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About CalcMule
Ten calculators for home improvement materials, built so that every answer can be traced back to a source.
What this is
CalcMule is a set of ten calculators for the materials a home improvement project runs on: concrete, gravel, mulch, roofing, paint, tile, drywall, fencing, flooring, and the square footage that most of the others start from.
Each calculator tells you how much material the job takes, what else you'll need to buy with it, and what the figures are based on, so you can check them before you spend money.
The site is operated by AB Arts & Sciences, LLC.
Why the numbers are traceable
Many material calculators use a coverage rate, density, or waste percentage without saying where it came from or when it was last checked. Prices change, so a two-year-old price gives a wrong answer.
So every constant and price here carries a source and the date it was checked, and the site checks both before it publishes. A page with prices more than 180 days old, or with its sources missing, does not go live.
Where a trade association or a government body publishes a number, that is what the calculator uses. Examples: PennDOT for aggregate densities, the Carpet and Rug Institute for how carpet is billed and installed, the Tile Council of North America for shower waterproofing, and the International Residential Code and the National Wood Flooring Association for how materials are installed and when they fail.
Where sources disagree
They often do, and the calculators say so rather than picking one number. Aggregate density varies by source rock and gradation, so the ranges are published. Screw counts differ between the National Gypsum table and ASTM C840, so both are shown. Bag yields are quoted per manufacturer and rounded up.
Some figures are estimates rather than published ones, and those are labeled as estimates. For a few materials there is no published weight per cubic yard, so the calculator shows none.
What the calculators are not
They are estimating tools, and every one of them says so. Confirm quantities and prices with your supplier before ordering: aggregate weight varies by source, product coverage varies by batch, and a real garden bed is never as neat as the numbers you type in.
They are not a substitute for a licensed contractor where the work needs one, or for your local building department where the work will be inspected. Where a calculator flags a code requirement (a fire separation, a pool barrier, a ceiling framed at 24 inches), treat it as a direction to check, not as a compliance guarantee, because local governments change them often.
How the site is paid for
It is not, yet. The calculators are free and the site carries no ads, affiliate links, or referral forms. If that changes, the Disclosure page will describe how before it does.
Whatever the site earns later, no number will change. The calculators are built from published sources, and the figures are the same whether or not anyone pays for anything on the page.
Getting in touch
Corrections are welcome. If a figure here is wrong, or a source has been superseded, that is worth knowing. The contact page has the address.