What it is
Calcitect is a free website of construction calculators that take measurements the way they are written on a tape measure or a drawing: feet, inches and fractions. You type 5' 3 1/2" + 4' 7 3/8" and the answer appears as you type.
It also has reference finders: plain lists of the forms and publications that California's Division of the State Architect and Department of Health Care Access and Information publish, with a search box and a link to each document on the agency's own website.
Who it is for
Anyone who works in feet and inches: carpenters, framers, concrete and roofing crews, remodelers, drafters, estimators, students and homeowners.
How it is built
- Free, with no account. There is nothing to sign up for or install.
- What you type stays with you. The calculators and the finders run in your browser. Your measurements and searches are not sent anywhere. See the privacy page.
- The math is checked. Every calculator is covered by automated checks that must pass before a change to the site goes live, and the worked examples on each page are computed by the same code as the calculator.
- One page per tool. Each calculator has its own address you can bookmark.
What it is not
Calcitect is an independent project. It does arithmetic and points to public documents. It does not design anything, check anything against a building code, or replace the judgment of the person responsible for the work. Check every result before you rely on it, and read the terms of use.
Calculators
- Feet & inches calculatorAdd, subtract, multiply and divide feet, inches and fractions. Free, nothing to install.
- Decimal feet to feet & inches converterType a length in any one box: decimal feet, feet and inches, inches or millimeters. The other three fill in.
- Roof pitch & rafter length calculatorEnter any two of pitch, rise, run and diagonal. The other two fill in.
- Stair calculatorEnter the floor-to-floor rise to get risers, treads, total run and stringer length.
- Circle & arc calculatorEnter a diameter for circumference and area. Add an angle for arc length and chord.
- Square footage & volume calculatorEnter length and width for area. Add a height for volume, cubic yards and wall area.
- Stud & on-center spacing calculatorEnter a length and a spacing to get the member count, the last bay and the equal spacing.
- Concrete calculatorPick slab, footing, wall or round column, type the size in feet and inches, and get cubic yards and bags.
Reference finders
- DSA forms & publications finderType a topic or a number, or paste a plan check comment, and see which DSA documents to open.
- OSHPD / HCAI CAN, PIN & forms finderType a topic or a number, or paste a plan review comment, and see which HCAI documents to open.