Printable construction charts (free PDFs, Letter and A4)

What charts are included?

There are six charts, each a single sheet or a two-sided sheet. They are tables, not posters: the type is set for reading at arm's length, and each column has a unit in its header. Every chart cites the documents its values come from in a sources line at the foot of the sheet, with the date we last checked them.

• Concrete bag chart (2 pages): bag yields and bags per cubic yard and per cubic metre for US bag sizes, a slab table by area and thickness, and UK and EU bag yields. About 45 bags of 80 lb concrete make one cubic yard (before waste).
• Lumber sizes chart (1 page): US nominal against actual dressed sizes in inches and millimetres, UK CLS stud sizes, and EN 336 tolerance classes. A 2x4 is 1-1/2 in by 3-1/2 in when dry and dressed (38 x 89 mm).
• Tile trowel, thinset and grout chart (2 pages): thinset coverage per bag by trowel notch, grout coverage by tile size and joint width, and metric kg-per-m² rates for UK and EU products.
• Roof pitch chart (1 page): every pitch from 1:12 to 24:12 with its angle in degrees, its pitch factor and its percent slope, plus a worked example.
• Stair rules card (1 page): US IRC section R311.7 and UK Approved Document K side by side, from riser height to guard openings.
• Construction unit conversions (1 page): length, area, volume, weight, liquid volume, density and load, with the reverse factor for each.

Who are these charts for?

They are for anyone who needs a number without opening a phone with dusty hands. People use them in four main places:

• Job sites and garages. The concrete bag chart and the conversions sheet answer the questions that come up at the mixer or the lumber rack.
• Shop walls. The lumber and roof pitch charts are single pages, so they can be laminated and pinned up for years.
• Classrooms and trade courses. Teachers can hand out the stair rules card or the roof pitch chart as a worksheet. The cited sources show students where each number comes from.
• Trade counters and builders' merchants. A sheet behind the counter answers the most common customer questions, such as how many bags make a yard or how much thinset to buy, in the same words every time.

The charts give typical values. A calculator gives the figure for your own job. Use the chart to sanity-check, and the work out bags or cubic yards of concrete tool or the matching calculator below for the quantity you actually order.

Concrete bag chart

The first page lists US bag sizes with their yield in cubic feet and litres, and the bags each size needs for a cubic yard and a cubic metre. Under it, a slab table gives bag counts for common patio and pad sizes at two thicknesses. The second page covers UK and EU bags, which are sold by kilogram and stated in cubic metres or litres. It also has a slab table in square metres. Bag counts are rounded up and include no waste allowance, so add your own allowance for spillage and uneven ground.

For your own dimensions, use the concrete calculator. The step-by-step concrete estimating guide shows how the bag counts are worked out.

• PDFConcrete bag chart (US Letter)2 pages, US and UK/EU bags377 KB
• PDFConcrete bag chart (A4)2 pages, US and UK/EU bags388 KB

Lumber sizes chart

A 2x4 is named for its rough size before drying and planing, not the size you buy. The chart lists US nominal sizes against actual dressed sizes in inches and millimetres. It also shows the UK side: CLS and ALS stud widths, EN 336 target sizes and the two tolerance classes. Notes cover standard lengths and the point where lumber becomes timber. Pair it with the deck board and joist calculator when you plan framing.

• PDFLumber sizes chart (US Letter)1 page, US nominal vs actual and UK CLS / EN 336254 KB
• PDFLumber sizes chart (A4)1 page, US nominal vs actual and UK CLS / EN 336264 KB

Tile trowel, thinset and grout chart

Page one gives manufacturer thinset coverage per bag for each trowel notch, for the standard US bag size. Page two gives grout coverage by tile size and joint width, in US units and in kg per m². Coverage depends on trowel technique and how flat the substrate is. Custom states mortar contact must be at least 80% in dry areas and 95% in wet areas and exteriors. So read the chart figures as a best case.

The tile calculator counts tiles and boxes for a room. The tile measurement walkthrough explains how to measure awkward floors before you buy.

• PDFTile trowel, thinset and grout chart (US Letter)2 pages, thinset by notch and grout by joint318 KB
• PDFTile trowel, thinset and grout chart (A4)2 pages, thinset by notch and grout by joint329 KB

Roof pitch chart

US roof slope is stated as inches of rise per 12 in (1 ft) of horizontal run, e.g. 4:12. The chart runs from 1:12 to 24:12. For each pitch it gives the angle in degrees, the pitch factor and the percent slope. Multiply the flat plan area by the pitch factor to get the sloped area you need to cover. The notes give the minimum slopes for shingles and say where OSHA's low-slope line falls. They also explain that UK tile data sheets state pitch in degrees, which is why the degree column is there.

To work from a measured rise and run, use the rafter length from rise and run tool.

• PDFRoof pitch chart (US Letter)1 page, 1:12 to 24:12 with degrees and factor248 KB
• PDFRoof pitch chart (A4)1 page, 1:12 to 24:12 with degrees and factor259 KB

Stair rules card

The card puts the US model code and the UK Approved Document K side by side. It covers rise, going or tread, nosing, headroom, width, handrails, guards, open risers and long flights. For example, IRC: riser height may not exceed 7-3/4 in (196 mm). A dash on the card means the cited sources give no matching rule. It does not mean there is no limit. A second table gives the UK rise and going ranges by stair category, and the notes add the deck stair stringer minimums from DCA 6.

Plan a real stair with the stair rise and run calculator, which checks your layout against the same limits.

• PDFStair rules card (US Letter)1 page, IRC R311.7 vs Approved Document K264 KB
• PDFStair rules card (A4)1 page, IRC R311.7 vs Approved Document K275 KB

Construction unit conversions

The sheet lists exact or standard factors for length, area, volume, weight, US and UK gallons, density and load, and computes each reverse factor. One foot is exactly 0.3048 m. A short list at the bottom covers the conversions that come up most on site: One cubic yard equals 27 cubic feet. Board feet, roofing squares and R-value to RSI are on it too. For background and worked examples, see the imperial-to-metric chart reference.

• PDFConstruction unit conversions (US Letter)1 page, length to load253 KB
• PDFConstruction unit conversions (A4)1 page, length to load264 KB

How do I print them so they stay readable?

• Pick the right paper size. Use the Letter file in the US and Canada and the A4 file elsewhere. Print at 100% or "actual size". "Fit to page" shrinks the small notes.
• Print two-page charts double-sided, flipping on the long edge, so the US and metric halves stay together.
• Use heavier paper or laminate for a shop wall or job box. A plain laser print on standard paper is fine for a one-off job.
• Black and white works. The charts use one accent colour, and the tables read the same in grey.
• Check the date in the footer. Each sheet prints the day it was generated. If yours is old, download it again. We rebuild the charts when a code edition or bag size changes.

Where do the numbers come from?

Every chart is generated from the same sourced fact base as our calculators. That base holds manufacturer data sheets for bags, thinset and grout, the US and UK codes for stairs and slabs, and national standards bodies for lumber and units. Values are copied from the cited documents or computed from them with the stated formula. For example, roof pitch rows that the source table does not print are computed with the same formula as the rows it does. Nothing on the charts comes from our own testing or measurement. Each sheet names its sources at the foot. Our editorial and calculation method explains how sources are chosen and checked.

One thing to know about the bag chart: yields are what manufacturers state for a bag mixed to the instructions. Real yield varies a little with water and compaction, which is one reason the chart adds no waste allowance and leaves that choice to you.

Can I share or reuse the charts?

Yes. The charts are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0). You may print them, hand them out, post them on a website or intranet, include them in course material and sell printed copies, as long as you give credit. A good credit line is:

Chart: BuildersCalcs, https://builderscalcs.com/printable-charts/ (CC BY 4.0)

On a web page, make "BuildersCalcs" a link to this page rather than to the PDF file, so readers find the current version. If you crop or redraw a chart, say so in the credit ("adapted from"). Please don't remove the sources line, because it is what makes the figures checkable.

If you would rather show a live calculator on your site, you can add a calculator to your site for free. For illustrations, the reusable stair and deck diagrams use the same licence. For sourced figures on injuries, waste and materials, see all sourced statistics pages.

Questions about the printable charts