I went to see the progress on the house that my gran is working on, and it got me thinking about how much maths is included in all this construction work.
Wood gets measured so that it’s the right size. Bolts, nails and nuts are counted so that there is enough for things be secured in place. Paint is measured so that there is enough to brighten up the walls. ‘Area’ and ‘Perimeter’ need to be calculated for new flooring. Patterns need to be compared for brickwork layout so that it matches how the rest of the brickwork was done. This also needs to be done for tiles in the bathrooms and kitchens as the tiles cannot be laid in a random pattern — they need to be in certain sequences.
The cost of materials needs to be kept to a limit so that money is not wasted. Lots of shops have big price differences and my gran needs to find well priced materials.
When the builders are measuring the beams to hold up the roof, they need to be precise with their measurements. If the beams are too big, they won’t fit; if they’re too small, they won’t stay up. The builders need to make sure that there are enough people to carry the beams so that the weight is spread equally between them. This way nobody injures themselves.
