About MakeCalcs
MakeCalcs builds home and garden calculators that give you the full picture — not just one number, but every material you need for the job.
Who is behind this
My name is Dan Dadovic. I am a Commercial Director by trade and a PhD candidate in IT Sciences. I live and work in Northumberland, in the north-east of England.
I have spent the past few years building practical web tools. You might know some of my other sites: PrinterTools for printer colour management, VoltCalcs for electrical calculations, HardHatCalc for construction estimating, and BinBosh for waste management. MakeCalcs is the newest addition to this portfolio.
Why MakeCalcs exists
Every time I started a home project — tiling a bathroom, laying a patio, putting up wallpaper — I reached for an online calculator. And every time, the same problem: the calculator tells you how many tiles you need, but not how much grout, adhesive, or primer. You get one number and then have to open three more tabs, dig through manufacturer datasheets, and do the rest of the maths yourself.
That gap between "how many tiles" and "what to actually buy at the shop" is what MakeCalcs fills.
What makes this different
Every calculator on this site outputs a complete materials list. Not just the primary material — every supporting product, quantity, and (where reasonable) estimated cost range. When you calculate tiles, you get tile count, boxes needed, grout weight, adhesive weight, and optional primer. When you calculate paving slabs, you get slab count, sub-base aggregate tonnage, bedding sand, and jointing compound.
The calculators also handle real-world room shapes. Not every room is a perfect rectangle, so the tools support L-shaped, U-shaped, and T-shaped spaces where relevant.
How calculations are verified
My academic background shapes how I approach accuracy. Every formula on this site is sourced from a verifiable reference — British Standards where applicable, manufacturer specifications, and industry guidelines. Each calculator has worked examples that are tested against the actual calculation engine. If you run the numbers in a worked example, you will get the result described.
I do not invent waste percentages or coverage rates. These come from documented sources: BS 5385 for tiling standards, manufacturer datasheets for adhesive coverage, and industry practice for waste factors by laying pattern.
What this site is — and is not
MakeCalcs is a planning tool. It gives you quantities to work with, not gospel to build from. Room irregularities, substrate conditions, product variations, and your specific installation method all affect actual material needs. Every calculator includes appropriate caveats about this.
This is a new site. I am building it calculator by calculator, starting with the tools I have seen the most demand for: tiles, paving, wallpaper, flooring, and garden materials. If a calculator you need is not here yet, it is likely on the roadmap.
I am not a builder, decorator, or landscaper. I am a toolmaker who researches thoroughly. The calculators are as good as the sources behind them — and those sources are cited on every page.
Get in touch
If you spot an error, have a suggestion, or just want to say hello, the contact form is always open. I read everything and respond to substantive questions personally.
Dan Dadovic
Northumberland, UK