How to Calculate the Total Square Feet

A tape measure is useful in calculating square feet.

Measuring square feet (sometimes referred to as "square footage") is a way to determine the amount of space that is occupied by an object. Another way of referring to this measurement is finding the "area" of something. Finding the square feet is important in projects such as building a house or landscaping a yard. If you are buying or selling a home, you also will need to know the square footage involved. You can determine the square feet by performing a few measurements and calculations.

Things You'll Need

• Tape measure
• Pencil
• Graph paper
• Ruler
• Calculator
• String

Instructions

1. Measure each side of an object, such as a house or yard. Use a tape measure to perform this task. If there is a curved side on the object, use a string to wrap around the curve and then measure the string with the tape measure.

2. Draw a scale sketch of the object onto a sheet of graph paper. Use a ruler and set a measurement scale, such as one inch equaling one foot.

3. Draw lines on the sketch to divide the drawing into shapes. If the object is rectangular or square, you don't need to add any lines. If the object isn't one big rectangle or square, divide the sketch into multiple rectangles, squares, triangles and circles if necessary.

4. Multiply the various measurements to find the square feet of each shape. When finding the area of a square, multiply the length of one side times itself. For rectangles, multiply the length times the width. In the case of a triangle, multiply the base times the height and divide by two. If you have a circle, square the radius (the distance from the center of the circle to the edge of the circle) and multiply by 3.14 ("pi").

5. Add the area of each shape to determine the total square feet.

References

• Math: Area Formulas
• Math is Fun: Area of Plane Shapes