OT'ish. How big is a house?

[mark]

Say the size of a house is described as 1200 sq feet, what exactly does that mean? I'm guessing it's not the footprint times 2.

mark

[Bob Minchin]

Depends on context. I've just gone through some SAP energy calculations where hot water consumption is based on what they call total floor area - don't ask about the logic of this - its a Govmint sponsored procedure so logic is not required! However TFA is defined as the internal area measured to the outer walls and counting the area obscured by the internal walls at each floor. Also stairs are counted as if they were not there ie a complete floor on each storey. Built in cupboards, and other permanent storage, utility rooms etc all get captured by this method. Internal garages are not counted.

Estate Agents will often take the major X-Y dimensions of each room to arrive at an area, totalise and round up to nearest 100sq foot which will give a different answer - quite often allowing double counting complex shaped rooms.

Bob

[jgh]

My standard late-Victorian terrace house is Cellar: 150+150+75+36 (Front+Back,Laundry+Stairs) Ground: 150+150+75+36 (Front+Back+Kitchen+Stairs) First: 150+150+36 (Front+Back+Stairs) Attic: 240 (Font+Back) Total: 1398 square feet

Square footage is usually the full floor area where there is enough head height to stand up (say, six feet). Sometimes it includes staircases, sometimes it doesn't. It usually doesn't include storage (cupboards, under-stairs, eves, etc).

JGH

[ARWadsworth]

Square feet is so old fashioned

[charles]

indeed, most people's feet are more rectangular, nowadays.

[Bill Wright]

You perform Christenings up there?

Bill

[mark]

[mark]

Get you, all continental! Square feet is English.

mark

[mark]

I was wondering how big my house is, hence the question. Some estate agents ( maybe all) value a house by square footage times an amount which depends upon type of property and area. Then add or subtract a few k for outbuildings, condition, garden etc.

mark

[tim.....]

but using sqm isn't going to change the underlying problem here, is it

tim

[tim.....]

do they?

I've never seen that work outside of central London

[John Rumm]

and very difficult to find shoes...

[jgh]

By way of comparison, my first flat in Hong Kong was about 192 sqft:

JGH

[mark]

Well I've known a couple of EAs that did about 5 yrs ago. perhaps they don't anymore with houseprice websites readily available.

mark

[PeterC]

Nearer my god unto thee?

[spuorgelgoog]

That's not a flat, that's a toilet with a bed in it.

[jgh]

More-or-less. A 12ft by 16ft "shed" built on the roof of an existing building, with an internal partition wall surrounding the "water" area which contained the kitchen and a draw curtain to the "bathroom" - a flush toilet with copper tub hanging on a nail ;)

JGH

[Dave Liquorice]

With the shower over the loo? The cheap place(*) I stayed at in Hongkong had that arrangement.

(*) May even have been in the (infamous) Kowloon Mansions, if not it was close by.