While design software comes equipped with built-in estimators, it can’t foretell the changing costs of building materials in your area – it can only offer a general estimate. 

So to get a more accurate figure on building products, break down the construction process into stages.

Building supplies stores can be overwhelming places, where great stacks of similar but slightly different materials loom from the sidelines and you have no idea how much it’s going to cost to use them.

Luckily the internet is your friend. There are many online tools that can be used to estimate your needs for the different supplies, from pre-treated pine studs to corrugated roofing for the carport.

Look for home building calculators and apps online, or you can even purchase dedicated software if you are addicted to building projects.

Generally, you need to input the dimensions of the space you are building and then the materials. The calculator will tell you how many lengths of a particular size of plank or how many sheets of a certain sized plasterboard you’ll need to do the job.

Building supplies calculators are so sophisticated there’s even one that will tell you how many bricks you need to build your house. Give it a go: standard calculators on offer are generally free, but you are charged on some sites if you decide that you want to use all the functionality of the program.