1. How do you find the total square footage of a room?
Measure the length and width of each one of these spaces, and then multiply the two numbers together to determine the square footage of said space. Continue in this manner until you have the square footage of each space. To find the square feet of the entire room, simply add the square footage of each space together.
2. Calculating your house footprint.
FOOTPRINT OF A HOUSE IN RELATION TO THE BUILDING LOT:
- The Footprint of a house is the dimensions of the total covered area of the home including garages and porches.
- Most subdivision lots have “Setback” requirements and “Easements”.
- Setback requirements stipulate how far back from the street your home can be set. There may be both a minimum setback and a maximum setback. (Ex. Minimum setback = 50′ from center of the street, Maximum setback = 250′ from center of street.)
- Easements are areas included on your lot for which the utility companies have access for power, sewer and/or drainage lines to service your home and/or the homes around you. You can not build on an easement and some Easements also will not allow tree planting, etc. Sometimes, however, a driveway can be placed over an easement, however, if a Utility company needs to dig in this area, your driveway will be destroyed. Not all utility companies are required to replace your driveway since you voluntarily placed it on an easement, although, many do.
THE TOTAL BUILDABLE AREA OF YOUR LOT is determined by subtracting the easements on all sides of the lot and determining how much space is left in the middle. This may be a simple subtraction calculation if you have a perfectly square/rectangular lot. If your lot is NOT square, you may need help to determine the buildable area of the lot so that you can search for the correct size home. The good news is, the Developer’ engineering company can probably answer the “Buildable Area” question in a matter of minutes because the subdivision was probably drawn on an AutoCAD-type program. Before you spend a lot of money for calculation services, call the Engineering Company who created your PLOT.
- NOTE: You can request a copy of the PLOT from the person selling you the lot, your contractor or the developer. Be sure to ask for a FINAL and/or RECORDED PLOT because it will have the engineer’s information listed and it is not subject to change (well, not without a lot of trouble). The plat may be available on line at your county assessor’s site or through your developer’s website. Plots are public record.
- A local Engineer, Architect or Home Plan designer can produce a PLOT PLAN. A Plot Plan is a drawing showing only your lot and locating your home’s footprint on the lot. The distance from your home to lot lines will be shown. Generally, easements are also shown to prove that your home is in compliance with local requirements. IF your lot has special conditions or trees that you desire to keep, you may need a survey to locate these items so that your home can be adequately located on the lot. You can visit www.landregistry.gov.bb for further assistance.
| Lot Area |
Maximum Building Footprint |
Notes |
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| <6,500 square feet |
2,275 square feet |
Subject to meeting setbacks |
| 6,500 |
2,275 square feet |
|
| 6,600 |
35% of lot areas less .125% for each 100 sf in excess of 6,500 and less than 19,000 |
Formula: Lot Area sf-6,500 sf=A
A x.00125=B%
35% -3%=C%
(C *.01) * Lot area =Max allowed
Building footprint |
| 19,000 -32,670 |
4,000 square feet |
|
| 32,760 – 43,560 |
5,000 square feet |
|
| >43,560 square feet |
6,000 square feet |
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Example:
114 feet x 90 feet = 10,260 sf lot
10,260 sf – 6,500 sf = 3,760 sf
3,760 sf x .00125 = 4.7%
35% – 4.7% = 30.3%
30.3% x 10,260 sf = 3,109 sf of allowed building footprint
3. How to find cubic yards? (Concrete is purchased in cubic yards)
Convert the dimension in inches (usually for the depth) to feet (6” ÷ 12” = 0.5′) Multiply the three dimensions together to find the number of cubic feet (0.5′ x 12′ x 12 = 72 cubic feet) Divide the cubic feet by the number of cubic feet in a cubic yard (27) to find the number of cubic yards(72 ÷ 27 = 2.67 cu. yd.). You divide by 27 because there are 27 cubic feet in 1 cubic yard.
4. How to convert cubic yards to meter? (In Barbados they tend to use meters)
See website (http://www.endmemo.com/cconvert/yd3m.php)
Tada's List Barbados 