How Do You Measure the Square Footage of an Area That Has Lots of Curves?
Finding the square footage of an area is as easy as multiplying the length by the width. However, if you have a room or outdoor area with lots of curves, calculating the square area poses more of a problem. It's practically impossible to just jot down a couple of measurements and crack out a calculator. However, with a sheet of paper and pair of scissors, you'll have your square area calculation in no time.
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Instructions
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Draw a rough diagram of the area you want to measure on the paper. It does not have to be to scale, but try to draw a representation of the area as accurately as you can.
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Cut your shape out from the paper.
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Use the scissors to cut out any obvious squares or rectangles from your piece of paper. For example, a "racetrack" shape has a rectangle or a square in the center.
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Cut the following shapes out of the remaining pieces of paper, if you see them: triangles, circles and ellipses (egg shapes).
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For any remaining pieces of paper, approximate one of the shapes listed above. Identify the shape that the piece of paper most closely resembles. See if you can make the piece look like a shape by cutting some more. The more of your paper pieces look like regular shapes, the more accurate your square area measurement will be.
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Calculate the square areas of the individual pieces of paper, then add them up. For example, if you have 2 squares, one half circle and a triangle, add up the area for each square, the half circle and the triangle using the following formulas:
Square: base x height
Triangle: 1/2 base x height
Half circle:1/2 x 3.14 x radius x radius
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Tips & Warnings
Number your pieces of paper as you snip them out to make sure you don't miss any when making your calculations.
