Roof geometry, framing layout and material takeoffs

FramingCalcs

Free calculators for rafters, hips, roof pitch, framing layout and material takeoff, each showing the geometry or standard behind the answer.

Framing & Roof Geometry

Rafter geometry, wall takeoffs and roof pitch conversion, with the ridge shortening and actual lumber dimensions built in.

Roofing & Cladding

Material takeoff from footprint and pitch, with waste scaled to how complex the roof actually is.

Footings & Concrete

The load a beam, post or footing actually carries — half the span each side, not the whole of it — and concrete volume with a straight answer on bags versus ready-mix. Member sizing is not published here; see the methodology page.

Every answer names its source

There is no shortage of calculators on the web. What is scarce is one that tells you where its number came from, so you can check it. Every result on this site names the formula, standard or manufacturer figure behind it on the line that produced it, rather than in a footnote.

That is not decoration. A front axle result that says 278 lb lighter than unhitched, from tongue weight × overhang ÷ wheelbase can be checked on a scale, argued with, or used to decide where the load goes. One that says within limits cannot be checked at all.

Built to answer the whole question

Most calculators solve half a problem and stop. A towing calculator that reports GCWR but ignores payload will call an overloaded truck legal. A water heater tool that goes by tank gallons misses that a smaller tank with a stronger burner delivers more hot water. A tankless unit rated at five gallons a minute delivers under three in a northern winter, with nothing wrong with it.

Each of the 16 calculators here applies every constraint that governs its answer, and says which one is binding. Where an assumption is deliberately left out — Manual J, NPSH, engineered spans — the page says so plainly rather than letting you assume it was included. Tools whose answer would be safety-critical if it were wrong are not published here; the methodology page explains which, and why.

One source of truth

The 4 reference charts are generated from the same data the calculators run on. The pump head calculator imports its friction loss from the pipe size calculator rather than keeping a second copy. Two pages on this site cannot disagree about the same question, because there is only one answer in the code.

The calculations are covered by an automated test suite that runs before anything is published, and some of those tests deliberately assert the behaviour that makes each tool useful. More on how that works on the methodology page.

What these tools are not

They are estimates for planning. They are not engineered designs, permit documents or a substitute for a licensed professional. Codes carry local amendments, editions change, and the authority having jurisdiction in your area has the final say. Every calculator carries a disclaimer describing exactly what it does not model — those are worth reading before you rely on a result.