-
In the square footage calculator find the Area tab and select units
you want to convert from,
-
You can now enter the value of the area in those units,
-
Click again on the unit switcher and select square feet (sq
ft),
-
Automatically, the calculator will show the value in sq ft.
It is also possible to convert in the other direction by
applying this method, i.e., from a different unit, like square meters
to square feet. We will now show some examples of conversions to and
from square footage.
How to convert square meters to square feet?
For example, we might want to know how big a 100 m2 (sqm) expressed in
sq ft. In other words, we would want to
convert from sq m to sq ft and find out the square footage of
that house, which is:
-
100 sqm * 10.764 sq ft/sqm = 1076.391 sq ft
How to convert acres to sq ft?
The procedure of converting square inches to
square feet or from acres to sq ft is the same as converting from
square meters to square feet. In the following examples, you will find
the most common of these conversions: how many square feet are in an
acre.
-
1 acre * 43 560 sq ft/acre = 43 560 sq ft
-
30 sq in * 0.00694 sq ft/sqin = 0.208333 sq ft
Intuitively, this process can also be done in reverse. Therefore, we can
not only find square footage when we know its value expressed in the
other units but also find an area in any units from a given square
footage.
How to use the square footage calculator
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of how the calculator works and what
is the square footage formula, it's useful to know
how to use the calculator, and what each of the components mean.
With the "One room/area" option selected, the square footage calculator
is composed of the following fields:
-
Shape - Select the room/area shape from rectangle, square,
circle, triangle, hexagon or octagon
-
Measurements - Various measurements of the room, which
change depending on the shape selected
-
Quantity - Enter the number of rooms/areas that have the
same shape and measurements
-
Area - Combined square footage of all the spaces as input
above
-
Unit price - Price (in the local currency) per square
foot
-
Total cost - Combined monetary value of the spaces
described above
To use the calculator is as simple as
setting the known values and letting the system calculate the rest. This means that you can use this calculator to compute the price per
square foot of a property if you know the total price and total square
footage.
If you select the option "Multiple rooms/areas" at the top of the
calculate, you can enter the measurements for up to
ten rooms or areas and get a grand total at the bottom of the
calculator of the square footage. For complex room layouts, divide up
the room into simple shapes, such as rectangles, squares, etc., and
enter each one as a separate room/area. If you've entered a unit price,
you'll also get the total cost.
How to calculate areas and what is the square footage formula?
Technically, it is not correct to talk about the square footage formula;
we should rather talk about area formula. However, as long as we
understand that a square footage formula is just another way to say that
we will take an area formula and apply it using square feet, I
think we can all agree the precise technical term doesn't matter much
here.
The square footage formula is different depending on the shape of the
object we want to calculate the area for.
The simplest and most common case is the square, or, more
generally, the rectangle. For these polygons, the formula is as simple
as taking the length of two adjacent sides in feet and
multiplying them together. Since we are working with a rectangle,
we know that taking two next sides is the same as taking the height and
the width of it. If we name these two sides A and B, the other two
necessarily must have the same dimensions as A and B, respectively.
-
square_footage = length_A * length_B
This might sound like a simple mathematical formula, but it is
precisely how to measure the square footage of a rectangular room in real
life. We just need to measure two consecutive sides in feet and multiply
the values together. This square footage formula is, in fact, the
same as the one used in the area of a rectangle calculator, but, in case
of this calculator, used to find square footage instead of calculating
polygons.
Not all rooms are perfect squares or rectangles, and it becomes more
tricky to calculate square footage in such a situation. If the
room is almost rectangular, one can get a pretty good approximation just
by considering it as a rectangular and performing a similar calculation
as we have seen before. But when the shape of the room (or whatever you
want to measure) is far from rectangular, we definitely recommend using
the corresponding Omni calculator for that shape,e.g., it could be a
triangle area calculator, the area of a circle calculator, or any other
shape. Note that these calculators for geometrical shapes
can calculate areas in almost any unit you would wish for. This
means that you can convert from acres to sq ft, to square meters, to
square feet, and so on, using the same procedure that we have described
in the previous section. ## How to calculate square footage
pricing Once again, we tackle a widespread issue that,
despite the complications which might arise in real life, has some
rather simple maths beneath it. The calculations of square
footage pricing are, mathematically, the simple division of the price of
a specific property by its total square footage. In everyday life, this
value changes significantly depending on such factors as a location of
the property, intended or potential use, and so on. It is nonetheless a
useful quantity to evaluate the value of a particular house or
property.
Before we talk a bit more about the usefulness of this measurement,
let's take a look at how we can use this calculator when
square footage pricing comes into play. First, make sure that the
"One room/area" option is selected at the top of the calculator. The
area can be calculated in the previous steps or can also be inputted by
the user. Then either the
price per sq ft or the total cost should be provided to obtain
the other value. Let's look at a complete example:
-
Input the size of the property's (or property chunk's) width and
length in your desired units,
-
Input the number of properties/chunks of the property with the size
input above,
-
[only if you didn't follow the first two steps] Input the
total area in your desired units,
-
Input the total pricing of the property,
-
Obtain the square footage pricing as dollars (or your local
currency) per sq ft.
This is an example of one of the most straightforward scenarios, but it
is very representative of the typical uses of this square footage
calculator. We think that it is essential not only to know how to
calculate square footage or how to measure square footage but also to
know what you can do with those values once you get them.
When it comes to square footage pricing, its usefulness relies on the
fact that it allows comparing properties (mostly houses) of
different sizes and prices. It's the equivalent of performance per
dollar charts of computer parts, for example. In this manner, one could
compare a 1500 sq ft with a 500 sq ft and know which one represents a
better real state option, looking beyond just the price or the size of
them. In fact, this can be used with any other area unit with or
without converting from square meters to square feet or acres to square
feet - every time we want to make a fair comparison.
How to measure the square footage of a house or property
We have touched previously on how to calculate and measure square
footage in a simple situation like a rectangular room/house or a
circular and triangular... But there are situations in which the shape
of the property we want to measure square footage from, is
a bit more complicated than that. In those cases there are two
options: (1) using the area of a polygon calculator and other similar
calculators by Omni (we can recommend the hexagon / octagon area
calculators or (2) get creative, as we're gonna do now.
For very complicated and irregular shapes, there is no simple
recipe for how to measure the square footage of a house using just one
tool. However, we can use a simple trick to achieve the appropriate
result. We can try to
decompose the area into several small pieces that have a regular
shape, for which we can calculate square footage. To each of those
pieces, we apply the square footage formula corresponding to its
polygonal shape (different Omni Calculators will prove useful here). If
we then add up the result from every piece, we will obtain the
total square footage of the house, no matter its shape.
There is a chance that the house will have rounded corners of curvy
shapes (they are very popular nowadays), and this might seem impossible
to do. But in reality, one can get a
very good approximation using a straight line that goes to the
middle of the curved ones or, if we want to be more precise, many small
polygons. It could be time-consuming, but it simultaneously can be as
accurate as one needs.
Final remarks about square footage
If you live in North America or one of the other few countries that
still use the Imperial system,
talking about square footage might be natural. Nevertheless, it
is important to remember that most of the countries in the world use the
metric system, which measures area in square meters. Having a basic,
approximate idea of what the
conversion from square meters to square feet is, can be valuable
in the communications across different countries. A good "ballpark"
value that's easy to remember is that
10 sq ft ~ sqm - to
convert from sq m to sq ft, we just need to add a zero at the end of the
number.
Another important thing to remember is that
a board foot is not a unit of area, although it sounds very
similar. In fact, it is a unit of volume. Therefore, there is no
conversion possible between them, and they are not equivalent by any
means. So even though how many acres are in square feet? is a valid
question to ask, asking how many board feet are in a square foot? is
like saying how many tables are in a swimming pool. But, if you wish to
know more about board feet or you feel like calculating some
volumes for fun (we don't judge, people have different hobbies), then
feel free to check the board foot calculator.