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The next piece the Realtor gets (usually within 12 hrs later) is the RoughOut and an excerpt is pictured. [The space here is very limited and tiny... pls go to my website at www.smarteplans.com to more clearly see samples of a RoughOut]. Now that I had a chance to put all the walls together ... and they fit ... I can verify the dimensions I reported the day before, and I can SHOW the Realtor & Seller how I took my measurements. Yup! This document becomes a record showing WHAT was measured, HOW it was measured, and WHERE the point-to-point measurements were taken. Was it wall-to-wall? Was it to the front of the built-in unit in the Den? If I reported the room was 13' 8" x 14' 9" ... how did I get that?
See those lines with arrowheads on them? Those are calculated fields and the program measures from the tip of one arrow to the opposite tip and reports the resulting measurement. When I type in the text label for each room I give the horizontal (side to side) measurement first and then the vertical (up and down) for each room, as you look at the drawing straight on --- this keeps everybody from getting confused!
Also, there are multiple colored arrows in the living room space. The vertical of the room is 14' 9" but there may be three viable measurements for the horizontal ... where do you say the room ends? I show the Realtor & Seller three options and tell them the measurement of each ... they decide as both the Realtor and Seller can "see" what was done.
Once the RoughOut is completed and the room dimensions are reported in MLS, I then proceed to complete the drawing, putting in all the extra detail touches that make it a SMARTePLAN ... then I embed the photographs into it, set the the links and upload it onto MLS!
How I Measure Room Dimensions
- Wall to wall whenever possible .. so I'm not on baseboards, or moldings, or millwork or door casings, but flat on the wall
- From the opposite wall to the front of a built-in cabinet/counter - I look at .... where is "most" of the room? Since L x W is the math formula for the area of a rectangle .. where is most of the room to fill than rectangle? [EXAMPLE: if a fireplace is centered on the wall with 2 built-in bookcases recessed slightly back, I measure from the opposite wall to the front of the built-in bookcase ... not to the mantel or over-mantel because 2/3 of that wall is the width of the bookcases, and 1/3 is the mantel/ over-mantel]
- Kitchens: in Kitchens I go wall to wall unless there is a built-in wall (with a pantry, double-oven, and built-in refrigerator all in a row) and then I'd go to the front of the built-in.
Measuring Tools - I use a steel tape and laser measuring tool that measures to 1/16" of an inch, but please consider:
- Yardstick or folding yardstick
- Doppler Measurer
- Doppler Measurer with Laser Sight
So how do you measure rooms? I've seen some really weird dimensions out there .... where it appears the dimension being reported is the longest wall length for every wall? Or measuring BEHIND a built-in? And, please be aware that nearly all diagrams obtained from the builder give room dimensions BEFORE THEY PUT IN THE BUILT-INS ... so in actuality the room is probably 2' shorter than the dimension printed on the diagram.
Just something you should be aware of and double-check before you assume the builders diagram "must be" right ... at one time it was .. but if you use it without checking where does the accountability and liability lie?
Judith, The Floor Plan Lady
