About 58% of homeowners say they are much happier about their homes when they complete a remodeling project.
If you’re taking on a home renovation project or getting ready to sell your home, you need to get the square footage of the home right.
It turns out that calculating home square footage isn’t that simple. Read on to learn how to calculate home square footage and get your project right from the start.
Square Footage Calculations Standards
Have you ever noticed that there are differences between your own calculations and real estate listings? That’s because there are different standards to calculate home square footage.
The main standards are ANSI and AMS. ANSI is used by appraisers and AMS is often used by real estate agents.
There are minor differences between the two standards, but there is still a lot of confusion when it comes to measuring square footage.
Some calculations will include outdoor patios, unfinished basements, and finished rooms. This can be deceiving if you want to buy a home because you think you’ll have a lot of living space.
Calculating Home Square Footage
Are you ready to learn how to calculate the square footage of your home? It’s actually pretty simple. Draw a floor plan of your home which will take you room by room.
You take a tape measure or a laser measurement tool and measure the length and width of the space. Multiply the two numbers and that is the square footage of the room.
You’ll then add the measurements together to create the home square footage number.
Common Home Measurement Questions
Taking the measurements of your home is the easy part. Adding them all together is hard because you may not know what to include or leave out in the total measurements.
In a renovation project, you’ll want to include the rooms that you plan to renovate in your calculations. That may only be 1-2 rooms.
For real estate listings like these properties, the standard practice is to include the gross living area. That includes the spaces that you can live in. You’ll leave out closet space and hallways.
You can measure them and note them separately in your floor plans. Just leave them out of the total square footage calculations.
What about basements and garages? Garages are usually left out of the gross living area because they’re unfinished spaces.
Finished basements may or may not be included in those numbers, depending on the laws and practices in your state. Finished attics on the other hand can be included in the gross living space.
Getting Home Square Footage Right
As you can see, it’s not as easy as it seems to calculate home square footage. Even though it’s made up of simple measurements and calculations, how those calculations are presented can create a lot of confusion.
It’s best to know what the standards are in your area and apply them properly. If you’re not sure, you can always ask a professional for help.
Did you find this article useful? Head over to the DIY section of this site for more renovation inspiration.