Conversion Tables & Quantities  

Get even more information from our Bookstore

  CONVERSION TABLES & QUANTITIES
     Conversion tables 
     Coverage of materials
     Bricks
     Blocks
     Paving slabs
     Wallpaper
     Glass

  BASIC CONVERSION TABLES:  The centimetre is very seldom used in the building and allied trades. The measurements are normally given in metres and millimetres.

Length

Liquid Volume

1 inch

Equals

25.40mm

1 litre

Equals

0.035 cubic feet

1 foot

Equals

304.8mm

1 cubic ft.

Equals

28.32 litres.

1 yard

Equals

914.4mm

1 gallon

Equals

4.5461 litres

1 yard

Equals

3 feet

1 cubic ft.

Equals

6.23 gallons

1 metre

Equals

1.0936 yards

1 cubic yd

Equals

168.21 gallons

1 yard

Equals

0.9144 metres

1 cubic mt

Equals

1000 litres.

1 metre

Equals

3.281 feet

Volume

Liquid Conversion

1 cubic metre

Equals

35.315 cubic feet

1000 millilitres(ml)

Equals

1 Litre

1 cubic metre

Equals

1.3079 cubic yards

1 litre

Equals

1.76 pints

1 cubic foot

Equals

0.0283 cubic metre

1 ml = 1cc

Equals

0.0017 pints

1 cubic yard

Equals

0.7646 cubic metre

1ml or cc

Equals

0.035 fluid ounce(oz)

1 litre

Equals

0.22 gallons

Weight

1 fl.oz.

Equals

28.413 ml or cc

1 tonne (metric)

Equals

2205 lbs

1 pint

Equals

568 ml or cc

1 ton imperial

Equals

2240 lbs

1 pint

Equals

0.568 litres

1000 grams

Equals

1 kilogram

1000 kilograms

Equals

1 tonne

1 kilogram

Equals

2.20462 lbs.

Area

1 kilogram

Equals

0.0197 cwt

1 square mm

Equals

0.00155 sq. inches

1 cwt

Equals

112 lbs

1 square metre

Equals

10.764 sq. feet

1 cwt

Equals

50.8 kg

1 square metre

Equals

1.196 sq. yards

1 lb

Equals

0.4536 kg

1 square inch

Equals

645.20 sq. mm

1 lb

Equals

16 oz

1 square foot

Equals

0.0929 sq. metres

1 oz

Equals

28.3 grams

1 Square yard

Equals

0.8361 sq. metres

Weights of materials.

Coverage of stone for 1 tonne weight

Dry sand

fine

1.28

tonnes per cubic metre

sets (100mmx100mmx100mm)

3.9 sq.m.

Dry sand

coarse

1.6

tonnes per cubic metre

Cobbles 50/70mm on end

6.5 sq.m.

Topsoil (some moisture)

1.44

tonnes per cubic metre

pebbles 25/45mm loose@50mm

10 sq.m.

Ballast

1.76

tonnes per cubic metre

gravel 25mm rolled

30 sq.m.

gravel

MOT Type 1 scalpings

1.92

tonnes per cubic metre

tarmac

12mm deep

13 sq.m.

shingle

1.62

tonnes per cubic metre

yorkstone paving 50mm

7.5 sq.m.

cement

50

& 25 kg bags

slate

25mm deep

12 sq.m.

stiff clay

1.6

tonnes per cubic metre

loam

1.28

tonnes per cubic metre

Minimum depth of services

peat (wet)

0.96

tonnes per cubic metre

water main

900mm

peat (dry)

0.8

tonnes per cubic metre

Gas

600mm

lump chalk

1.2

tonnes per cubic metre

TV/Telephone

350mm

sandstone

2.32

tonnes per cubic metre

sewers under grass

900mm

Lias

2.48

tonnes per cubic metre

sewers under hard surface

1200mm

granite

2.72

tonnes per cubic metre

Electric over 22kv

750mm

slate

2.8

tonnes per cubic metre

Electric under 22kv

600mm

flint

2.3

tonnes per cubic metre

yorkstone

2.5

tonnes per cubic metre

Brick rubble

1.8--2.2

tonnes per cubic metre

Foundation concrete

General purpose concrete

1 cubic metre = 6 x 50kg bags cement

1 cubic metre = 7 x 50kg bags cement

1.76 tonnes ballast

1.6 tonnes ballast

...also see our calculating material volumes project.

 [ back to top]

  COVERAGE OF MATERIALS:

If you are laying a patio or drive, placing topsoil for a lawn or covering your garden with stone, it is very useful to know how much you will need. Use our easy to read graph below to get the quantities right.

Measure the area of your garden and go up the left hand side of the graph to that area (for example 20 square metres at the top). Read horizontally along that line to the thickness of material you need (example 100mm). Where that line meets the diagonal line of your chosen depth go straight down and read the amount you need in cubic metres. (example = 2.00 cubic metres) This can be converted into weight using the tables above.

[ back to top]

  Bricks:

An imperial standard brick is 9 inches long, 4 1/2 inches wide and 3 inches deep.

A metric brick is 8.86 inches long (225mm) 4.43 inches wide (112.5mm) and 2.95 inches deep (75mm)

The above sizes include mortar joints at 10mm

This makes the metric brick marginally smaller than its imperial counterpart and the difference, when joining new to old, must be taken up with an increase in the mortar joints.

There are 60 bricks to 1 square metre and you will use approximately 0.022 cubic metres of wet sand and cement to lay them with 10mm joints, this is equivalent to approximately 60kg.

[ back to top]

  Blocks:

A normal block is 2 bricks long, 3 bricks high and one brick wide (when laid with 10mm joints)

There are approx. 10 blocks to 1 square metre and you will use approx  0.012 cubic metres of wet sand and cement to lay them with a 10mm joint. This is equivalent to 31kg.

[ back to top]

  Paving slabs:

Paving slabs come in a variety of shapes and sizes, we have listed a few of the popular ones with their respective coverage

.         

225x450=10/sq.m.                     450x450=5/sq.m.             600x600=2.75/sq.m.

         

450x520=5.75/sq.m                     450x520=3.7/sq.m.

[ back to top]

 

  Wallpaper:

Normally you will get 4 "drops" from one roll of paper with a standard close pattern. Some papers have patterns a long way apart, you will need to consult your supplier for this. The table below shows standard rolls with normal patterns.

Length of all walls

 

 

Height

of

Walls

7m

8.5m

10m

11.5m

13m

14.5m

16m

17.5m

19m

2.5m

4

5

5

6

7

8

8

9

9

2.5 - 3.5m

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

  Glass:

Thickness of glass, with the introduction of the metric system, is now defined in mm rather than weight. For the record here's how it used to be.

2mm =18oz       3mm = 24oz    4mm = 32oz  6mm = quarter inch plate

[ back to top]

KNOW ANY MORE ?   Send them to "Tricks"

(please do not send questions to this address )

[ home page ] [contact us]