Inflated square footage measurement of homes? (builders, garage, basement, Dallas)

[calmdude]

Google this and you will find that (a) some people measure from outside & calculate (b) some measure inside dimensions, add 6 inches and then calculate area. In both cases, garages etc are excluded.

Questions:
(i) sometimes, arrpaisals are bigger than county records. I know there are factors such as builder forgot to report an add-on etc, but someone was saying that there may be some unethichal people involved. Basically, some methods may give hgher footage than others.
(ii) is there a STANDARD way most builders measure area?
(iii) does anyone know what the "standard" is in the Dallas area?

Thanks

[Noahma]

Originally Posted by calmdude

Google this and you will find that (a) some people measure from outside & calculate (b) some measure inside dimensions, add 6 inches and then calculate area. In both cases, garages etc are excluded.

Questions:
(i) sometimes, arrpaisals are bigger than county records. I know there are factors such as builder forgot to report an add-on etc, but someone was saying that there may be some unethichal people involved. Basically, some methods may give hgher footage than others.
(ii) is there a STANDARD way most builders measure area?
(iii) does anyone know what the "standard" is in the Dallas area?

Thanks

There is a standard, It is set by the building department in your area. I know that the great majority of the squarefootage is figured from the outside face of the exterior wall studs which 2X6's are NOT 6" wide, they are 5.5" wide. Things that are included on the main level are the stair area. The upper level is calculated using the same exterior stud area not including stair or open to below areas. The basement would be measured from the inside face of the concrete walls, or exterior face of stud walls in a walkout area. The stairs are included in this measurement due to it being a seperate stair case from what is calculated in the main level.

Some governing bodys will have you calculate the same as above, but the overall area is measured from the inside face of the exterior studs.

hope that helps you.

[olecapt]

There is no "official" technique. Nor any standard. Here the custom is to use the assessor square foot caluculation which is of the external measure less garage sort. The sketch used is available as a public record so one can see how it was done.

I am always skeptical of builder square feet until it is in the county data base.

[calmdude]

Thanks - I guess I will need to dig more as to the common way they do things here in the Dallas area.