Does sq footage include stairs?

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buttonmoon

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Does the square footage given for a house include the stairs or not?

I'm trying to figure out why apartments with a higher sq footage seem (to me at least) smaller than houses with a lower sq footage!
 
buttonmoon said:
I'm trying to figure out why apartments with a higher sq footage seem (to me at least) smaller than houses with a lower sq footage!
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Are there many apartments that include stairs inside the living area whatever about out in the common areas/corridors? The latter would not be included in the floor area of an individual apartment.
 
Yeah, I knew that common areas wouldn't be included.

What I should have asked is:

If a 3 bed house is advertised as 910 sq ft would that figure include the stairs?

BTW, I've seen two diff apartments lately with a mezzanine overlooking the living room (they were penthouses though).
 
buttonmoon said:
If a 3 bed house is advertised as 910 sq ft would that figure include the stairs?
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I presume so - for example if the site occupied by the property is 10m x 10m then the floor area would be (10m x 10m) x 2 floors = 200sqm regardless of the fact that some of this space on both floors is taken up by the stairs/stairwell. At least that's what I'd expect.
 
aw, I think I know why it might not be adding up for me:

If, like you say they include two 10m x 10m floors then they can't really include the space UNDER the stairs as well can they? If they did then they'd be counting square footage twice. In my case there's a wheelchair accessible toilet under the stairs so in a way, that square footage is not included in the overall sum but still makes the place seem bigger.
 
buttonmoon said:
If, like you say they include two 10m x 10m floors then they can't really include the space UNDER the stairs as well can they?
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But that calculation does include such space! Think of it this way - the under the stairs floor area is included in the downstairs floor area while the cumulative floor area of each step on the stairs is included in the upstairs floor area. Thus there is no loss of floor area even though it looks like the stairwell creates a "hole". If each floor is 10m x 10m = 100sqm then the total floor area of the house is 200sqm regardless of the fact that it looks like you "lose" some floor area by virtue of the "hole" created by the stairwell. Does that make any sense to you!?

In my case there's a wheelchair accessible toilet under the stairs so in a way, that square footage is not included in the overall sum but still makes the place seem bigger.
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But that is part of the house and should be included in the floor area. Floor area doesn't necessarily mean habitable floor area!
 
Yeah, I see your point.

For the record though, we should say not that "the cumulative floor area of each step on the stairs is included in the upstairs floor area" but instead that "the cumulative floor area of each step on the stairs STARTING from the step at which directly above it is the ceiling of the landing." because otherwise the lower steps are underneath (in this case) the box room, so the floor area of the lower 7 steps or so are included in the bottom floor area.

Well, once again, good point ClubMan, thanks and it answered my question:

The sq footage of a house does include the stairs!

Go raibh mhaith agat
 
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