How to Measure a Room (continued)
Floors
1.
Make a drawing of the floorplan in the room you are measuring. It doesn't have to be to scale, but the more accurate it is, the more useful it'll be for recording purposes. In this hypothetical drawing, there is a bathroom on the right (which is a separate room, so it is not recorded in the measurement) and a bay window to the left.
2. Measure the shortest width and length in the room. (See Tips if measuring for carpeting.) If you're measuring a room with no recesses or foyers, there will be only one width and only one length. But in this example, three lengths are shown. The shortest one should be recorded. The other two, with the red line crossing through them, should not.
3. Multiply the width and the length to get the main area measurement. If the room has no recesses or foyers, stop here. This is the measurement of the total floor area. Record this in the center of your drawing.
4. Calculate the area of individual recesses.
Square or rectangular recesses: Measure the width and length (shown in purple) of the recess (shown in green) as if it was a tiny room. Multiply the width and length to find the area of the recess. Record it in the recess area of your drawing.
Round recesses: Measure the longest width and length of the recess (usually through the center) up until the edge of the main area, which you already measured. In this example, the length is shown in gold and the width in blue. Cut the length in half, and multiply your answer by the width, then by pi (3.14). This will give you the area of an entire ellipse, but remember that only half of the ellipse extends beyond the border of the room, so divide the area in half. Record this in the recess area of your drawing.
§ This calculation is only accurate if the ellipse is divided in half by the wall. Otherwise, it is a rough estimate.
§ The area in a bay window recess should only be included as part of the area of the room if it has a floor (rather than a seat) and the ceiling is at least seven feet or 2.13 m high.[1]
