About No Second Trip
A set of construction material calculators that show their work, built on the premise that an estimate you cannot check is not worth much.
What this is
No Second Trip publishes 2 material calculators and the reference material that goes with them — how much to order, what it will cost, and which option suits the job. Everything is free, works on a phone, and needs no account.
The calculators cover the ordering problem specifically: turning dimensions into a quantity a supplier will recognise. Tons of asphalt, cubic yards of gravel, squares of shingles, lengths of soffit, stringer cuts for a set of stairs.
Why it exists
Most material calculators return a bare number. In a trade context that is close to useless, because the number depends entirely on assumptions you cannot inspect — which density was used, whether waste was included, whether the depth is compacted or loose. Two calculators can differ by twenty percent and neither will tell you why.
So the rule here is that the working is always visible. Every calculator shows its arithmetic step by step and lists the constants it used, with their typical range and their source. If a figure disagrees with your supplier you can see exactly where, and change it.
How the numbers are checked
Constants come from published industry and standards sources, and each is declared with a value, a range and a citation. Formulas are tested against worked examples, and the quick-reference tables published on each page are recomputed from the calculator itself, so a table and the tool it sits next to cannot drift apart.
The full account is on the methodology page, including what these estimates deliberately do not do.
Who reviews it
Quban — Construction estimator. Works as an estimator, pricing and quantifying building jobs from drawings and site measurements. These calculators run the same arithmetic a takeoff does, and publish the formula and the source behind every constant so a contractor can check the figure against their own supplier before ordering. github.com
Corrections
One wrong number costs more credibility than ten missing pages are worth, so corrections come first. If something here disagrees with your supplier, your code official or your own measurement, please get in touch. Confirmed errors are fixed and the page’s reviewed date is updated.
How this site is paid for
Nothing on this site is behind a login or a paywall, and there are currently no adverts, affiliate links or lead forms anywhere on it. If that changes, advertising will never be placed above a calculator: the tool being usable the moment the page loads is the whole point, and anything that interferes with it defeats the purpose.
Last updated .