How does the SIP CALC calculate?

SIP CALC calculates the number of SIP panels and other building materials required for assembling the structure of a house with a classic rectangular shape. Key calculation features…

SIMPLICITY

The simplicity of SIP CALC lies in its chosen method of calculation. It works by determining the surface areas of the house (floor, walls, ceiling/roof) and dividing them by the area of a SIP panel. As a result, the total number of SIP panels required is quickly obtained.

To calculate this, only a minimal set of key details is needed from the user — all of which are entered on a single, user-friendly page with clearly arranged input fields. The calculation is performed with just one click.

COMPLEXITY

The complexity of SIP CALC is in how it calculates the number of SIP panels separately for each component of the building (floor, walls, ceiling/roof), according to the specific panels selected by the user. The calculation takes into account panel dimensions, prices, weight, and other relevant properties.

The type of roof chosen affects not only the roof area and number of panels needed, but also the gables for the walls. That is, depending on the roof’s type and size, the system adds the appropriate gables to the wall calculation, computes their area, and includes it in the wall surface total.

When estimating the volume of timber and other building materials required, SIP CALC uses the dimensions of the selected panels for each building component. As a result, users see a total volume of timber and supporting materials for the entire structure.

ADVANCED FEATURES

For paid users, SIP CALC unlocks advanced calculation capabilities, including:

  • adding custom-sized SIP panels and using them in project calculations;
  • applying your own pricing for SIP panels, which will be included in the final cost breakdown;
  • modifying all SIP CALC coefficients and parameters involved in calculating panel quantities, timber volume, and other construction materials needed for the building shell;
  • saving your customised settings, prices, and panel dimensions in your personal account.

Calculation methods

To perform the simplest calculations of floor, wall, ceiling or roof areas, it is enough to enter the length and width of the corresponding floor into the calculator. Without choosing specific sip panel sizes, SipCalc will calculate all the areas of the house surfaces, namely the area of ​​the floor, external walls, interfloor overlap. The calculation includes the areas of the gables (if any) in accordance with the selected roof shape. The shape of the plan of the sip house should be rectangular or square.

It is possible to reduce or increase the area of ​​the second floor of the house relative to the first. In cases where the shapes or areas of the floors differ, the largest width and length dimensions are used to calculate the roof. That is, the roof calculator takes into account the largest area of ​​the building that needs to be covered with a roof.

To calculate only the area of ​​​​surfaces (walls/ceilings) without the number of panels and other materials, it is enough to leave the panels selection fields empty.

In conventional calculations of floors and roofs, the longitudinal cutting of panels in half is taken into account, but it is possible to turn off this option and leave the panels intact.

For all calculations of the roof of a house, the unit of length is used – a meter.

Method 1: How to calculate the area, floor of walls and ceiling or roof.

Using the sip calculator, you can perform calculations only for houses with a rectangular or square house plan.

To calculate the floor area, it is enough to enter the length and width of the house into the calculator.

To calculate the wall area, you will need to enter the height of the wall from the floor to the ceiling. If the height is not entered, the calculation will use a height equal to the standard length of the sip panel (for the first floor – 2.5 m, for the second attic floor – 1.25 m).

If the “cold attic” option is selected for the roof, the roof area is not calculated, only the ceiling area is calculated. When a roof with a ventilated attic is above the ceiling of sip panels. Timber for the rafter system of the roof in this variant of the sip house is not calculated by this calculator.

In the “flat” and “gable” roof calculation variants, the areas of the gables are added to the area of ​​the walls.

For a hip roof, the entire roof area is calculated..

The roof overhang is also taken into account as part of the roof structure in all roof shapes except the “cold attic”. The roof overhang in this roof calculator is calculated as a completely filled overhang with sip panels. To calculate a roof with an overhang not filled with sip panels, it is worth leaving the roof overhang equal to zero.

So, the main feature of this calculation method is the simplicity of determining the areas of the floor, walls, ceiling and roof. It is not necessary to choose the appropriate sip panels to calculate the areas of these structural elements.

Method 2. Calculation of the number of sip panels

To calculate the required number of SIP panels, dried timber and other materials, you need to select the corresponding SIP panel opposite each element (floor, walls, roof).
In this case, the calculator will take the parameters of the selected SIP panel (length, width, height, etc.) and calculate the required number of selected SIP panels for the floor, walls, ceiling and roof.

The total weight and volume of SIP panels are calculated by this SIP calculator for convenient calculation of the delivery cost. All SIP panel parameters selected by the user are taken into account.

To calculate a 2-story house, you need to enable “2nd floor” in the SIP calculator and fill in its length and width. If data about the 1st floor is filled in before enabling the 2nd floor, then this data will automatically be transferred and fill in the length and width of the 2nd floor.

If the ceiling height of the 2nd floor is not specified, then the height for the attic floor will be substituted by default – 1.25 m.

The calculations of the sip panels for the walls and floor of the 2nd floor are carried out exactly as for the 1st floor.

How the roof is calculated

Usually, if there is a 2nd floor, the length and width of the 1st floor overlap correspond to the length and width of the 2nd floor, so the roof is calculated according to the area of ​​the 2nd floor.

There are cases when it is necessary to take into account the difference between 1st and 2nd floors, when the 2nd floor protrudes (canopy) above the 1st floor or vice versa, the area of ​​the 2nd floor is less than the area of ​​the 1st.

If the width or length of the floors of the attic of the house is different, the calculation for all roof types, except for the “cold attic”, is carried out according to the largest width and length of the 1st or 2nd floors. Thus, the calculation is performed based on the largest area covered by the roof.

If the data on the overhang or pitch of the roof is not filled in, the calculation will use the default data (overhang – 0.5 m, pitch – 30 degrees).

The angle of inclination of a flat roof or gable roof is taken into account only by width! It is assumed that the gables will be located on the side of the house where the user entered the width.

Calculation of the roof area according to the type, angle of inclination, overhang selected by the user:
cold attic – the roof area will be equal to the area of ​​the 1st floor ceiling;
flat – the roof area will be equal to the product of the width and the length of the pitch, taking into account the roof overhangs, and the area of ​​the 3 gables is added to the area of ​​the walls of the highest floor;
gable – the roof area will consist of the sum of the same areas of the pitches, the pitch area is calculated by multiplying the width by the length of the pitch, taking into account the roof overhangs, the area of ​​2 gables is added to the area of ​​the walls of the highest floor;
hip – to calculate the area, the roof shape is decomposed into simpler elements. When the shape of the building plan is rectangular, then the roof is divided into two isosceles trapezoids on the longer side of the house’s eaves and two isosceles triangles on the shorter side. If the shape of the house plan is square – into four isosceles triangles. Then the areas of these elements are added up to the total area of ​​the roof.

Additional information. Calculation of the amount of timber and other materials

According to the dimensions of the selected sip panels (length, width, thickness), the volume of the required timber is calculated for each element of the house (floor, walls, ceiling, roof). Then these volumes are added up to the total amount required for the construction of the entire house. To simplify the calculation, the dimensions of the boards that surround the sip panel along the perimeter and completely fill the grooves with their volume are used. The beam in the calculations is replaced by a paired board, while the volume of the paired board is equal to the volume of the beam.

The sip panels of the ceiling (floor and roof) are opened lengthwise in half, so the board consumption for filling the grooves between the separated parts of the rafter panels increases accordingly and this factor is also taken into account in the calculations.

In sip panels, the depth of the grooves for the beam by default is 40 mm.
Additional unforeseen board costs are regulated by an additional reserve (default 20%).
The specific gravity of dry timber by default is 0.51 t/m3.

Accuracy of calculations. Where do the standard parameters come from

The purpose of creating this SIP calculator was to speed up the calculation of estimates for the installation of SIPs of a panel frame of a house. All calculation coefficients used were tested on real construction projects. The accuracy of calculating SIPs of panels is within 5%, timber and other materials – 20%. In order to change the typical calculation parameters and subsequently use your own parameters, you must register on this site and use the paid version of SipCalc. To activate the paid version of SipCalc, contact me. As the author of the idea and this project, I am constantly working on increasing the accuracy of calculations. I suggest that everyone interested in improving the calculator contact me for further cooperation.

What kind of buildings is this calculator designed for?

The calculator I developed can calculate the roof pitch of simple rectangular/square houses from 40 to 200 m2 For other structures made of sip panels, the accuracy of this sip calculator will be insufficient.