Build and price multi-part foam projects: create a project, add parts, read the totals. Plus a deep dive on the new Cove shape for pool wall × floor transitions and other radius work.
A project is a saved list of foam parts (shapes) for one job — a pool, a building, a sample order. Each project has its own name, address, markup, and notes; each part inside the project has its own dimensions, material, quantity, and waste %. The calculator rolls everything up into total cubic feet, weight, cost, and retail.
Projects live on the server (one database per user), so any change autosaves and is available from any device you log in on.
On the Foam Calc tab, click the New Project button. A blank project appears and is selected. Fill in:
3.25× — change it per project if the customer has a different markup deal.Click + Add Part to insert a row. Each row is one part type; use the Qty column to say how many of that part you need.
The part-table columns:
| Column | What it does |
|---|---|
| Code | Optional internal SKU / drawing reference. |
| Part Name | Free-form label that shows up on exports. |
| Material | Pulled from the Suppliers tab. Density + cost-per-cu-ft come from this choice. |
| L × W × H | Part dimensions in inches. For Cove, L is the length of the block; W and H are not used in the volume calc (the block side equals the coving radius). |
| Type | Rectangle, Triangle (half of L×W×H), or Cove (see § 3). |
| R | Coving radius in inches. Only used when Type = Cove. |
| Qty | Number of finished pieces of this part. |
| Waste % | Material overhead on top of part volume. Auto-calculated for Cove (from block geometry); for other shapes it defaults from the Settings tab (full-block vs. partial-block). |
| Cu In / Cu Ft | Piece volume × qty. Sum of these matches the project totals at the bottom. |
| Weight / Our Cost / Retail | Per-row totals. Cost & Retail include the waste markup; Cu Ft does not. |
Below the parts table:
The Totals by Density block underneath groups rows by material and shows Cu Ft, Pieces, effective Cost/ft³, and Retail/ft³ per material — handy when invoicing different foam grades separately.
A cove is the rounded transition between two surfaces — classically the inside corner where a pool wall meets the floor. In the calculator it’s also the right model for any radius-coving cut from a square block.
Looking at the end of a square block of side r:
r, one centered at each opposite corner.Both pieces extend the full length L of the block.
Cross-section (in²) given coving radius r (in):
piece_area = r² × (1 − π/4) ≈ 0.2146 × r² lens_area = r² × (π/2 − 1) ≈ 0.5708 × r² block_area = r² = 2 × piece_area + lens_area
Per-piece volume (cu in) given length L:
piece_cuIn = L × r² × (1 − π/4) block_cuIn = L × r²
Each block yields two coving pieces. Odd quantities leave one orphan piece per odd block:
| Qty | Blocks needed | Orphan pieces | Lens wastes | Auto waste % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 366% |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 133% |
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 211% |
| 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 133% |
| 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 133% |
The even-qty floor is 133%: even with perfect block utilization, you still discard the lens waste from every block, which is bigger than the piece itself. The waste cell auto-fills with this number for cove shapes — you can’t edit it (the geometry is fixed).
(π/2 − 1) ≈ 0.571 × r², while each piece is only (1 − π/4) ≈ 0.215 × r². The lens is roughly 2.66× the area of one piece — this is intrinsic to the cut, not a calculator inefficiency.Using a 1 lb/ft³ material at $1/cu ft for clarity:
96 × 12² × (1 − π/4) / 1728 = 1.72 cu ft per piece96 × 12² × (π/2 − 1) / 1728 = 4.57 cu ft per block96 × 12² / 1728 = 8.00 cu ft (= 2 × 1.72 + 4.57 ✓)blocks = ceil(qty / 2).Questions or edge cases? Drop a note in the project Notes field so future-you knows what was unusual.