How to Determine Square Footage of a House

Whether you’re a realtor, mortgage lender or only a homeowner, knowing how to determine the square footage of your house is useful. Standards for measuring and calculating residential square footage are set by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Compliance with the ANSI standard is voluntary, but is advocated by the National Association of Home Builders. Should you follow ANSI criteria, the validity of your method of determining square footage will not be suspect.

Assess width and the length of partitions on the outside of the house. In the case of a house that is not rectangular, measure the width and length of each section individually.

Count only those areas that are”inhabitable” based on ANSI standards. Portions of a house comprise bedrooms with flooring, ceiling and walls. These areas heated and must be finished or otherwise conditioned. Don’t include spaces like garages, porches or patios. In addition, if the house has a room with a vaulted (two-story) ceiling, don’t count on the open area as part of their second-story square footage.

Take measurements on the house inside if an exterior dimension is impractical or dangerous. For example, it may not be feasible to assess the exterior of a second narrative with an overhang. Insert the thickness of the walls. When you must use indirect measurements of this sort, add a disclosure on any files where you include your measurements.

Round off your measurements to the nearest 0.5 linear foot. Multiply the length times the diameter of each section to obtain the footage. Add up the square feet of each section to obtain the entire square footage of the house. Round your complete off to the nearest square foot.

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