How To Calculate Square Footage of Your Home
Calculating the square footage of your home is not difficult but it can be a tedious task. We'll walk you through the process and provide the best online calculator that will make determining your home's square footage a breeze. But before you start plugging number into the calculator below, you'll need to know the rules on how the job can be done in a way that is generally accepted. You got this already? Jump right to the calculator here.Why Do You Need To Know Your Home's Square Footage?
If you're buying or selling a home, it's criticality important that your home's square footage is determined correctly. A misrepresented number could mean a serious issue for a buyer, seller, or listing agent. Although there is no universal standard for calculating a home's square footage, there are some guidelines that are generally accepted.
What's Counted and What's Not
Before you can start adding up your home's square footage, you'll need to know what counts as square footage and what doesn't. As a general rule, ony climate controlled living spaces suitable for year-round use should be counted in your home's total finished square footage. Finished areas have walls, floors, and ceilings similar to the rest of the home. But what does this mean and are there any exceptions? Let's start with some definitions.
| Square Footage Categories | |
|---|---|
| Finished | Enclosed areas such as bedrooms, living room, kitchen, etc. Must be usable year-round (climate controlled). At least half of the ceiling height must be at least 7 feet. Any areas in the room with a ceiling height of less than 5 feet is not counted. Can not be completely or even partially below grade. |
| Unfinished | Any space not meeting the above requirements of finished area. Any space that is detached from the main house. |
| Below grade | Any space that is either fully or partially below the level where the ground meets the exterior house wall. May be listed as unfinished space but not as finished. |
Okay, with some useful definitions out of the way, let's look at some example areas of your home that count towards your square footage for finished areas of your detached or attached single family home. Keep in mind these are generally accepted examples. Make sure to check with your realtor or local building codes to be sure what's counted as finished space.
Finished Areas
| Examples of Finished Areas | Comment |
|---|---|
| Living Room, Bedroom, Kitchen, Dining Room | Must be in finished living space fully above grade. |
| Bathroom | Not including outdoor showers and baths that are not usable year-round. |
| Family Room, Den, Rec Room | Must be in finished living space fully above grade |
| Home Office | Must be in finished living space. |
| Home Theater | Must be in finished living space. |
| Finished Attic | Must be heated/cooled for year-round use. At least half of the ceiling height must be 7 feet or more. Don't count any space where the ceiling is less than 5 feet. |
| Hallway | Must be in finished living space. |
| Closet | Must be in finished living space. |
| Pantry | Must be in finished living space. |
| Stairway | Including landings. Size counted as the opening in the floor at the top of the stairway. |
| Enclosed Balcony/Porch | Must be in enclosed and usable year-round (heated/cooled). Walls, floors,ceiling should be consistent with main living areas of the home. |
| Laundry Chute/Dumbwaiter/Elevator Shaft | Must be in finished living space. |
There are areas in and around the house that are usable spaces but are not counted or listed as finished spaces. These areas can be listed separate from finished spaces and noted as unfinished. Here's some generally accepted examples. Again make sure to check with your realtor or local building codes to see how these apply to your home.
Unfinished Areas
| Examples of Unfinished Areas | Comment |
|---|---|
| Garage | A space used to store automobiles and other vehicles. In some cases, may be counted as unfinished space. Check with realtor and local rules. |
| Not Enclosed Balcony/Porch | Space that is not enclosed and not usable year-round. In some cases, may be counted as unfinished space. Check realtor/local rules. |
| Deck/Patio | Open decks and patios may be listed separately. |
| Crawlspace | Unfinished area under house. Do not count. |
| Unfinished Basement | May list separately as unfinished space. |
| Finished Basement | Count finished basement as unfinished space if the room is fully or even partially below grade. |
| Detached structures | Don't count detached structures even if they are completely finished and above grade. May list these separately. |
| Sunroom/3-Season Room | Count as unfinished space because they are not heated/cooled for year-round use. |
| Unfinished Utility room | Count as unfinished space. |
| Area Partially or Fully Below Grade | Any space that is even partially below the level where ground touches the exterior wall of the home. May be counted as unfinished space. Check with realtor and local rules. |
Tips For Using the Calculator
Adding up your home's square footage totals is easy using Home Fix DIY calculators. Since finished and unfinished spaces need to be counted separately, two calculators are provided. As you go around your home making measurements, simply enter the length and width of each space into the appropriate calculator. This way, when you're done with all of the entries, you'll have separate totals for finished and unfinished areas without having to go back and sort that out later.
Enter and Save the Data
The calculators were designed to work on a phone, tablet, or laptop. So grab a tape measure and your device and go room-to-room and make entries as you go. Don't worry about losing your entries because they will be saved on your device for 30 days even if you exit the calculator webpage (if you have not disabled cookies). Tip: two people can make the job go quicker. Have one person make the measurements while the other enters the numbers into the calculators.
Note: There are two ways to enter values
Decimal number, example: for 10 feet 6 inches, enter:
10.5 (since 6 inches is 6/12 or 0.5 feet so the total is 10 + 0.5 or 10.5 feet)
Feet and inches, examples:
Enter 10 6 (which will be converted to 10.5 which is equivalent to 10 feet and 6 inches)
Enter 10 3 (which will be converted to 10.25 which is equivalent to 10 feet and 3 inches)
Enter 10 9 (which will be converted to 10.75 which is equivalent to 10 feet and 9 inches)
Name the Rooms
Keeping track of the measured rooms is easier if you name them. Especially if you go back later and try to figure out what you've done. In the calculator first column, you can rename "Room" to something that will help you remember the entry. See the example below.
Adding and Deleting Rows
Depending on your property size, you may need more or less entry rows. Use the "Add Row" or "Del Row" buttons below the calculator to add or delete rows as needed.
Printing
Printing the calculator webpage is device dependant and may not work on some devices. If you find your phone will not allow a printout, you can take a screen capture and save it for a permanent record of the square footage.
Last Words
Determining your home's square footage is easy. Using the calculators provided here will make the job less tedious. But remember to check with your realtor or local building department to find out what rules for counting square footage applies to your home.
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Online Calculators