Hello All,

There are times I revisit some of the skills I exercised in my old trade as a landscaper. For example, preparing a costed materials list for a job.

SWMBO has allocated me a task. I have to 're-purpose' three cabinets by putting extra shelves in them. For the shelf itself I will be using 12 mm thick pine ply. Each shelf will be supported by a pine dressed all round (DAR) frame. This frame will also provide the point where the shelves are secured to the cabinet sides.

The DAR pine is available in three different lengths: 1800 mm, 2400 mm and 3000 mm. So, given the dimensions of the shelves I calculated which length of stick would be the most efficient. Some time later I worked out that the 2400 mm stick length was the best candidate for the job.

With all these calculations completed I subsequently had a materials list to take to the hardware store.

Then I wondered how much did this grand exercise save me in the overall cost of materials?
Not using the 3000 mm sticks saved me $7.94 cents
Not using the 1800 mm sticks saved me $21.44 cents

Woo-hoo I can sure dine out on those savings!

BTW: the cost of materials will be $342.00

Kind regards
Lionel