What is the calculator for calculating the amount of timber

With the current interest of developers to wooden houses, it would not be superfluous to discuss how to correctly make calculations of the structure from natural material - timber. You ask, why precisely timber? Yes, because the log house can be managed only by professionals, and they can cope with the design of the building itself and with the calculation of the need for building materials without any outside help.

Do it yourself

We focus on an amateur to build with our own hands, that is, on people who are ready to save money, but to invest in the work of the soul and desire. Pride for the final result, which, while observing all the rules, will not differ from the work of construction teams, is worth a lot. And the very first stage in construction is the counting of all building materials, in our case, this is the amount of lumber.

Today, there are many free assistants that can be found on the Internet that can solve the problem of calculations. In particular, you can easily find the calculator for calculating the beam to the house, as well as, if necessary, the calculator for calculating the beam for the bath.

Note! Household buildings are calculated using the same data as a residential building.

Our article is an extended guide for amateurs, how to use such a calculator - how to calculate how much lumber a house needs, how much it will cost you in material terms.

After studying the presented materials, we hope you will be able to choose the timber for your home and calculate the necessary quantity.

Preparatory stage

Prior to planning the purchase of necessary materials, we define:

• With the project of the structure, its size. The length of the bar for walls and other structures directly depends on this.
• With thick timber. For premises of permanent use, such as a private house, a country cottage, a bar with a cross section of 200x200 mm is suitable. From the same we recommend to build a bath, but to give, visited by visits, there will be enough lumber with parameters from 100x100 to 150x150 mm.

This applies to walls, to overlap such a decision is made on the basis of additional calculation, taking into account the main loads.

• The amount of money you are willing to spend on the construction of a log house.

Note! The most economical option for the construction of a wooden house would be the use of softwood timber as the main building material. The price of sawn timber from pine and spruce is rather low compared to hardwood counterparts.

To a large extent, along with the raw material, the price of timber depends on:

• Wood moisture.
• Manufacturing technology.
• Cross section geometry.

Lumber with natural moisture is much cheaper than dry. But you need to understand that such a timber will still lose moisture over time. It would be great if they did not lose their original form with it.

Raw timber can "twist", and the house shrinkage is possible up to 5-10%, depending on the type of building material. You can also use the calculator for calculating the cost of building a house from a bar; this will require the total amount of material and its average cost.

Types of wooden beam

With regard to manufacturing technology, timber can be:

1. Solid.

• Planed (square or rectangular section).
• Profiled (with “irregular” section geometry).

1. Glued (composite section of several boards glued to each other).

The latter option is somewhat more expensive than its integral counterparts, but it has higher heat-saving and strength properties (see also the article “The technology of manufacturing laminated veneer lumber and its advantages). Also this dry material will give the smallest draft.

Estimated calculations

Now, directly to the calculations. Consider the basic primary data that will require to enter almost any calculator to calculate the beam on the house.

The most primitive assistant will want to know:

• The parameters selected for the construction of timber (length, width, height).
• House dimensions (width, length).
• The height of the floor, with the number of floors more than one, the height of the second, third floors.

Such a calculator for calculating cubes of lumber per house will result in the number of meters of cubic lumber required for walling.

For the updated calculation will need additional information:

• The number of window openings and their dimensions (width, height).
• The same is about the doorways.

Sometimes there is a calculator for calculating a house from a bar with standard opening heights introduced:

• For windows - 1400 mm.
• For doors - 2000 mm.

But you, of course, have the right to set your individual parameters according to the project of the house or your personal preferences. Having complete information about the walls of your future home, the calculator will calculate the amount of timber very clearly and you will not have to pay for unnecessary material.

Of course, do not forget about the possible percentage of marriage, which is not more than 5% of the total construction materials.

Attention! When entering the primary data, follow the units of measurement of certain parameters that the program requests. In case of independent calculations, we recommend, in order to avoid confusion, to use a single unit of measurement (it is better to take the “meter”).

If it is more convenient for you to perceive the results of calculations not in cubes, but in pieces (products), use the service of recalculation per unit of lumber. Almost every calculator for calculating the cubic capacity of a bar has such an option and will give you the number of bar in pieces.

Also, helpers in the calculations often have the function of calculating the cost of the purchase. But for this you need to enter the price of your chosen lumber.

Pay attention to the type of calculation, the calculator you have chosen.

There may be two:

• Type 1 - for smooth rectangular walls.
• Type 2 - for gables (walls connecting the sides of the house to the slopes of the roof and below the main walls).

With the help of calculators you can perform the calculation of the whole house or a single wall.

A simplified calculation of flat rectangular walls is as follows:

1. Multiply the sum of the lengths of all walls by their height. We get the total area of ​​the walls.
2. We extract from it the area of ​​the openings (window and door). For this:

• Multiply the length and width of the corresponding opening by the number of similar ones. We summarize the results.
• Subtract from the total area of ​​the wall area openings.

1. Multiplying the result by the thickness of the timber selected for construction, we will find the desired cubic capacity.
2. To convert to pieces, we find the cubic capacity of a unit of timber, multiplying the values ​​of the width, height and length of the product.
3. We divide the total cubic capacity of the walls by the cubic capacity of one beam and obtain the result of calculations in pieces.

Now you know how to calculate the amount of timber on the walls of the house independently and with the help of a calculator. Similarly, it is possible to calculate the need for lumber for the installation of floors, roofs, floors and other elements.

Conclusion

As you can see, using an electronic assistant is not so difficult as, in fact, making calculations yourself. There is only one big difference - the virtual calculator is not capable of making a mistake in the calculations, but a person can.

Even one incorrect indicator will lead to the fact that the chain of all equations will be in vain. Therefore, think carefully before embarking on an independent calculation.

In the presented video in this article you will find additional information on this topic.