Sizu Riatto
Every Angle · Chapter 2

What a Job Covers

Most home jobs are priced by the square meter or the meter. Break the plot into rectangles and triangles, add and subtract, and any quote becomes a rate you can compare.

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Opens on the book's house and plot. Change any number to your own and press Calculate.

The plot and the house

Hard ground

Price a job by the square meter (optional)

Enter the plot and the house, then press Calculate.

The formula

  • A rectangle = width × depth; a triangle = base × height ÷ 2
  • Open ground = the plot − the house − the drive − the path − the patio
  • The gable (a triangle on the end wall) = house depth × (ridge − eaves) ÷ 2; the end wall = depth × eaves + the gable
  • Gutters, front and back = 2 × (house width + 2 × the overhang)
  • Fence, both sides and the back = 2 × plot depth + plot width; a perimeter = 2 × (width + depth)
  • A rate = the quote ÷ the area; a price = the rate × the area. 1 m² = 10.764 sq ft
The book's worked example, Chapter 2. The plot is 15 × 30 m: 450 m² (4,844 sq ft). The house covers 80 m², the drive 49 m², the path 7.2 m², the patio 17.28 m², leaving 296.52 m² of open ground. One gable is 10.4 m², one end wall with it 53.6 m². Gutters front and back: 21.2 m (69.6 ft); fence on both sides and the back: 75 m (246.1 ft).
Check it. Add the pieces back up: house + drive + path + patio + open ground must come to the whole plot.

Honest limits. Real plots are rarely square: measure both diagonals (Chapter 3) and split an odd plot into triangles. Paint and paving quotes add waste and edges, so a rate per m² is a comparison, not a price list. The book's house was worked out on paper from published figures, not surveyed by us: measure your own, and walk your own plot at night. Prices are illustrative US prices from November 2026, shown without a currency sign; put in your own. Everything stays in your browser: no sign-up, nothing stored.

These calculators go with Every Angle (Make It Add Up, Book 2), where every number on this page is worked by hand.