UnitKost Building Estimator

Bv A.\fl. Holt, Buildins Cost AnalYst Oakland, California

My Own Service Manual-that could be the title' of a , book that gveryone connected with the home-building industry should start compiling at once if he wants to make more and better sales the quickest way with the least

In this case, the quire the following cifications: -

156 linear feet of outside wall will rdframing materials to medt FHA sPe-

156 LF 2x6 sills

156 LF 2x6 Box sills (if 2x6 joist)

156 LF 2x4 shoe or floor Plate

312 LF 2x4 double Plirtes

156 BF

156 BF. IO4 BF MBF.

I speak from experience because it was way back in 1914 that I started to write "My Own Service Manual'" It never entered my mind that it would be published five years later , as "Lumbermen's Building Estimator."

I Th. drudgery of making detailed liits of materials to ; get the price of any building was getting me down' I was working nights and Sundays (no closing at Saturday noon in those days) making lists of materials' Then I had to

. figure the footage, price, extend, check, add and then check again. I had no addi'ng machine either, much less a calculator that gives the answer after hitting a fen' ke)'s' , So I had many disappointments before the thought oci curred to me in August 1914, as follou:s: Why not de' termine the cost Per square foot of floor, walls' roof and I other UNITS of construction so I could quote a price for ,: any building u'ithout making a list after.I had made the - sale ?

'. Vty idea involved figuring the actual surface of floors, . walls, roof, etc., so I knew that I would have the basic data for making the delivery list. I had to d-etermine the linear . feet of wall in order to multiply by the height to get the ' actual r'vall surface. I became more enthusiastic as I 'i,, visualized the surprise on my customer's face rvhen I could .prove to him that I. had no list-and hou' could I give him i- u .opy if I didn't have one ?-and why I knerv that I could ., not possibly miscount or forget anything rvith my system ' of estimating. Many's the job I started delivering before ' I ever had my list.

Anyone rvho can make a list of materials can compile his own Unit Cost tables. As a concrete example' assume that this floor plan is to have a hip roof so there are no gables to consider. The wall framing would be tletermined something like this: Adding the extreme rvidth of 30 feet to the extreme length of € feet gives 78 feet to double for th6 perimeter of 156 linear feet. Note that the rear and right walls equal the front and left walls. In other rvords. it's no farther to rvalk a block south. a block east. another block south and then another block east, than it is to rvalk two blocks south and trvo blocks east. Therefore, a very valuable rule.in estimating is:

Width plus length Plus dePth of each recess (if any) multiplied by two, equals the Perimeter.

156 LF 2x4 firestoP

14 pcs. 2x4-12 bracing (less if lx4) ""

172 pcs. UU studs - - ).

IO4 BF II2 BF 9T7 BF

.l >) l l'. . "hurr.. of error and omissions. Money cannot.buy a book as good as one you help write yourself.

Total framing "1,757

BF

The studs are listed at the rate of ll/o mote than the customary practice of figuring "a studding to the foot plus a few "*ir"." Check this on any well-framed housc, s I have done many times, by reducing headers and cripples to studs and add to all studs required. You can do the same for partitions and KNOW for yourself

To harre the "framing material per square of wall," it is necessary to multiply the 156 linear feet of wall by the height of-9 feet from foundation to roof for l4O4 sqrrare feeio, 14.0[ squares. Dividing 1,757 by 14'04 gives l6pet square. My UnitKost tables list 13O BF per square to be a trifle liberal. To make the table complete it will be necessary to add the foundation bolts, vents, paper and nails for a price per square for the framing materials' This is then added to the cost per square for various'grades and sizes of rustic, stllcco, wall shingles, brick veneer or any other kind of "wall covering" materials.

Already several hundred California lumber dealers are using my UnitKost system and would figure the founda' tion and walls for this house in a few minutes, something like this I

156 LF Foundation at (say) .. . $ 1.20 or $187'Z)

14 Sqs. Outside wall at .. 53-Z) or 74!.ffi

A teen-ager could figure the flgor area of this house as 24x4O or 96,0 SF.for the main unit, 6xl4 or &t SF for Living Room projection and !b SF for the l2x8 rear Bedroom' This makes a total of 1,14O SF or ll-4 squares of f,oor' The same for the ceiling. Roofs are almost as easy to figure from instructions given in my book. With Unit Costs. that have been proved by more than 30 years of ei'ery possible test. this and similar houses can be estimated in a matter of 30 minutes.

Scrn locquin Hoo-Hoo Club

First activity of the new year for San Joaquin.Hoo-Hoo Club No. 31 was the annual Ladies' Night, held January 24 in Fresno. After cocktails and a steak dinaer, members and guests were entertained wiih dancing, tbe singing of Bill Gruver of Kyle & Co., and an entertainment program' Bob Wright was recently appointed to the San Joaquin Club's board of directors. He took the place of Joe Aimar, who has moved to Palo'Alto. "CaP" Nichols bas been ap pointed viceregent snark for the districtOther activities on the club's calendar'are-" "oolt in Visalia in May, and the June Picnic;

Named Midwest Manager

Nort Baser, a former Michigan newspaperrnan, has been named midwest manager for American Forest Products Industries, spokesman for the nation's processors of lumber, paper and other wood products. Prior to joining AFPI's field organization Mr. Baser was managing editor of American Forests Magazine.

Mr. Baser will take over the present AFPI office at 59 E' Van Buren Street, Chicago, headquarters for a region which includes Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. This is part of a larger Lake States territory formerly managed by John R. Calkins who will establish a new office at Green Bay, Wisconsin, to serve Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota thus providing greater AFPI coverage throughout the Lake States and Midwest areas'

Prior to his past four years with a national forestry magazine, Mr. Baser spent 12 years in varied newspaper and public relations positions. He served as sports editor of The News-

Palladium in Benton l{arbor, Michigan, from 1936 until 1947 when he went to Texas. There he was information and education director for the Texas Forest Service, a position which led him to Washington, D.C.

As area manager for American Forest Products Industries, Mr. Baser is available to anyone seeking information on forestry and forest industry activities. Most effective of these have been their twin progriuns to encourage growing trces as continuing crops-tree fargring---and to protect these trees from fire-Keep America Green.

Tcylor Moves To Montqra

.A. T. taytor, for 25 years with the Hayward Lumber C'ompany, and for eight years rnanager for that firm at Blythe' Calif., has resigned and moved with his family to Polson, Montana, where they have many relatives-

Jerry Clough, one of the salesmen for George Clough \Vholesale Lumber Company, Los Angeles, is on an extended sales trip to lUexico. He is expected home next week'