ClutchCalcs

About

Built by a tradesman, for everyone who builds.

ClutchCalcs is a working tradesman's calculator site. No fluff, no spam, no AI-generated nonsense — just calculators that come through when it counts.

Who builds this

Hi — I'm Alex Bochenek. I'm a construction tradesman in Dayton, Ohio. I've spent years on job sites pouring concrete, framing walls, setting anchor bolts, running plumbing rough-ins, calculating board feet, eyeballing concrete short-loads, and watching apprentices stare at a calculator app that has no idea what they actually need.

That's why I started ClutchCalcs. The big calculator sites are slow, ad-stuffed, generic, and written by people who've never lifted a shovel. The math is technically right, but the tool is wrong. Wrong defaults. Wrong units. No code references. No "ready-mix vs bagged" tipping point. No "this many treads × these riser heights = does it pass IRC stair code." None of the context that a real working person needs.

ClutchCalcs is my answer. Every calculator on this site is built and reviewed by someone who would actually use it — or by someone who has talked to people who actually use it. The construction calculators are mine. The trading card calculators are reviewed by collectors I know. The baking and food calculators are tested in a real kitchen by my partner. The pool construction calculators were built after long conversations with pool builders.

Why this site exists

Three reasons:

  1. The internet's calculators are bad. They're slow to load, drown you in ads, and almost never explain why a number is what it is. A good calculator should also teach you the rule behind it — the code section, the formula, the gotcha that bites apprentices.
  2. Practitioners deserve better tools. If you're a contractor on a job site with one hand on a tape measure and the other on a phone, you don't have time to fight a 10-second ad before your concrete calc loads. We strip out the friction.
  3. Calculators should be free, forever. Basic estimation tools shouldn't be behind a paywall. The free tier on ClutchCalcs will always cover the core calculation. (We may offer Pro features down the road for power users — saved jobs, branded PDFs, advanced reports — but the core math is free.)

How calculators get built here

Every calculator on ClutchCalcs goes through the same process:

  1. Identify the need. A real person — a contractor, a baker, a collector, a homeowner — describes a calculation they do regularly by hand or in a spreadsheet.
  2. Source the formula. We use authoritative references: the International Residential Code (IRC), NFPA 13/25 for fire suppression, the Architectural Graphic Standards, USDA baker's percentage references, the Beckett Grading Services population reports for cards, manufacturer technical bulletins (e.g. Hilti, Simpson Strong-Tie, Quikrete) for product-specific math.
  3. Build the tool with sensible defaults. Defaults reflect what real-world users actually input — not edge cases. Units default to whichever unit the trade actually uses (footings in feet × inches; bag yields in cubic feet; cards in PSA grade points).
  4. Review with a practitioner. Someone who would actually use the tool reviews it. Trade calculators are reviewed by Alex. Cooking calcs are reviewed in a kitchen. Card calcs are reviewed by active collectors.
  5. Ship it. Iterate on feedback. When a user emails to say "your concrete short-load threshold should be 3 yards not 4" — we fix it within a week.

Read our full methodology & sources page →

What we will and won't do

We will

  • ✓ Cite code sections (IRC, NFPA, IBC) where they apply
  • ✓ Default to what real practitioners actually use
  • ✓ Explain every formula on the page
  • ✓ Reply to corrections within 7 days
  • ✓ Keep the core tools free, forever
  • ✓ Tell you when to call a pro instead of trusting the calc

We won't

  • ✗ Use AI to mass-generate calculator pages
  • ✗ Sell your data or run intrusive popovers
  • ✗ Replace your engineer, architect, or licensed pro
  • ✗ Pretend a calculator is a building code
  • ✗ Add ads that interfere with the calculation
  • ✗ Ship a calc no real person would actually use

Editorial standards

ClutchCalcs follows the same content principles as a professional trade publication:

  • Accuracy first. If we can't cite the formula, we don't publish the calculator. Every code reference is checked against the most recent published edition.
  • Disclosures, clearly. When a calculator might affect a permit, a structural decision, an insurance claim, or a medical decision, we say "this is not a substitute for a licensed professional" on the page.
  • Corrections, openly. When we get something wrong, we fix it and note the change. Email hello@clutchcalcs.com with corrections.
  • No paid placement. Calculators are not sponsored. If a manufacturer's product is referenced (e.g. a Hilti firestop calc), it's because that product is the trade standard — not because we were paid.
  • Ads are clearly separated. Display ads (via Google AdSense) appear in sidebar and below-content positions only. They never appear inside the calculator UI or interrupt input.

Get in touch

Found a bug? Calculator giving a number that doesn't match your gut? Want a calculator we don't have yet? Email me directly: hello@clutchcalcs.com.

Or use the contact form. I read every message myself.