Understanding Square Feet: A Beginner’s Guide to Home and Property Measurements
Getting a grip on square feet: a beginner’s guide to the basics of home and property measurement.
Whether one sells, buys, or rehabilitates, an understanding of square footage is part and parcel of home ownership. Square feet, or more colloquially, sq ft or ft², are base area units almost everywhere in the world. The following outlines basic concepts of square footage and how to practically work with it when comparing a home or calculating the materials needed for a project.
What is Square Footage?
It is the area of a room in square feet, calculated by multiplying the length times the width of a room or property. This gives the total area in square feet.
For example, if a room is 12 feet long and 10 feet wide:
Square Footage=Length×Width=12×10=120sq ft
That room covers 120 square feet.
Why Is Square Footage Important?
Knowing the square footage of a house or a property will help many in so many ways:
Comparing Real Estate: Square footage enables you to compare sizes of houses without much fuss, and it makes browsing the house listings much easier. Pricing a Home: The majority of houses sell by square feet, and if you know how many square feet your home is, you can estimate whether your home is overpriced or underpriced. Space Planning: With the square footage, you will have the chance to plan out how to arrange your furniture, do remodeling, or even landscape projects.
Calculating Materials: You also use square footage to buy materials such as how much flooring or paint a home improvement project may need.
How to Measure the Square Footage of a Home
The process for measuring square footage is pretty straightforward with the right tools. Here’s a step-by-step guide:
- Measure Individual Rooms
Take your tape measure and measure the length and width of each room.
Times the length times width to arrive at the square footage of each room. - Add Up All Rooms
After measuring each room, add them together for the total square footage of the home.
Be sure to include in the total amount all living spaces usable-living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens, etc. Most often, closets, hallways, and bathrooms are counted in the total square footage. - Don’t Forget Outdoor Areas
If those are out-of-doors spaces like patios or decks, that’s the same in terms of square footage.
What Counts for Square Footage?
Speaking of square footage, here’s generally what does count:
Living Area: of course, the living areas themselves – the bedrooms, the living room or rooms, the kitchen and the bathrooms – always count.
Hallways and Closets: those usually count but sometimes really don’t amount to much.
Excluded Areas: Only a general rule, but garages, basyms, and attics do not count if they are unfinished. Of course, if there is a basement or an attic existing and livable, then that may count towards the house’s area.
How to Calculate Square Footage for Oddly-Shaped Rooms
Not all rooms are complete rectangles. In an oddly-shaped room,
Divide the room into squares or rectangles: Measure each separately:.
Formula for Square Footage for each section Add them together Add all sections together for total square footage Example An L-shaped room would be broken up into two rectangles; then calculate the area for each one and add them.
Whenever you are searching for properties, more often than not you will see the square footage of a house. It is good to know how that square footage is derived since different agents or builders may or may not include certain areas like garages, balconies or unfinished basements.
Key Terms to Know:
GLA is Gross Living Area: gross living area include the finished heated and enclosed areas of a house.
Usable Square Footage: The actual space one can use, not including the walls, stairways, or even just areas that are unusable. Gross Square Footage: Total square footage within a building, including any and all space in a structure, even those that are uninhabitable, such as garages. Common Square Footage Comparisons To put it into greater perspective for you, here are some common comparisons in square footage:
500-700 sq ft: This would be an efficiency/studio apartment or small one-bedroom apartment.
1,000-1,500 sq ft: This would consist of a modest two-bedroom house or apartment
2,500+ sq ft: This would be considered to be a larger family home with multiple bedrooms along with numerous living areas.
Understanding these comparisons shall give an idea of the size of various properties.
Conclusion
This would help an individual make informed decisions once one buys, sells, or renovates a property. Be it the need to relocate or refurnish the room, knowledge of calculation and application in the use of square footage will go a long way in saving hours and money. Having grasped the basics, one would confidently go forth to measure and plan out one’s spaces in preparation for a home to meet both needs and budgets.
Mastering square footage brings an individual far closer to understanding in the real estate world and lets him/her improve their home just the way they want.
