Building a Foundation for a new house

This is an excellent video published by Barstow Construction. After demolishing the old house, excavating the lot to clear clay, and backfilling with 1' of recycled sand - we are ready to start our foundation for the new house... Here is how we do it!.

There are three main foundation types: full basement, crawlspace, and slab-on grade. Different types are popular in different parts of the country, with reasons that include ground conditions and local market expectations.

Watch the Video:

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Published By

Rajib Dey

www.quantity-takeoff.com

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Cool Roof Coating Systems can bring huge benefits for maintenance of your roof

A roof coating refers to an inflexible, fully complied with, fluid based roofing overlay. So a roof coating is considered as the top layer of an amalgamated roof coat as well as elemental system.

Now-a-days cool roof coating systems become very popular worldwide constructionprofessionals. A Cool Roof is defined as a light-colored commercial roofing system that returns the scorching heat & harmful rays of the sun as well as instantly emanates any absorbed solar heat and in this manner reduces the roof and building temperature and safeguards the roof against sunlight degradation. So a cool roofing coating system can minimize cooling energy demand in buildings by up to 50%. A Cool Roof coating system will save money to a great extent and enhance the durability of the roof with lesser repairing & maintenance costs, facilitates lessening power plant emissions, makes the air quality superior, and minimize landfill waste.

Followings are some of the useful benefits of cool roof coating systems :-

Cool roof coating systems denote light colored roof coating systems useful for reflecting the sun’s heat, alias Ultra-Violet (UV) rays, ahead of your roof. The building soaks up a small amount of heat and maintains the temperature cool within the building. It will safeguard the roof against scorching sun causing blistering, splitting, embrittlement, and early aging as well as elongates the durability of your roof.

Cool Roofing Systems are based on verified acrylic technology that offer greater long-term waterproofing and keep away from expensive leaks.

With its extremely reflective and emissive qualities, cool Roof coating system guarantees long lasting life span of the roof as compared to dark-colored or aluminum-coated roofs, which often destroy early owing to sunlight revelation.

These reflective and emissive systems prevent destructive UV rays and decrease high roof surface temperatures that can lead to asphalt degradation.

Cool roof coating systems avoid the predictable and normal corrosion a roof experiences. These reflective coating systems offer supplementary UV protection, stability and sustainability to the roofs surfacing facilitating the roof to get rid of gradual deterioration all through the years.

These cool roof coatings are set up in place, directly over any existing elderly, leaking and/or failing roof. Get rid of any expensive and well-timed roof replacement.

Image Courtesy: nationalcoatings.com

Ref. : www.nationalcoatings.com

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Published By

Rajib Dey

www.quantity-takeoff.com

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Estimate Spreadsheet - Live Demo

This is an excellent video published by jobleads. Construction Estimating made easy this video will show you just how easy an Estimating Spreadsheet is to use.

This estimate spreadsheet also includes drywall, piping, labor, risk cost and summation of all the estimated expenditure.

Watch the Video:

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Published By

Rajib Dey

www.quantity-takeoff.com

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RS Mean’s 2015 Facility Manager’s Package offers new life cycle cost models for facilities

RSMeans obtained by the Gordian Group, the most recognized supplier of construction cost estimatinginformation in North America, just declared the availability of its totally new life cycle cost models for facilities which belong to its 2015 Facility Manager’s Package.

The RSMeans Facility Manager’s Package provides all the elements useful for facility managers and owners to precisely estimate the total cost of ownership and operation of diverse commercial, industrial and public buildings. 2015 Facility Manager’s Package consists of five modules ranging from FacilitiesConstruction Cost Data 2015; Facilities Maintenance & Repair Cost Data 2015; Assemblies Cost Data 2015; Square Foot Cost Data; and Life Cycle Costing for Facilities.

The newest module wiil help in computing the Life Cycle Costing for Facilities. The facility managers from all over the world will be able to prepare the long-standing cost plan forbuildings and facility assets efficiently.

Life cycle cost or sustainment is considered as the most important element in a far-reaching facility maintenance management program. It recognizes the frequently scheduled and forecasted maintenance and repair tasks required for maintaining one or more facilities in stable condition. These tasks comprise projected major repairs or component replacements which should be undertaken over the probable life cycle of a facility.

With the Life Cycle Costing for Facilities, the facility managers can make a comparison in computing initial installed costs against long-term facility costs.

The model produces a sustainmentcalculator on the basis of RSMeans’ square-foot estimating models by plotting RSMeans’ assembly data to facilities maintenance & repair cost data (FM&R) tables. The users will also get the ability to generate cost-detail spreadsheets, summary tables useful for computing sustainment costs and ratios as well as time cycle charts. The customized reports can be created to any location in the United States or Canada.

Reporting capabilities provides the following benefits to the users:-

• Instantly calculate total sustainment costs, completely tailored to a facility with amendments for quantity, capacity, design life, maintenance and repair and preventive maintenance costs, repair frequency, time cycle length, escalation rates, location, and site cost conditions.
• Create comparison reports in support of new construction and accessible facilities to find out short- and long-term maintenance requirements.
• Make sure the longest serviceable building life manageable for virtually any commercial building.
• Get better performance over the duration of building and equipment and make out scopes for savings.

Visit www.rsmeans.com, to get more details.

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Published By

Rajib Dey

www.quantity-takeoff.com

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Roofing Cost Estimator - Roofing Cost Calculator

It generally gives the updated estimate of roofing. It is equally applicable in new home and remodeling. Nationally acclaimed author and home builder Carl Heldmann says that it is costly affairs and depends on roofingmaterials, roof pitch, and labor.

It is measured in square foot. A square is basically to cover 100 square feet (10 feet X 10 feet). But it is not simple. Rather it is tough to those who don’t know geometry well.

Heldmann advises to hire good roofing contractors and let himestimate. Now you can make your own calculation and match it with for comprehending the disparity.

Weight: Sometime it is lightweight but sometime it is heavy, when quality weight increases.

Pitch: It is seen that the roofing installation labor boosts as the pitch of the roof increases.

The selling price:

Heldmann’s opinion: roof pitch is handy to restore roof costs and new home roof costs more than anything else. Roof pitch is pointed to by a number over a number.

The most common are 3/12, 4/12, 5/12, 6/12 and so on. The higher the top number, the steeper the pitch.

This terminology would be: The pitch of a roof = the rise of the roof in inches over (/) each foot of span (horizontal travel).

Some Important Point to be remembered:-

• A 4/12 pitch, or a 4 over 12 pitch, would mean that there is a rise of 4 inches for every foot measured from the outside edge of the roof towards the center of the roof (horizontal span).
• It is interesting to note that the square feet of shingles (squares) required increases dramatically as the pitch increases. A 12/12 pitch contains twice as much shingle area as a 6/12 pitched roof!
• Roofing contractors charge according to the shingle weight and the roof pitch because the steeper the pitch and the heavier the shingle, the harder their job is.
• I think roof design is the most important component of home design.
• I think that heavier shingles and steeper pitches look great and add curb appeal... if you can afford it.

Warranties:-

• Asphalt shingles and fiberglass shingles are warranted according to their weight.
• The least expensive lighter weight shingles carry a 15 year warranty while the heavier more expensive shingles are warranted for up to 25 years.
• Chimneys should be built (finished) before the area surrounding the chimney is shingled.
• Dormers are not only good-looking; they assist in adding cheap living space.
• But dormers are a bit luxurious to build and a steep pitched roof is required to gain that extra living area. But I found that the trade-off for that extra room is worth it.

Ref: www.byoh.com/roofing.htm

Image Courtesy: ozgrid.com

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Published By

Rajib Dey

www.quantity-takeoff.com

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Turner Construction is conducting an exclusive construction educational program in USA

Turner Construction Company declared its educational program alias “the 2015 Turner School of Construction Management (TSCM)” which is hosted by the DC Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Howard University.

In this educational program there will be an 8-week course that involves management training and certification to prospectivesubcontractors. This construction education program will start on March 25 and will continue upto May 13. More than 150 companies in the Greater Washington, DC area can avail this educational opportunies.

Turner is making alliance with the DC Small Business Development Center, a mutual initiative of Howard University, the Small Business Administration (SBA), and District of Columbia small business community stakeholders to expand the prospects for small, local contractors by providing training on how to tender bid efficiently, propose to, and perform with a company having similar strength of Turner. The motto of TSCM is to organize the subcontractor market in a better way to succeed and carry out work in the Washington, DC area.

Turner staff and select industry partners having several years of working experience in thejobsite and who are considered as subject-matter experts, will perform as the course instructors.

The educational program 2015 will focuses on field operations, accounting & banking,construction estimating, safety and sales & marketing. The program has provided huge benefits to the attendees to create networks as well as long-standing business relationships, and set up flourishing joint ventures to obtain contracts with Turner and other industry leaders. The DC Small Business Development Center Network will carry on offering no-cost technical assistance to the attendees.

Turner has rewarded over $1 billion in contracts annually to minority-owned businesses since past 10 years as well as awarded more than $1 billion to MBE contractors in 2012. Many graduates of the Turner School of Construction Management get the ability to accomplish work on Turner projects and joint-ventures. In the past year, the District of Columbia SBDC trained more than 400 small businesses all over the city with recent clients getting nearly $4 million in capital development.

In order to register for the 2015 Turner School of Construction Management, please visit atturnerschool.eventbrite.com. The last date of registration is April 1, 2015

Image Courtesy: www.utexas.edu

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Published By

Rajib Dey

www.quantity-takeoff.com

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Home Contracting Process

Constructing the own home is like shaping the most sought after dream.

First – Do a financial plan : The Financial Plan is the base of good contracting a home. Most of the people have restrained financial resource. Land cost, construction cost has to measure properly. It is need to do good cost estimation.

Second – Purchasing building lot : It is depending on how big home the owner wants to have. It is depending on which area they like and how pricy the lot is.

Third - Preparing plan : The Plan is actually the working documents ofhome builders. This thing demonstrates and informs how the home is to be built. Making the decisions to have a composite plan is very necessary.

Fourth - Cost Estimate : This is the most important part of home contracting process, the Cost Estimate is such a thing where a full list have to made of materials, supply matters,sub contractor’s bid and many others.

Construction Schedule : This is a full schedule, showing diagrammatically the series of construction events.

Financing : The firm that engaged for the construction and enduring financing, now is the time to do it - after your lot is buy and your plans and stipulation are complete.

Contracts and Permits : After the tabling of plan and financial plan, its time to beginconstruction - This is the conclusion of the home contracting process. While the construction work is going on, the house owner is the ultimate boss of all the activities.

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Published By

Rajib Dey

www.quantity-takeoff.com

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How to estimate and construct your own house

What is the cost of building a house? It is around $80 to $120 per sq ft or may be more completely based on its size, design, quality, shape and location – the professional says. This cost is depending on location only.

The selling price:

• 25% material,
• 25% labor,
• 25% land cost,
• 12.5% builder profit,
• 12.5% builder overhead, which includes the cost of running their business, construction financing costs, and the new home's marketing and sales costs.

But the builders have to take it in mind that the material, labor, land, and overhead costs when estimating the costs ofbuilding a new home. For the costly roof and windows and other expensive building material, bid will be high. All this compromising and cost balancing is done in the planning stage of construction.

In Carl Heldmann’s page, the builders can get a great, user friendly FREE cost estimating software called Cost to Build Calculator that utilizes the latest in construction estimating software.

For more accurate cost estimating read Cost Estimating Explained page and spreadsheet page.

The cost to build calculator can compute cost per square foot is due to many variables, including different types of foundations, roof pitches, quality of building materials, home design, design and number of windows, and so on. The National Association of Home Builders in their most recent report shows the current average cost to build a house is $94.54 per sq.

There are some examples:-

Four examples are set here that ho

• 2,000 sq. ft., simple design = $80 per sq ft = $160,000. Built on a $80,000 lot. With an appraisal of $320,000, if you decide to be your own general contractor, you might save $80,000 or more (12.5% builder profit, and 12.5% builder overhead).
• 2,200 sq ft steeper roof, 3 car garage, stone trim, etc. = $90 per sq ft = $198,000. Built on a $100,000 lot. Appraisal of $398,000 = you might save $99,000 or more.
• 2,400 sq ft, more glass, porch, hip roof, etc = $100 per sq ft = $240,000. Built on a $120,000 lot. Appraisal of $480,000 = you might save $120,000 or more.
• 2,600 sq ft, more complex design & costs = $120 per sq ft = $312,000. Built on a $156,000 lot. Appraisal of $624,000 = you might save $156,000 or more.

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Published By

Rajib Dey

www.quantity-takeoff.com

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Bill of Quantity for Construction

It is actually an itemized list of materials, parts, and labour (with their costs) required to construct, maintain, or repair a specific structure.

A bill of quantities (BOQ) is a text used in tendering process in the building construction industry. Here the materials, parts, and labour and other things are (and their costs) are listed.

It also (preferably) particulars the terms and conditions of the construction or patch up contract and itemizes all work to enable acontractor to price the work for which he or she is bidding.

It is usually arranged by surveyors and building estimators. The bill quantity generally made by a ‘taking of. The process of estimation is making: Architects, Structural Engineers, and other building consultants drawings.

These have been used to construct a cost estimate such as measuring meters of walls and roofs, the numbers of doors and windows, and systems as heating, plumbing and electrics.

Parallel work is then brought together under one thing, which is a process known as abstracting.

There is a Contingency sum is an item found within a Bill of quantities (BoQ). The item refers to hidden cost likely to be inviting during the contract. A Bill of Quantities considers all costs and is seen-through in relations to all costs.

Download Sample: Bill Of Quantities (BOQ)

Image Courtesy: http://images.1233.tw/

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Published By

Rajib Dey

www.quantity-takeoff.com

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Download Civil Engineering Software Free

These are some useful links for the civil engineers. It will be throughout helpful.

Geotechnical software GEO5: There are many programmes that solve geotechnical problems. Those are very easy with user friendly interface. Those programmes are based on analytical methods and the Finite Element Method (FEM). These are the geotechnical tasks: Slope stability analysis, Foundations design, Retaining wall design, Sheet pile wall, Soil Settlement, Underground structures etc.

3D Nature’s World Construction Set: It is photorealistic 3D terrain visualization for cartography to architecture, golf and forestry.

3D Structural Modeling Software – 3D+: It is autoCAD based pareametic modeling and analysis.

Archon Engineering – It makes the civil and mechanical engineering software.

ASCAD – Software for civil engineers and land-surveyors.

ARTS hydraulic design software - It is a graphical hydraulic design package.

Autodesk Civil - It builds on Autodesk Land Desktop with tools that mechanize civil engineering tasks.

AutoTURN – It is actually CAD-based software.

AutoTURN Aircraft – It is also a CAD-based software simulation tool used to assess aircraft.

BOSS International – It makes of civil engineering software for groundwater.

CAiCE Software Corporation – The creator of civil software automation tools for review, civil design, construction and drainage engineers.

Carlson Software – These are the makers of several AutoCAD and IntelliCAD-compatible surveying.

DTWARE Engineering Software – Software for article and incessant beam analysis.

Eagle Point Software - It is the architectural, civil and construction software, including AutoCAD add-on.

ELPLA - It analyzes and plan slab foundations and to decide contact force, settlements, instant activities and shear forces of slab foundations by the method of limited elements.

engineering-software.com – It is actually an engineering software store with reach collection.

Ezicad - It is the included package for cogo, contour routines and road plan.

Geocomp Systems - It is the creator of the software for review, civil design, and volume estimation.

GEOPAK – This is actually suite of civil engineering software for reviewing and roadway plan.

Geotechnical and Geo-environmental Software Directory – This software lists additional than 1,300 programs, advantage was more than 700 universal dealer and publishers of these programs.

Highway Safety Analysis Software – This is traffic accident studies program containing data entry.

IcoMap - It adapted paper land records into vector-based parcel maps.

Inlet Master – It is a hydraulic program to assist design and analyze the act of storm drain Inlets.

InRoads – it manages multiple aspects of civil engineering projects including road design, corridor design, and road widening many ore.

MWH Software – It is the creators of water distribution software.

ParkCAD – It is the CAD-based software for generating conceptual parking lot designs.

Performance of Reinforced Concrete – It is the Java Applet, forecasts the structural performance of reinforced concrete panels.

PGSuper - It can be used to plan and check precast-prestressed girder bridges in accordance with the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specification. Free.

Rcolumn – It analyzes the unbreakable concrete columns for biaxial bending.

Rockmate Technical Services – It makers of software for the environment, vehicle tracking, surveying, security, explosives and the extractive industries.

Rockgrout – It is an animated and interactive program explaining the design and construction of cement grouting.

RockWare Inc. - It makes more than 200 applications for geological, hydrological and other related earth-science disciplines.

SiteComp – The Stand-alone reviewing and civil engineering software presents for contouring, legal description writing, and site.

Skjeggedal Consulting – It presents the areas, a program for calculation of section properties of steel beams.

Soakaway Design – Wastewater system design, includes rainfall map for the UK.

Software Solutions – It is actually a software solution for both industrial and commercial engineering applications.

Spencer Engineering Software – It is for the appraisal and selection of standard open-web steel joists for floor and roof construction, including joist/slab vibration analysis.

SPLASHS With Ripple-Thru – It is the relationship-based design software for civil engineers.

Structural Analysis Software – S-Frame – It is a completely included suite of structural study and design software solutions, from entry-level 2D frame analysis to advanced non-linear 3D finite element analysis.

The Engineer’s Document and Design System – It is the structural Calculation Software within Microsoft Word, to integrating analysis and design calculations.

Topocad - It is the CAD program for surveying, design, engineering and mapping.

VisionCivil – It is VisionCivil, the Civil Engineering Software for AutoCAD or MicroStation environments.

Wallingford Software – It makers of software for the water industry, including data management and network modeling software to hold planning and operations in water sharing.

X32 Group, Inc – It is the highway security analysis software for traffic accident studies.

Primus-DCF is free and whole software that permits Engineers, architect, Surveyors and building contractors to easily create bills of amount and estimates for the building industry through a very user-friendly interface. The monitor of the desktop becomes place where user would be able to open Price Books, Price Lists, Estimates and Bills of Quantities. They can consult them, insert, modify or copy parts of data from a source document to a purpose document, and easily adapt data with simple Drag&Drop operations.

It is only for WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) technology, the manuscript that user can see while get restriction is precisely the same document you will get printed on paper.

The user can have dissimilar ID on the monitor and function on any of them wherever you want by simply pointing the mouse pointer on the part that want to adjust permitting you to work in a more direct and intuitive way. Still, the DCF (Document Computation Format) arrangement can be customized for free thanks to Primus.

Click the Download Link:

• Nisa Design Studio
• Sruds
• Fastrak
• Tedds – Free trial download
• Structural BIM
• Fastrak Composite Beam (free download)
• Bridge Engineering Software (free version)
• UnderSee Explorer
• PPS – Performance Planning System
• Kubla Software

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Published By

Rajib Dey

www.quantity-takeoff.com

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