About Estimate The Job

Estimate The Job exists because material calculators usually stop one step short. They give you a volume, an area or a weight — and then you still have to work out what that means in bags, pallets or bundles before you can actually buy anything.

Every calculator on this site answers the purchase question directly, includes a sensible waste allowance, and shows its working so you can check it. The formulas are written out on each page. Nothing is hidden, and nothing is sent anywhere — the maths runs in your browser.

How the numbers are derived

Bag yields, coverage rates and material weights are the standard industry figures: 0.60 cubic feet per 80 lb bag of concrete, 350 square feet per gallon of paint, 1.4 tons per cubic yard of dry crushed stone, 450 square feet per pallet of sod. Where a figure varies by supplier or region, the page says so.

What this is not

These are planning estimates. They are not structural calculations and they do not know your local building codes. Anything structural — a retaining wall over four feet, a deck ledger, a footing — should be confirmed against local code and, where required, designed by an engineer.