Amateur estimating! Ordering materials for a building project?

A critical part of our self-build extension involved ordering materials. So how did we know what to buy and in what quantities? This is our very amateur approach to estimating materials needed for a building project.
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[@GosforthHandyman]

Hi folks! If you want to have a bash at using SketchUp I've made a freebie vid on the Member Zone and you can then decide if you want to take it further. Should be enough to get you up and running: members.gosforthhandyman.com/sketchup-tutorial-beginners/ 👍

[@johnclements6614]

Concrete in foundations is nearly always a bit bigger than the theoretical volume because the trench is a bit wider or deeper. So you need to measure the actual as dug widths and depths to confirm the volume. Its not so bad if you are getting it batched on site but if you are 0.5m3 short it could be a problem if you are getting ready mixed. Ready mixed normally have a minimum quantity that can go in a truck so if you are 0.5m3 short you may be getting 1.0m3 and have to find a home for 0.5m3. But 0.5m3 waste at an end of a ready mix pour is normal. Ready mix companies will also charge more per m3 for a part load than a full load, so if you order 3.0m3 you will pay for a part load then if you are short pay another part load. Ready mix companies normally charge more to take away unwanted concrete than they sell it for as it is difficult to get rid of. You need a plan of where you are going to tip the unwanted concrete, either hopefully some where useful or some where you can break it up the next day. You do not want a pyramid in the front garden. When pumping concrete some concrete will be left in the pump hoses. You will need to make allowance for that in the quantity. If they are cleaning the pump and hoses out on site they will make a mess that has to be disposed of. Concrete water slurry can not go in the pour, down the drains or into water courses; you could dump it on the ground away from stuff you are not concerned with killing or some people dump it in a plastic dust bin (not sure what they do with that after), The mixer truck or ready mix may also need somewhere to wash out. Concrete pumps require a bag of cement to line the pump hoses before they start pumping. You need to know who supplies that. When ordering bricks blocks by the theoretical area remember that where you have to cut them you nay not be able to use the off cuts. Not a problem with dense concrete block etc that you can pick up four anywhere but if it is something special it could be a problem.

[@GosforthHandyman]

Great info - thank you!! 👍👍

[@sackville_bagginsess]

I love comments like this. A wealth of information

[@troyboy4345]

Hooray ! ... Another Andy video folks !

[@GosforthHandyman]

👍😁

[@MK-yo4jn]

Woohoo Another renovation video. I love the way you explain stuff Andy

[@GosforthHandyman]

Thank you - glad you find it useful.

[@SteveAndAlexBuild]

Thoroughly Enjoyed that one Andy . 🤔🤔🤔🧱🧱🧱🧮🧱👍🏼

[@GosforthHandyman]

Cheers Steve! 👍 How do you guys handle the materials estimating? Does it just come with experience?

[@Ben-gm9lo]

Ha ha, I started watching your video and when you introduced Google Sketchup it took me back 12 years ago when I taught myself the same to design a block construction garden workshop. I did the whole thing myself, including all the foundation and floor digging, and concrete was all by hand with a cement mixer. The Sketchup was vital for me as I planned every course of blocks, including all the cut down blocks to give myself the strongest bond possible. When I came to lay blocks I had a plan for every course including which blocks had to be cut to what length. What a joy to see you doing the same thing! Well done with your project, love your site. All the best.

[@tlangdon12]

Great video Andy. I recently did a Bill of Materials (BoM) for my daughter who is building a Tiny House, and followed the same basic process as you did, without the benefit of Sketchup. My top tips would be: 1. If you are going to cut a material down to get what you need (as I think you did with the A193 mesh), make a note of the cutting list in the BoM so you don't forget how you planned on getting the material you need from the material you bought. 2. Give each type of fixing a reference (I used letters A-Z), and make a note of this reference against the material that the fixing will be used with (e.g. bolts for wallplates) AND annotate your plans with the reference. We also wrote this reference letter on each box of fixings when they were bought/delivered. This meant we could find the fixings we needed for the next task very easily. 3. Include URL Links to the material on the suppliers website so you can quickly go back to check information about the material. 4. If you are working with someone remotely (as I was) consider creating the BoM using Google Sheets so that you can share it with them. I would not suggest letting tradespeople edit the BoM, but it might help them to see the BoM to help check you haven't missed anything.

[@johnclements6614]

When producing this type of Bill of Materials you should make it clear that it is not following any standard form of measurement. If they claim that they are pricing it in accordance with SMM7 or the newer NRM then they could reasonably claim for money for the items that you did not give them an opportunity to price. It would be better not to call it a Bill just say its a list of materials to be used with the drawings.

[@GosforthHandyman]

Great stuff - loads of useful info there! 👍

[@shaun30-3-mg9zs]

Hi Andy, Well explained the materials, costs and ordering quantities. I enjoyed this build series can't believe you started 3 years ago, and now you have a good looking home. As always a great video Take care

[@GosforthHandyman]

Thank you!! 👍👍

[@NickGriggs-gt2gd]

I’ve got a similar spreadsheet for our extension…. Only way to track what you need and tick it off once ordered!

[@GosforthHandyman]

Gotta love the spreadsheets!

[@dannymurphy1779]

Superb explanation Andy. That TRC barn conversion you showed is nearly 700 square metres, it's quite mind boggling as it has in practical terms become a complete new build, with just the steels and some cladding being retained. In all seriousness I think it would be a great help to them if they were to use you in a consultancy role to cost it out, would make a great video I think. For anyone else interested in quantities the Housebuilders Bible has a lot of advice and shortcuts as to quantities and costings, it is a great book for the self-build extender.

[@GosforthHandyman]

Great stuff! Yeah, Tim & Jo's project is huge. Not for the faint hearted!! 😁👍

[@andyc972]

Well Andy, that's just how I would have gone about it, so it must be right, gotta love a nice colour coded Excel table ! 😉😂

[@dhs2329]

Really useful and enjoyable video! I'm about to embark on project managing the build of a replacement 4 bed-detached house with detached triple-bay garage with accommodation above. Currently have workshop build project which has been a nightmare original build had to be demolished due to faults, rebuild so far has taken 2.5yrs total time 5yrs. What I found with materials is that firstly you can get them much cheaper with having a self-build account with builders merchants and secondly some unscrupulous builders when providing materials overstate how much materials are required and you find that you are paying for materials being used on someone else's project.

[@bigutubefan2738]

Nice one Andy. Bricks are fine, but it's worth mentioning if you're ordering large sheet materials like slab insulation purely by surface area, and don't account for the actual dimensions or allow enough extra sheets, you can end up with a right old jigsaw to piece together all the offcuts.

[@GosforthHandyman]

Defo! We massively over-ordered PIR insulation - not sure what happened there. 😂

[@bigutubefan2738]

Oh no! If you've still got it, Steve Ramsey uses sheet foam for cutting plywood on. Anyway, it's just worth thinking about during the design adjustments, before you even get to estimating materials requirements. E.g. tweaking joist spacings to the width or half width of the boards. Makes the build itself a lot simpler too.

[@johnclements6614]

@@GosforthHandyman Maybe used the external dimensions of the wall so did not take into account the reduced length at the corners. Plus the the savings either side of the openings.

[@GosforthHandyman]

The PIR was for ceilings / floors. Was fine, managed to return what was left over and donated a whole load of off-cuts to our local maker-space who needed some. 👍

[@ianpearse4480]

Very cool. My head hurts! LOL.

[@willt1984]

I was just wondering if there was a reason to go with (what looks like) mineral wool cavity insulation, rather than PIR type of insulation. Excellent video as always.

[@thomasharper8517]

Bluebeam for takeoffs. Basically the same as what you were doing measuring and calculating areas etc

[@GosforthHandyman]

Interesting!! 👍

[@michaeld_aus_b]

thanks for the in-depth view into your planning and logging process. My "near-fail": when I was mixing ready-concrete (I think 50 bags of 40kg: only add water) for my garage ring beam (ca. 1 cbm) I was 4 bags shy of finishing and we hurried to the construction material shop to quickly buy the missing ones. But my architect neighbour said (after removing my DIY-form-work) he never saw a nicer ring beam. My question would be: why didn't you use ytong/gased concrete? Then there would not be a need for an insulated wall cavity. Cheers, Michael

[@GosforthHandyman]

Ha fantastic stuff! Cavity walls is just what was spec'd by the architect and with us managing the build ourselves we didn't want to go too off-piste with less traditional materials. 👍

[@BadHorsie1]

Hi Andy, did you have access to the side of the house to get all the building materials through?

[@ncl.izzy.x]

Hi!! Just asking, do you remember a guy named Jonathan who worked for doves a while back?

[@GosforthHandyman]

Jonny? Yes!

[@tlangdon12]

I'm curious as to whether your brickie was happy with the service you provided him with. Did you get any feedback from him?

[@GosforthHandyman]

He offered me a job! 😂

[@tlangdon12]

@@GosforthHandyman That's brilliant! I'm pleased he was that happy; you clearly tried to keep up your end of the contract.

[@IsThatWise]

Thank you Andy, great vid. Just curious which font you were using in the spreadsheet? Cheers.

[@GosforthHandyman]

I use LibreOffice so I think Liberation Sans is the default font. 🤔

[@TMZ-5jr]

Did you consider the high thermal 3.4 newton blocks? Very light weight.

[@GosforthHandyman]

We considered it but these blocks take render better, better sound isolation, higher thermal mass, easier to attach things to walls etc. Plus it was down to availability at the time since everything was still partially locked down and there were huge shortages of everything. 🙄👍

[@vladimirzaika3594]

Interesting, why you did cinderblocks but not foamed concrete for the extension? And please, could you explaint paperwork in a new video?

[@GosforthHandyman]

See previous comment re: concrete vs aerated concrete. Paperwork? 🤔

[@vladimirzaika3594]

@@GosforthHandyman i mean all things you need to do to not be slaped by counsil. What kind of documents you need to get before doing actual job and how to get them.

[@GosforthHandyman]

Ah! I've touched on it a bit over on the Member Zone here members.gosforthhandyman.com/party-wall-agreements/ but other than that it's just planning permission and building regs approval (and site visits) really. And a build-over agreement for the sewer. 👍

[@raydriver7300]

Good morning Andy. Your attention to detail puts me to shame. My Father worked as the foreman at Blakelaw stone quarry, could look at a job and estimate not only the quantity of materials required but also the cost - in his head. Keep up the good work 🌞

[@dorotheaisserstedt9238]

Soso.........schon wieder ein neues Projekt ? Na wenn man einmal anfängt, dann kommen immer neue Ideen, stimmt's ?

[@GosforthHandyman]

We'll not be moving for a while, but we're always on the look-out for interesting projects! 😁

[@michaeltaylor4824]

£6 for a bag of cement! Much cheapness; they’re about £9 now. 😡

[@GosforthHandyman]

I know - them were the days!! 😭😭

[@Pelt101]

@@GosforthHandyman Mass profiteering at the minute in the building industry merchants and manufacturers.

[@AJC-ym2jx]

Quantity surveyors measure proposed or completed work not materials!

[@GosforthHandyman]

I'm pretty sure they assess material requirements too 🤔. From RICS: "As a quantity surveyor, your responsibilities focus on helping to estimate costs, material quantities and project timelines."

[@AJC-ym2jx]

Sounds like I managed to dodge a bullet in my 40 year career as a QS over half of which was a a member of the RICS!

[@johnclements6614]

@@AJC-ym2jxThe Junior QS did measure materials delivered but not for ordering on the civil engineering sites I worked on. One put down half a pile of sand on the valuation for payment once.

[@AJC-ym2jx]

Hello John, I was in building myself rather than civils but the reason is the same for both disciplines. When you do your monthly reconciliation of cost and value to arrive at your profit or loss you compare the value of work actually done with the cost of the labour, plant, materials etc used. You may well have £X,000s of materials in your cost which are lying about on site waiting to be used. This sum needs to be deducted from the cost to arrive at the correct cost to be compared to the value. Hence the need for the QS to establish the amount of materials on site and then the cost.