Cement, Sand and Aggregate for a 1,000 Sq Ft House: Thumb-Rule Quantities

For a 1,000 sq ft built-up house of G+1 to G+3 in M20 concrete, the thumb rules give about 400 bags of cement (0.4 per sq ft), 1,800 cft of sand (1.8 per sq ft) and 1,350 cft of coarse aggregate (1.35 per sq ft), plus 4,000 kg of steel. Treat them as planning figures, not a design.

The thumb rules

For G+1 to G+3 houses in M20 concrete, NirmanShastra's StructurePro starts from these planning values. They are per sq ft of built-up area, meaning the total across all floors.

How the quantities change with the number of floors

The thumb rule is set for G+1 to G+3. The estimator applies a factor outside that range. Per 1,000 sq ft of built-up area in M20 concrete:

Scaling to your house

The values scale in proportion to built-up area. A 1,500 sq ft G+1 house needs about 600 bags of cement, 6,000 kg of steel, 2,700 cft of sand and 2,025 cft of coarse aggregate.

From a thumb rule to a single pour

For one slab, beam or column, work from concrete volume instead. M20 concrete needs about 8.07 bags of 50 kg cement per cubic metre (IS 456:2000), so a 20 m³ slab needs roughly 161 bags. The free Concrete Mix Ratio Calculator does this for any volume, and how to verify a contractor's quote against IS 456 shows the cross-check step by step.

Where the thumb rules stop being reliable

• They assume M20 concrete and a regular residential frame. A different grade, an unusual span or a deep foundation changes the quantities.
• They are whole-building planning values, not a mix-design derivation. In a 1 : 1.5 : 3 mix the aggregate is twice the sand by volume, so do not back-calculate a mix from the sand and aggregate figures above.
• They are not a structural design. A structural engineer must design and approve the building.

For a quantity schedule built on your own area, floors, state and site condition, use StructurePro. The glossary explains terms such as built-up area, G+1 and M20.