# Calculating Residential Square Footage?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-residential-square-footage/558600
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 28, 2010, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-residential-square-footage/558600 "2010-10-28T00:41:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-residential-square-footage/558600/21 "2010-10-28T20:39:32Z")
> [@lieu](#):
>
> There aren’t any standard reports/calculations that take into account high or cathedral type ceilings are there? If you have say a 20 x 20 room with 11 foot ceilings and a 20 x 20 room with 22 foot ceilings they still both recorded as 400 sq ft?
Not that I am aware of. Square footage calculations only indicate the relative floor area of the unit not the value of the unit itself. If you have say 8 units that are all the same size stacked one above the other like in a corner of the building–well the unit on the first floor which doesn’t have a view is not going to rent as much as the unit of the eighth floor. So even though all of them are say 750 SF the one on the first floor might rent for $1 SF with the one on the eighth floor renting for $1.5 SF. That is how they add the value of the view and/or the cathedral ceiling. So in your example the value of the 400 SF would be in an assessment of the unit and NOT on the SF only.
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### Author:  [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-residential-square-footage/558600/22 "2010-10-28T21:05:00Z")
> [@gazpacho](#):
>
> No show on HGN will quote space for a house, condo or apartment in the US in anything but square feet. Some of the shows about house hunting in foreign countries might quote square meters but I cannot recall an instance where the size was not also given in square feet.
HGTV airs a number of shows that were produced in Canada, maybe more than half of their total programming.
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2010, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-residential-square-footage/558600/23 "2010-10-28T21:16:31Z")
> [@lieu](#):
>
> There aren’t any standard reports/calculations that take into account high or cathedral type ceilings are there? If you have say a 20 x 20 room with 11 foot ceilings and a 20 x 20 room with 22 foot ceilings they still both recorded as 400 sq ft?
Of course. It’s an _area_ measurement, not a _volume_ measurement.
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### Author:  [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-residential-square-footage/558600/24 "2010-10-28T21:30:28Z")
One question I have - do you measure the helipads as part of the house’s square footage?
[Mumbai billionaire’s home boasts 27 floors, ocean and slum views](http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-india-rich-20101025,0,1248685.story)
_By Mark Magnier, Los Angeles Times, October 24, 2010 | 7:35 p.m._
> [@](#):
>
> The $1-billion home, seven years in the making, is 400,000 square feet on 27 floors, all for a family of six.
> …
> Don’t worry about parking. The building … boasts a 168-space lot. Or avoid Mumbai’s nightmarish traffic altogether by landing on one of three helipads.
> …
> [T]here’s a swimming pool and yoga studio. … Then there’s the mini-theater, three balconies with terrace gardens, the health club …
> [T]the new building … reportedly requires 600 staff members …
> No two floor plans are alike, and the materials used in each level vary widely …
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### Author:  [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2010, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-residential-square-footage/558600/25 "2010-10-29T12:26:00Z")
> [@Musicat](#):
>
> Of course. It’s an _area_ measurement, not a _volume_ measurement.
But that’s kinda my point. If you’re looking for a place there’s then no indicator that one might be more spacious (read attractive) than another. If one has a vaulted entrance or a living room that’s 2 stories high, that added area isn’t represented in the measurement presented.
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2010, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-residential-square-footage/558600/26 "2010-10-29T12:36:05Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#):
>
> One question I have - do you measure the helipads as part of the house’s square footage?
No, square footage is interior space.
I haven’t run across that problem in too many residences (three helipads). Two helipads are the max around here.
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### Author:  [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-residential-square-footage/558600/27 "2010-10-29T20:27:41Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> That’s the problem. 550 square feet seems small for a two-bedroom house, but 550 square meters seems too big (at least for one only containing two bedrooms).
I agree that it would be too big. I had a home in Arizona that was 6000 Sq Ft and had 4 large BR plus maids quarters etc. The 550 Sq Meter home has 5920.2 Sq Ft. Very large for a 2 BR home. Also very small if 550 Sq ft. Something seems to be wrong with the measurements.
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