How to Calculate Room Areas

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By Ann Johnson
eHow Contributing Writer

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Properly calculating a room area is necessary when figuring out how much flooring needs to be ordered or determining if the heating or air conditioning unit of the home is sufficient to handle the space. It is a fairly straightforward process to calculate the area of a rectangular room. Sometimes, calculations need to be made by subtracting from the room total. For example, if you need to determine the room area to order kitchen flooring, you will need to calculate the area of the cabinets and subtract that from the room total.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Measuring tape

Step 1

Measure the width and length of the room, in feet.
Step 2

Multiply the two measurements together to get the total square feet or room area. For example, if the room measures 12 x 10 feet, you would multiple 12 x 10. This would mean the area of the room is 120 square feet.
Step 3

Measure the widest and deepest walls of the room, if it is not a rectangular shape. In this sample, the measurements would remain 12 x 10 feet.
Step 4

Measure the width and depth of the two shorter walls. In this case, it will be 9 x 3 feet.
Step 5

Multiply the measurements of the two shorter walls, and multiply the measurements of the two longest walls. Then subtract the smaller number from the larger number. In this sample: 9 x 3 = 27 and 12 x 10 = 120. When you subtract 27 square feet from 120 square feet, the total room area is 93 square feet.