# What size is your house? (Sq M or Sq Ft) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 4, 2003, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-size-is-your-house-sq-m-or-sq-ft/179565 "2003-06-04T12:39:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-size-is-your-house-sq-m-or-sq-ft/179565/61 "2003-06-05T08:11:00Z")
Okay, just back in now. US average to date (up to and including to **Sams** post): \*\*1925 Sq Ft. \*\* (or **2140 Sq Ft** average without counting any of the apartments under 700 sq Ft) ---
**Author:** ![Kiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Kiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiger)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-size-is-your-house-sq-m-or-sq-ft/179565/62 "2003-06-05T12:42:49Z")
Just outside Washington, DC 2100 sq. ft. itty bitty lot 3 bedrooms, 3 baths ---
**Author:** ![cagiva650](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cagiva650](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cagiva650)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-size-is-your-house-sq-m-or-sq-ft/179565/63 "2003-06-05T13:19:39Z")
I live in a suburbanizing rural area of west michigan. my house is really a refurbished cottage about 1500 SF w/ no basement. Have a 2 car garage, 3 small br, 2 small bath. It is small for a family of four with lots of stuff, but we have a nice lake we enjoy to make up for the house size. I have family though, with houses so huge (5000+ SF) they have rooms there that no one will go into for days and days, and at night my young niece gets lonely in her wing of the house so she insists her mother sleep with her! ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-size-is-your-house-sq-m-or-sq-ft/179565/64 "2003-06-05T13:53:05Z")
Ottawa Canada 2000 sq ft. (bump it 2600 in a year once I finish the basement. Its taking longer than I thought šŸ™‚ 4 Bedrooms 2.5 Bathrooms ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-size-is-your-house-sq-m-or-sq-ft/179565/65 "2003-06-05T14:02:47Z")
Revision: (after remembering **Sam** is Canadian) US average to date (from 47 houses): \*\*1940 Sq Ft. \*\* (or 2141 Sq Ft average without counting any of the apartments under 700 sq Ft (from 41) ) Canada average to date (from 5 houses) : **2471 Sq Ft.** You guys have some BIG houses up there in the North! ---
**Author:** ![Bottle\_of\_Smoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Bottle\_of\_Smoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bottle_of_Smoke)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-size-is-your-house-sq-m-or-sq-ft/179565/66 "2003-06-05T15:03:51Z")
Small town outside Madison, WI 1,150 sq ft. 3 bedroom, 2 bath. 2 car garage. A nice little house, but kind of crowded for a family of five, especially with the kids getting bigger. ---
**Author:** ![Pablito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@Pablito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pablito)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-size-is-your-house-sq-m-or-sq-ft/179565/67 "2003-06-05T15:22:45Z")
2200 sq ft, 3 bedr, 2 bath, NO garage, on 250 acres outside Aiken, SC, USA ---
**Author:** ![GarniGal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ea666f/32.png) [@GarniGal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GarniGal)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-size-is-your-house-sq-m-or-sq-ft/179565/68 "2003-06-05T15:34:05Z")
Just to bring the Canadian ave down a bit: Guelph, ON, Can. 1100 sf + 500 sf finished basement = 1600ish 3 beds (okay, in my world 1 bed 2 offices) 1.5 bath townhouse. Attached single car garage (yay!) ā€œpostage stamp yardā€, but we live across from a huge park, and the townhouse development is set up with a decent amount of greenspace between the facing houses. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-size-is-your-house-sq-m-or-sq-ft/179565/69 "2003-06-05T15:50:53Z")
I always find these sqare footage thingies confusing. We live in a 2-story, 5 bedroom, 2.5 bath house in a western burb of Chicago. Granted, the rooms are not as big as in much new construction. For example, the MB is 14X11ā€™ and the kitchen is 12X11ā€™. No volume ceilings and such. No whirlpool tubs in the baths. But it doesnā€™t strike us as a ā€œsmallā€ house. I just added up the room sizes on the listing sheet from when we bought it. They add up to 1374 sq ft. Of course, that does not include bathrooms. And we have a finished full walkout basement with sliding doors. Iā€™ve seen that measuring this can be different if you simply base it on exterior home measurements. Or if you include ā€œvolumeā€ spaces. ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-size-is-your-house-sq-m-or-sq-ft/179565/70 "2003-06-05T15:59:04Z")
To me, the square footage is the **usable internal floor space** of the property. I donā€™t understand what a ā€˜volumeā€™ space could even mean, in this context, or how that would affect the overall Sq footage. Do you mean voids and double-height spaces? They would not be counted on both floors. Floor space only counts _if you can walk on it._. What is 0.5 of a bathroom, BTW? ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-size-is-your-house-sq-m-or-sq-ft/179565/71 "2003-06-05T16:02:23Z")
A wahroom that only has a toilet and sink (no tub/shower) ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-size-is-your-house-sq-m-or-sq-ft/179565/72 "2003-06-05T16:05:14Z")
~2800 sq ft on 2.5 acres. 3br, 2 ba ā€“ although my wife and I each have offices which could probably also be counted as bedrooms. 100 year old farmhouse. ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-size-is-your-house-sq-m-or-sq-ft/179565/73 "2003-06-05T16:09:07Z")
Hereā€™s a picture: My house. ---
**Author:** ![KnK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/edb3f5/32.png) [@KnK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KnK)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-size-is-your-house-sq-m-or-sq-ft/179565/74 "2003-06-05T16:13:48Z")
2400 SqFt 4bed, 3 bath colonial, with 1200 SqFt walkout basement on 1 acre. Attached 860 SqFt 3 car garage with second level loft. One hour west of Detroit Michigan USA. Fairly common setup for the area. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-size-is-your-house-sq-m-or-sq-ft/179565/75 "2003-06-05T17:04:51Z")
Note: Iā€™m single, and I live alone. Next hosue I buy will be small; I had a relatively large house in Florida, and it was too much work. USA; Roeland Park, Kansas (suburb of Kansas City, Missouri). 1,300 square feet (~120m2), excluding 3/4 basement 8,000 square foot lot 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom, attached one 1 garage. Rental house, built in 1950. (Equity from other houses sitting in the bank) USA; Ocoee, Florida (suburb of Orlando) 1,900 square feet (~175m2) under air, 3,000 square feet total (including lanai and garage), no basement 11,000 square foot lot 3 bedroom, 2 bath, lanai, attached 2+ car garage. House I owned, built in 1987. USA; Denver, Colorado; West Highlands neighborhood 850 square feet (~85m2), excluding full basement 4,250 square foot lot 2 bedroom, 1 bath, detached 1 car garage off alley. House I owned, built in 1925. ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-size-is-your-house-sq-m-or-sq-ft/179565/76 "2003-06-05T17:12:46Z")
NW Suburbs of Denver (Westminster) 1750 Sq-feet (tri-level) 4 Bedrooms (three-up, one-down) 2 bath, 2 car garage. The yard is 1/8 acre (maybe 1/10th. Standard city lot). _An interesting addition to these posts would be sq-feet/person./_ For us, itā€™s 350 Sq-feet/person. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-size-is-your-house-sq-m-or-sq-ft/179565/77 "2003-06-05T18:23:49Z")
Torrance, CA (just south of Los Angeles) 3 bedroom, 1.75 baths 1,590 square feet. Nice, but a tad small for me. Iā€™d love to have a 2,000 square footer, but themā€™s the breaks in real estate. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-size-is-your-house-sq-m-or-sq-ft/179565/78 "2003-06-05T18:34:52Z")
Re: volume space - just wanted to point out that this measurement is not an exact science. Some builders add square footage for cathedral ceilings. Some appraisers simply measure the external dimensions, and multiply by the number of living floors - which would include washrooms, closets, the space inside of walls, etc. Hereā€™s a pic of my house from a while back. [http://www.mlsni.com/FullListingDetail.asp?MLS\_NUMBER=02034107&PropertyType=DE](http://www.mlsni.com/FullListingDetail.asp?MLS_NUMBER=02034107&PropertyType=DE) Iā€™d be surprised if anyone would call this a ā€œsmallā€ house. But as I said above, the room dimensions add up to less than 1400 sq ft - among the smallest houses listed here. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-size-is-your-house-sq-m-or-sq-ft/179565/79 "2003-06-05T18:40:47Z")
I guess this has me thinking - Iā€™d be interested in hearing how folks calculated their sq. footage. Did they add together all of their room dimensions from their listing sheet? Did they also include hallways? Bathrooms? Closets? Garage? Finished or unfinished basement? Did they use their homeā€™s exterior dimensions? Did they simply accept a figure from their builder, RE agent, or appraiser? Or did they fill their home with jello, keeping careful count of the number of packages used? ---
**Author:** ![Sn-man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sn-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sn-man)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-size-is-your-house-sq-m-or-sq-ft/179565/80 "2003-06-05T19:02:14Z")
In the Denver metro area; Sq footage is calculated by the area of an entire level on the inside of the exterior walls. So home listings in our area include closets, hallways, and even dead space inside of interior walls. The areaā€™s Realty multi-list book lists the total Sq footage of each house up for sale. That total does not include basements, finished or not. So our home was listed as 2,500 sq ft with an 850 sq ft basement. I consider our house to have 3,350 sq ft. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-size-is-your-house-sq-m-or-sq-ft/179565.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-size-is-your-house-sq-m-or-sq-ft/179565.md?page=5)