Exterior

Roofing, siding, decking, fencing and insulation.

• Deck board calculator — How many deck boards you need, in the lengths you can actually buy. Uses the real 5.5 in board width and your board gap, and counts the deck screws too.
• Deck stain calculator — How many gallons of deck stain you need, counting the railing, stairs and fascia — not just the floor. Rough or weathered wood drinks nearly twice as much.
• Drip edge calculator — How many 10 ft pieces of drip edge for the eaves and the rakes, with the 2 in code overlap taken off. Linear feet is only the first of the three numbers you need at the counter.
• Fence picket calculator — How many fence pickets, posts and rails you need for a run of fence. Uses real dressed lumber widths — a 1x6 is 5.5 in, not 6 in — so the count is right.
• Gutter calculator — Gutter sections, hangers, and how many downspouts the run actually needs — sized from the roof area draining into it and your local rainfall intensity.
• Metal roofing panel calculator — How many metal roofing panels you need, and the exact length to order. Built on net coverage width — not the width on the price tag, which leaves you short.
• Roof shingle calculator — Bundles of shingles for your roof, corrected for pitch. Also gives the starter strip and the hip and ridge cap, priced from each product’s own linear coverage, so you buy once.
• Roofing underlayment calculator — How many rolls of felt or synthetic underlayment your roof needs. #15 covers four squares a roll, #30 covers two, synthetic ten — and the lap eats all three.
• Vinyl siding calculator — Squares and boxes of vinyl siding, plus the J-channel, corner posts and starter strip that go with them. The trim is half the order, so this counts it too.