How to Calculate Square Feet: Step by Step Formula

Knowing how to calculate square feet is a useful skill that is simple to master and can help you tackle various DIY home projects with ease.

You can estimate the cost of supplies for home renovation jobs like painting or laying new floors once you know the total square footage of a surface area.

Understanding square footage will also improve your renting literacy because you’ll know how much space those figures actually equate to and whether your queen bed and area rug will fit in your new bedroom.

Finally, understanding square footage can help you calculate the price of your space by breaking down rental or real estate acquisition prices into a price per square foot.

How to Calculate Square Feet of a House?

Calculating how much space an object may take up is an important ability for new homeowners, landscapers, and construction workers. Finding the square footage of a project is one approach to calculating how much space it takes up.

Knowing how to calculate square feet will assist you in determining whether you need to downsize before a move or add finishing touches to your home or yard.

What is Square Footage?

The quantity of flat space that covers an area is simply referred to as square footage. Assume you know that your room is 8 feet wide and 12 feet long.

You know the breadth and length, but what about the surface area? How do you know if your furniture will fit comfortably in the room?

The square footage will inform you of the amount of surface area you have to work with.

Based on how much usable square footage you have available and how much your bed’s footprint would cover, this calculation will help you decide what size rug to buy or even if your room can contain a full or queen-size bed.

Tip: Knowing the dimensions of your furniture might assist you in planning the optimal arrangement for your specific space.

A footprint is the amount of space an item occupies on the ground; a piece of furniture, like your footprint, will cover a specific area of your home.

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What is Square Footage Used for?

Square footage can be used in a variety of settings, including:

Architecture: Architects use square footage to calculate how much room a building or other construction project will take up.
Cartography: Cartographers use square footage to determine the area on a map or globe that countries and other features may occupy.
Landscaping: Landscapers utilize square footage to calculate how much space a yard or other plot of land requires and what may fit within that space.
Real estate: Square footage is a term used by realtors and contractors to define how much floor space a house or other marketable building has when it is for sale.

How to Calculate Square Footage

To determine the square footage of any area, simply multiply the length and width of the area (how tall x how broad).

Because square feet is the most often used measurement in the United States for room sizes and DIY home supplies, the unit of measure will have an impact on how you calculate square footage.

However, given the fundamental method, it is simple to convert other units of measurement, such as inches or yards.

Basic Formula for Square Feet

Determine the length and width of the space you’re dealing with in feet to calculate feet squared (or sq. ft. for short). Square feet are calculated by multiplying the length by the breadth. Here’s a simple formula you can use:

Area in square feet = length (in feet) x breadth (in feet).

If you can’t imagine what a square foot is, draw a square 1 foot tall by 1 foot wide—you’ve got one square foot!

Many such squares against one another equal a full wall, floor, fabric sheet, wallpaper, etc. You’re measuring the whole area of a structure rather than just how tall or broad it is.

Other Units of Measure

If you need to convert the square footage area into square inches (which is more typical for smaller things), apply the standard calculation but multiply the length and width measurements by 12 (since one foot is 12 inches).

If you need to convert the square footage area into square yards (which is more usual for fabrics), apply the basic calculation but divide the length and width measurements by 3 (since one yard is three feet).

Follow the basic method, but reduce the length and width measurements by 0.3 (since there are 0.3 meters in one foot) if you need to determine the area in square meters (for the metric system).

How to Calculate Square Footage in Different Types of Rooms

Rectangular rooms: Simply use the method to calculate the area of a room or space with a square or rectangular shape.
Rooms with closets: Rooms with closets are similar to rectangular rooms with little rectangular add-ons. Calculate and total the square footage of each rectangle.
Odd-shaped rooms: The typical instrument for measuring area can be used in odd-shaped rooms as well. All you have to do is divide the space into discrete parts that are simple to compute on their own and then total the findings. If you have a lot of angles in your room, apply this triangle formula—it’s just a rectangle or square sliced in half!
Length (in feet) x width (in feet) ÷ 2 = area in sq ft

What is Usable Square Footage?

In a commercial real estate situation, “usable square footage” refers to the amount of square footage a tenant may actually use, eliminating common features such as stairwells, corridors, and lobbies.

In the context of residential real estate, usable square footage refers to the surface area of your own space in the household as opposed to common areas such as corridors, storage closets, and shared spaces such as kitchens and living rooms.

Conclusion

It’s crucial to remember that this is a general method for determining square footage, and there may be additional considerations or variances based on local construction codes or restrictions.

If you want an exact measurement, you should obtain professional help from an appraiser or architect.

How to Calculate Square Feet of a House?