How to Measure for Cobblestone
Cobblestones were collected from riverbeds for making the first roads and walkways. Modern cobblestones are cut from sandstone, limestone and granite in blocks of varying sizes and colors. Cobblestone is very dense and strong and will last for many years in projects like patios, sidewalks and driveways. Calculating the area of the project obtains the number of cobblestones you will need to complete the task. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Rubber hammer
- Paint stir sticks
- String
- Measuring tape
- Pen
- Paper
- Calculator
Instructions
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1
Hold a paint stir stick at the corner of the cobblestone project. Pound it into the ground with a rubber hammer so it stands up in the ground. Repeat this step to mark the additional three corners.
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2
Tie a piece of string from a ball of string onto one paint stir stick. Wrap the string tightly around the stick and move toward the next stick. Continue this process to wrap the string around each stick, ending back at the first stick. Tie the string on the first stick.
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3
Place the tip of a measuring tape on the first stick and measure the distance from that stick to the second stick. Write down this measurement on paper with a pen. Measure the distance from the first stick to the fourth stick and write it down.
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4
Use a calculator to multiply the two measurements to obtain the square footage needed for the cobblestone project. For example, if the two measurements are 18 feet and 10 feet the area is 180 feet.
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Multiply the area by 12 to convert it to inches. For example, 180 feet times 12 equals 2,160 square inches.
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Measure the length and width of the cobblestones in inches that you want to use and multiply them together to find its area. For example, a length of 8 inches and a width of 4 inches equal an area of 8 times 4, or 32 inches.
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Divide the total project area in square inches by the size of the cobblestone in inches. For example, 2,160 divided by 32 equals 67.5 pavers needed for the project. Round this number up to 68 and add 5 percent to allow for broken or dropped cobblestones.
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Tips & Warnings
If the walkway or patio has an intricate shape, add more paint stir sticks and strings to section it off, measure each section in length and width and add them together to find the area.
If you are mixing different sizes of cobblestones to create a design, draw the project on graph paper to scale and color each stone with a different color pencil. Add all of the squares up manually to determine how many in each size you need for the project.
References
- Photo Credit rittenhouse square cobblestone image by Jorge Moro from Fotolia.com
