Things You'll Need:
- Paper
- Pencil
- Calculator
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Step 1
Calculate the square footage of a hip roof garage with rectangular sides that measure 20 feet in length and 8 feet in height. The front side has a door opening that measures 16 feet in length and 7 feet in height.
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Step 2
Make a drawing of each side (front, back, left and right) of the structure.
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Step 3
Label each drawing with the length and height measurements from Step 1. For the back, left and right side drawings, it should be just a rectangle with length = 20 feet and height = 8 feet. The front side drawing has two rectangles; an outside rectangle with length = 20 and height = 16 feet and another with the measurements for the opening of length = 16 feet and height = 7 feet. Now calculate area for siding.
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Step 4
Find the areas for each side by using the area formula Length X Height. For the right, left and back sides this is 20 feet X 8 feet = 160 square feet. Since there are three sides, multiply 160 by 3 to get 480 square feet.
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Step 5
Calculate the front side by first finding the area for the outer rectangle which is 20 feet X 8 feet = 160 square feet. Now find the area for the opening which is 16 feet X 7 feet = 112. Subtract the area of the opening from the front side area (i.e., 160 square feet - 112 square feet = 48 square feet).
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Step 6
Add the footage area from Step 4 and Step 5 to get the total footage area. That is 480 square feet + 48 square feet = 528 square feet. Remember you need more siding because of waste factor so calculate this for this project (see Resources).
