Math Project: Home Remodeling

Some faithful readers of this blog may recall that I bought a fixer-upper house a few weeks ago and had begun the process of cleaning it up and renovating it so that I could return it to the rental market for a community hero. Usually when I get involved in renovating a house, I do a lot of the remodeling work myself. I enjoy it. It is good exercise, and allows me to use skills that I otherwise don't get to do.

Further, doing remodeling well offers many practical applications to apply math knowledge and skills, which I enjoy demonstrating to questioning younger members of my family who have asked, "why do I have to learn that stuff?"

Well, "that stuff" such as geometry and algebra sure come in handy when you're trying to compute the correct cut for angles for window frames, for example. Measure twice, cut once -- and correctly! Or when you're estimating materials required for a project.

Regretfully, the broken leg that I am dealing with sure puts a cramp in my style. But I am not letting it get me down. I sent two young members of my family over to that house last week to get some measurements for me. And they had to be precise so that I could order the correct materials and supplies for contractors to install.

These math-avoiding great nieces needed to do a "practical" project for their eight-grade math class. Their open-minded, creative math teacher accepted a proposal from my great nieces (via me) to compute the requirements to replace a non-load-bearing wall that was in sore need of repair. This wasn't a simple project. Computations of size, shape, depth, and odd-angle dimensions had to be developed that would determine the number of studs, nails, and gypsum (wall board or Sheetrock®) as well as electric outlets, switches, and wiring required to be put inside that wall.

I admit, I "cheat": I have a computer program that does a good job of estimating materials for projects like this. But "what if" we went back to the "olden days" and had to figure this out manually? How is math applied? Well... I am pleased to say that my great nieces figured it out. It took them a while, but they were proud to give me the results of their calculations, which I accepted and used to phone in an order for materials to be delivered to the job site.

I got the correct amount of materials for a contractor to install based on my great nieces' work, for which they earned an "A" for their school project. The contractor finished the installation yesterday and told me that he had very minimal waste and scrap. Good goin', girls!

I'll figure out how to do this renovation project even if I can't do it myself or see it in person for a while.

Life is short: teach while you find alternative methods to get things done.