How to measure a room for a floor plan

Most problems with a floor plan come from the measuring, not the drawing. Ten careful minutes per room saves a lot of rework.

Tools

• A tape measure (5 m or 8 m) or a laser distance meter. A laser is quicker for long walls and works alone.
• Paper and pencil for a rough sketch, or a photo of each wall to write on later.
• A helper, if you use a tape on long walls.

The order that works

1. Sketch the room roughly, with doors, windows and anything fixed: radiators, sockets, pipes, a chimney breast.
2. Measure each wall wall to wall, at about one metre above the floor, above the skirting. Go round the room in one direction and write each length on the sketch.
3. Measure the diagonals. In a rectangular room both diagonals are equal. If they differ by more than a couple of centimetres, the room is not square and you should note it.
4. Doors and windows. For each one, measure from the nearest corner to its edge, then its width. For windows also measure the sill height (floor to the bottom of the opening) and the head height (floor to the top).
5. Wall thickness. Measure it in a door opening, from one face of the wall to the other.
6. Ceiling height. Measure in two or three places; older buildings vary.

Tips

• Measure to the wall, not to furniture or the skirting board.
• Round to the nearest centimetre (or quarter inch). More precision than that is rarely real.
• Measure alcoves and chimney breasts separately; they change how furniture fits.
• Note which way each door opens and whether it is hinged on the left or the right.

From measurements to a plan

In Roomdraft you can type every length exactly while drawing (along the middle of the wall; afterwards, click a room's inside length to type the size you measured), and add the window heights in the window's properties. Once the plan is drawn, compare the floor area with any area you know (for example from a listing) as a final check. See how to draw a floor plan for the drawing steps.