Estimating in Building Construction

Chapter 10 CONCRETE
 ESTIMATING CONCRETE
• Concrete quantities are measured in cubic yards as it is the pricing unit of the
ready-mix companies, and most tables and charts available relate to the cubic
yard.
• Roof and floor slabs, slabs on grade, pavements, and sidewalks are most
commonly measured and taken off in length, width, and thickness and
converted to cubic feet and cubic yards (27 cf = 1 cy).
• In estimating quantities, the estimator makes no deductions for holes smaller
than 2 sf or for the space that reinforcing bars or other miscellaneous
accessories take up.
• Waste ranges from 5 percent for footings, columns, and beams to 8 percent
for slabs.
 EXAMPLE
The objective of this example is to determine the quantity of concrete in the
3’2’’- wide continuous footings. From drawings S2.1 and S8.1 of the small
commercial building and excerpted in Figure, it can be discerned that there are
two different sizes of continuous footings. The continuous footings on the
perimeter of the building are 3’2’’ wide, and the ones found on the interior of
the building are 3’0’’ wide. The following steps should be taken:
1. Determine the linear feet of footing for each width.
2. Determine the cross-sectional area for each of the differing sizes.
3. Determine the volume and convert into cubic foot
SOLUTION
 EXAMPLE
The concrete contained in this footing is found in virtually the same fashion, as
was the continuous footing.
 DRILLED PIERS
• When dealing with drilled piers, some information about the soil
is needed.
• If the soils are loose or the water table is high, it may be
necessary to case the piers.
• The casing prevents the sides from caving in and water from
seeping in.
• To quantify a drilled pier, as shown in Figure, the shaft diameter,
bell diameter, and angle of the bell must be known.
 EXAMPLE
From the small commercial building example found in Appendix A, there are
three identical drilled piers with the following dimensions:
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 EXAMPLE
Spread footings typically have projecting formed piers
that support the building structure. The small
commercial building has one formed pier. This pier, as
shown in Figure, is 1 foot in diameter and 3 feet, 7
inches tall. The volume of the formed pier is found by
multiplying the cross-sectional area by its height.
SOLUTION
 EXAMPLE
The concrete for the foundation walls is done in substantially the same manner
as the spread footings. In the small commercial building example, the building
perimeter foundation walls are 1’2” thick and the interior walls are 1’0” thick.
Figures 10.8 and the table in Figure 10.9 detail the linear feet of 1’2”-thick
foundation walls. In addition, side B is 8’4” tall as compared with 3’8” high for
the remaining 1’2”-thick walls. This is why, side B is not included in Figure 10.9.
SOLUTION
SOLUTION
 GRADE BEAM
Grade beams are located in the front and right rear corner of the building (refer
to Figures 10.10 and 10.11). These grade beams are required to tie the drilled
piers to the remainder of the building foundation. The volume of concrete in the
grade beam is found by multiplying the cross-sectional area of the grade beams
by their length. From Figure 10.10, it can be discerned that the grade beams
have different cross-sectional areas.
SOLUTION
 SLAB
The volume of a reinforced slab is found by taking the square footage and by
multiplying it by the depth of the slab. From the drawings in Appendix A and
Figures 10.13, 10.14, and 10.15, there are four unique types of slabs. First, there
is the 745 sf (25’3” 31’4” less 46 sf for stair opening) of 2-inch-thick topping.
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 LABOR COST
Find the labor cost for placing concrete in the 3’2”-wide continuous footings.
From the concrete takeoff in Figure 10.7, there are 42 cy of concrete. Using that
quantity and the labor productivity information from Figure 10.17, the following
calculations can be performed.
LABOR COST
 FOUNDATION REINFORCEMENT
For this example, determine the quantity of reinforcing steel required for the
side A continuous footing of the building. From Figure 10.3, which was used to
quantify the concrete, the dimensions for all of the sides can be found. From that
table, side A is 39’10”. This footing has reinforcing bars that run both the long
and short dimensions.
FOUNDATION REINFORCEMENT
SOLUTION
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 SLAB REINFORCEMENT
If the reinforcing in a slab is done with sized deformed
bars, the bars are quantified in the exact manner as
the footings and foundation walls. Once again, the
quantity of long and short bars needs to be
determined. Figure 10.22 is an example of how the
slab can be divided into unique areas so that the
quantity of reinforcing bars can be determined. Using
area A as an example, the long bars will be (39’0”- 2”)
or 38’10” and the short bars would be (25’4”- 2”) or
25’2”.
SOLUTION
 REINFORCING DRILLED PIERS
Estimating the reinforcing in the drilled piers consists of
counting the number of vertical bars and determining their
length. Since there are three drilled piers, results will be
multiplied by three to determine the total.
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 GRADE BEAM
The grade beam in the front of the building is 30 feet long. The specifics of this
grade beam are found in Figure 10.24. There are four No. 5 horizontal bars and
No. 3 bars used for stirrups at 12 inches on center (o.c.).
SOLUTION
LABOR COST FOR CONTINOUS FOORING
LABOR COST FOR CONTINOUS FOORING
Thank You