good question chris. my basement has a laundry room, "teenager" room and utility room. it is heated but not finished. is that addable square footage?

I'm not really sure. I know my own s.f. based on my home's purchase information (all that stuff at closing), but I am not sure about how it is calculated.

I'm not sure, but think that the square footage is taken inside the house. Usually, it only includes the actual amount of 'Living Area' of a house. Bathrooms and basements are not included. My Realtor explained to me, that basements cannot be included in square footage because there isn't a door or windows to escape from in an emergency. Now if you happen have a finished walkout basement...?
Cathy

Here is a link that might be helpful, or you can google more related articles about figuring square footage.

HTH!~

Here is a link that might be useful: Figuring Square footage

I figure it the way the insurance companies look at it whan calculating the replacement cost.
Measure the outside of the house, front to back, side to side, multiply by the number of floors and leave out the basement.

So I have 600 square feet on the main floor, same on the second plus the wonky little tandem room of 64 square feet hanging off the back of my 2nd floor, with an unfinished basement. One bathroom and what is affectionately known as "the outhouse" in the basement (it's a toilet and a sink, but I'd be hard pressed to call it a powder room!!).

Homemaker has it, so does the link Southernheart added. You measure the outer dimensions and multiply. All halls, bathrooms, and interior wall space is counted. However, you only count the heated and cooled space, not unheated sunrooms or other not-quite-finished areas. Here, garages do not count in the floorspace, nor do porches or patios. Basements do not count even if they are finished. One just lists the finished basement separately in the description. Rooms in areas where the ceiling comes low to meet the wall are measured using only the amount of floorspace where there is at least 5 feet (I believe) of height from floor to ceiling.

I have a one story (about 1200 sf) that does not include the garage which is part of the house.

lol
You all are correct about the sq ft.
I guess what I was talking about was room count?...
Really should watch what I say before I've had enough coffee.
Cathy

When it comes to the tax man it's all about the local rules. In our municipality a "basement" has more volume above ground level than below and a "cellar" has more volume below ground level than above. A basement with a permanent stairway to the main living area and a second means of egress and a finished ceiling counts towards the habitable area. A basement lacking one or more of these or any cellar cannot be legally used as living space and does not count towards the habitable area.

We have about 1300 square feet on the first floor and a walk up attic that has been used as bedrooms in the past. But we have been told we cannot count the square footage of the attic because the stairs leading to it are in a 1st floor bedroom and not out in the open.
Sheree

i think i've been living in a fool's paradise. i looked up the real estate listing from when we bought the house back in 82' and it sayes 1,780! and all these years i've been saying about 2,000! i have the original plans to the house and i'm going to measure those rooms to make it official.