 24, 2019
How do I figure the square footage for my masonry project?
Figuring the amount of material you need for your masonry project is easy. It follows the laws of geometry that we learned back in grade school. For most people, this was at least a few years back. And you’re probably not using it daily in your current profession. So here we’ll give a little re-cap before getting on to some more complicated aspects of calculating how much material you need.
The first thing you’ll have to do on your project is calculate the square footage. The most basic and useful shape to start with is a rectangle. As shown below all we have to do is multiply the length of the rectangle in feet by the width of the rectangle in feet.
Easy, right? The biggest mistake I usually see at this point is when the measurements aren’t converted to feet. For instance, the same rectangle shown here is also 24 inches x 60 inches. If we multiplied those two numbers together, we’d get 1,440! But that would be 1,440 square INCHES, not Square feet. Why? Because we multiplied out inches, not feet.
What happens if you multiply 5 feet by 24 inches? A big mess. That’s what. So, step one, make absolutely sure all the measurements you are using are in feet. But what happens when we have measurements like this rectangle?
We have measurements that are in feet and partial feet (inches). There are two basic strategies for how to deal with this. First, the accurate mathematical solution, and second, the easier solution that usually works just fine for masonry projects.
First, the mathematical solution…All we need to do here is convert the measurements into feet. For the length of our rectangle we have 5 feet plus 8 inches. The 5 feet is no problem, but what about the inches? Well, since a full 12 inches would equal another foot, we could say that that last 8 inches is 8/12 of a foot. And now you just have to multiply fractions! Just kidding. Use a calculator to get 8/12=0.667. Therefore, the length is 5.667 x the width 2.25 = 12.75 Square feet plus or minus. Remember, masonry is not an exact science and there is no benefit figuring out to the 5th decimal place.
Ok, accurate solution covered! How about that easier method that probably works just as well? Easy, just round up. 5 feet 8 inches becomes 6’ and 2 feet 3 inches becomes 3’. 6’ x 3’ equals 18 square feet. But hold on a second, that seems far off from 12.75 square feet. How is that going to work out??!! Well, usually in a masonry project, you must consider 2 items. First, you’re going to want some waste. You won’t get the full square footage that you order, because you’re going to have to cut some pieces, some pieces will break, and some will have a scratch here and there. All of these add up to lost square footage, what we typically call waste.
Second, you rarely get to order the exact square footage anyway. For example, if you’re using a thin veneer installation, you may have to order your stone in boxes of 10 square feet. So, both our accurate solution and our rounded solution are over 10 square feet but under 20 square feet. This means that in either situation, we’d have to order two boxes, or 20 square feet.
There you go, square footage basics part 1. Be sure to check out the rest of the series to find out how to finish estimating your masonry project. And remember, Integer specializes in masonry take-offs at affordable prices. Maybe you want a quick double check on your material before you put in an order for several thousands of dollars. The price of a take-off from Integer is well worth the money. Or maybe you just don’t feel like going through the rest of the series and just want Integer to run through everything. No problem, that’s what we’re here for. Check us out here at Integerproject.com.
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