About MakeCalcs

The gap that started this

I built my own house. Not as a developer watching from a distance — I was on site, tiling bathrooms, laying patios, painting rooms, and learning how much grout you actually need when the floor is not perfectly level. I learned most of this from my father, who has over 45 years of experience as a handyman. He can estimate material quantities from memory. Most people cannot.

Every time I needed to order materials, I reached for an online calculator. And every time, the same frustration: the calculator tells you how many tiles you need, but not how much grout, adhesive, or primer. You get one number and then open three more tabs, dig through manufacturer datasheets, and do the rest of the maths yourself.

Watching my dad do mental arithmetic for paving slabs — quantities he could estimate accurately from decades of practice — made me think about how to encode that knowledge into tools anyone can use, even on their first project. That is where MakeCalcs started.

What this site does differently

MakeCalcs gives you the full material list from one set of inputs. Calculate tiles and you get tile count, boxes needed, grout weight, and adhesive weight. Calculate paving slabs and you get slab count, sub-base aggregate tonnage, bedding sand, and jointing compound. The calculators handle L-shaped, U-shaped, and T-shaped rooms because not every space is a perfect rectangle.

Every formula is sourced from British Standards or manufacturer specifications — not estimated, not rounded for convenience. Every calculator has known-value tests that verify the outputs against manual calculation. If you run the numbers in a worked example, you will get the result described. This level of testing is not standard for free online calculators. My background in information science is why it is done this way. Calculations are also independently verified by a construction professional and an academic mathematician.

For a detailed look at the methodology — formula sourcing, testing process, waste factor derivation, and content review cycles — see the editorial policy.

Who I am

My name is Danijel Dadovic — Dan for short. I am based in Northumberland, in the north-east of England, originally from Croatia.

My day job is Commercial Director at Ezoic, a digital publishing platform, where I have worked for over eight years. I started as a Business Development Executive and progressed through Team Lead and Director of Business Development to my current role, overseeing new revenue cohorts across all business development teams. Working with thousands of digital publishers daily has given me a clear-eyed view of what makes web content genuinely useful versus filler, how users interact with online tools, and what quality signals search engines actually reward. That perspective directly shapes how MakeCalcs is built: accuracy-first, properly sourced, no padding.

Outside of Ezoic, I run Dan Dadovic Digital — a portfolio of niche calculator sites that I build and maintain myself. The earlier work covers home and trade calculations: PrinterTools for printer testing and colour management, VoltCalcs for electrical calculations, HardHatCalc for construction estimating, and BinBosh for waste management. More recent sites cover other niches: PeakCalcs for fitness and body composition, CookCalcs for cooking and baking, CritterCalcs for pet care, FibreCalcs for sewing and textiles, and ChargeCalcs for electric vehicles. CalculatorCorp.com sits over the portfolio as a hub. Each site applies the same methodology — formula sourcing from authoritative references, known-value testing, multi-material output — refined across multiple projects over several years. MakeCalcs is not a first attempt at this; it is the latest iteration of an approach that has been tested and improved across the portfolio.

Academic background

I hold a Master of Informatics in Business System Organisation and a Master of Economics in Economics of Entrepreneurship, both from the University of Zagreb, graduating with top marks. I am also a PhD candidate in Information Sciences at the Faculty of Organisation and Informatics, with research focused on identifying critical success factors of technological ecosystems. Relevant coursework includes information systems development, e-business and information technology, business system modelling, and internet marketing.

The academic background matters because the calculators are not thrown together. They are built by someone trained in information systems, data accuracy, and systematic methodology. The PhD research on technological ecosystems directly informs how these calculator tools are architected — as structured systems where inputs, formulas, and outputs are traceable and testable, not black boxes that produce a number without showing the working.

Earlier career

Before Ezoic, I spent four years as Head of Student Support and Career Development at the Faculty of Organisation and Informatics in Varaždin, Croatia, managing over 500 company partnerships annually and mentoring students through project-based learning. Before that, I was Programme Manager at the Microsoft Innovation Centre Varaždin, coordinating technology training programmes and EU grant writing. I was also a board member and chairman of the European Youth Parliament from 2006 to 2016.

The honest framing

I am not a professional tradesman, builder, or landscaper. I am a competent DIY homeowner who has done the projects these calculators serve — tiling, flooring, paving, painting, landscaping — self-taught with professional oversight. I know what it is like to stand in a tile shop wondering how many boxes to buy, or to order too little grout and have to make a second trip. The calculators solve problems I have personally encountered.

The authority behind MakeCalcs is not pretended trade expertise. It is the combination of practical DIY experience, a systematic methodology built on information science training, and a track record of building and maintaining calculator tools across the portfolio. The formulas are sourced and cited. The calculations are tested. The content is written to be useful, not to fill space.

Get in touch

If you spot an error, have a suggestion, or want to know more about how a specific calculator works, the contact form is always open. I read everything and respond to substantive questions personally.

Danijel (Dan) Dadovic
Northumberland, UK
LinkedIn