SiteworkMath — cubic-yard markConstruction math from people who’ve thrown the wheelbarrow.
Guides index23 guides · eight groups

Sitework guides — paired with the calculator that solves them.

Each guide is a worked walkthrough of one calculator's math plus the operator-experience layer (real flips, field traps, the opinions you only have after pouring one short). Calculator embedded inline; sources cited at the bottom.

No. 015 guides

Concrete yardage

The expensive mistake is ordering short on a pour you can't pause — and the next-most-expensive is stranding $400 of unused 80 lb bags in the garage. Slab, footing, post-hole, stair, and bag-yield math with the practical-order cushion and the ready-mix minimum-order warning built in.

Concrete yardage calculator →
No. 023 guides

Topsoil

The mistake is ordering bagged when bulk would have been cheaper, or under-ordering bulk and paying a second delivery fee on the same job. Per-use-case depth for new lawn, overseed top-dress, or raised bed, plus the supplier-minimum trap on small orders.

Topsoil calculator →
No. 033 guides

Mulch

The mistake is volcano-mulching a young tree and rotting the bark, or running short halfway through the bed because you didn't budget for first-year settling. Bag-count math at 2 cu ft / 3 cu ft, the 25% settling cushion, and the trunk-distance rule that protects the tree.

Mulch calculator →
No. 042 guides

Tile

The mistake is running a lot short mid-install and reordering a slightly different shade two weeks later. Pattern-specific waste cushions (10% straight / 15% diagonal or herringbone / 20% trim), the lot-number drift caveat, and the counter-intuition that large-format wastes less, not more.

Tile calculator →
No. 052 guides

Deck (surface materials)

The mistake is matching cedar boards with the wrong fastener, or ordering 20 ft lengths that warp in the rack before you get them on the joists. Cedar vs pressure-treated vs composite decision matrix, joist-spacing default, and the 16 ft field cap. Surface-only — frame design is out of scope.

Deck cost calculator →
No. 063 guides

Electrical (rewire + panel work)

The mistake is bidding a panel swap when the inspector is going to force a full rewire — and finding out only after demo. Full house, one room, panel-only, or 100A-to-200A service: with the AFCI cascade and scope-promotion logic competitors flatten, plus Chicago-metro permit reality.

Electrical rewire cost calculator →
No. 072 guides

Plumbing (repipe + main line)

The mistake is patching a single galvanized leak when the whole supply line is corroding, or pricing a main-line replacement without budgeting the separate utility-side quote. Whole house, partial branch, main line, galvanized-to-PEX, or single-leak repair — with the utility-vs-homeowner side warning.

Plumbing repipe cost calculator →
No. 083 guides

Gravel (yards, tons, French drain)

The mistake is ordering by cubic yards when the supplier bills by the ton, then padding by 20% on paper and still coming up short because crusher run compacts. Per-type density (pea / #57 clean / crusher run / decorative) drives the yards-to-tons conversion, with the compaction multiplier and the 5-yard supplier-minimum trap.

Gravel calculator →