# How to Convert a Foot to Square Feet

## Difference between Feet and Square Feet

### Basics of Feet Vs. Square Feet

The feet (plural of foot) is the non-SI unit for measuring length as specified in the imperial and the US customary units of measurement. It is used to measure height, length, and distance. The square feet is the non-SI unit for measuring area, mainly in the United States. It is the plural of square foot used to measure any two-dimensional space.

### Symbol & Calculation of Feet Vs. Square Feet

The international symbol for feet is “ft”, whereas square feet is symbolized as “sq ft.” or “ft2”. The area of a rectangular or square room is calculated in square feet by multiplying the length and width of the room in feet. If a room is 12 feet in length and 12 in width, then the area of the room equals to (12*12) 144 sq ft.

### Conversion of Feet Vs. Square Feet

1 foot converts to 12 inches or 0.3048 meters. Similarly, 1 square feet is equivalent to 0.092903 square meters or 144 square inches. An area of 1 square feet would be 12*12 inches squared. Feet is a single dimensional unit, whereas square feet is a two-dimensional unit for area.

### Examples of Feet Vs. Square Feet

If a room measures 15 feet in length and 10 feet in width, then the area of the room is calculated as:

Area = 15 × 10 = 150 square feet or 150 sq ft. or 150 ft2

## Calculate square footage (sq ft) from other units

Let’s now see how to calculate square footage when you already know the area in different units. This is the most simple use of the square footage calculator. To use this conversion feature, you could use the area conversion tool on this website or simply follow the following steps:

1. In the square footage calculator find the Area tab and select units you want to convert from,
2. You can now enter the value of the area in those units,
3. Click again on the unit switcher and select square feet (sq ft),
4. Automatically, the calculator will show the value in sq ft.

It is also possible to convert in the other direction by applying this method, i.e., from a different unit, like square meters to square feet. We will now show some examples of conversions to and from square footage.

## How to Calculate Square Footage

Square footage is area expressed in square feet. Likewise, square yardage is area expressed in square yards.  Square meters is also a common measure of area.

Assume you have a rectangular area such as a room and, for example, you want to calculate the square footage area for flooring or carpet.

The way to calculate a rectangular area is by measuring the length and width of your area then multiplying those two numbers together to get the area in feet squared (ft2). If you have on oddly shaped area, such as an L-shape, split it into square or rectanglualar sections and treat them as two separate areas. Calculate the area of each section then add them together for your total. If your measurements are in different units, say feet and inches, you can first convert those values to feet, then multiply them together to get the square footage of the area.

### Convert all of your measurements to feet

• If you measured in feet skip to “Calculate the Area as Square Footage”
• If you measured in feet & inches, divide inches by 12 and add that to your feet measure to get total feet
• If you measured in another unit of measure, do the following to convert to feet – inches: divide by 12 and that is your measurement in feet – yards: multiply by 3 and that is your measurement in feet – centimeters: multiply by 0.03281 to convert to feet – meters: multiply by 3.281 to convert to feet

### Calculate the Area as Square Footage

• If you are measuring a square or rectangle area, multiply length times width; Length x Width = Area.
• For other area shapes, see formulas below to calculate Area (ft2) = Square Footage.

## How many square feet is a 12×12 room?

The square footage of a room measuring 12 feet wide by 12 feet long is 144 square feet. To calculate this you simply multiply the width by the height. 12ft × 12ft = 144 sq ft.

## Converting From Other Units of Measure

Now that you’ve mastered the simple area calculation from feet to square feet, you can, in essence, be your own linear foot calculator to transform linear measurements into measurements of area. But what if the dimensions you’re given to work with aren’t in feet?

No problem: You can use simple conversion factors to convert those measurements from other units into feet. It’s usually easiest to perform those conversions ​before​ you do the math to go from linear dimensions into square dimensions. The two conversions you’re most likely to find yourself making are yards and inches.

Yards

One yard equals 3 feet. So if you’re given linear measurements in yards, multiply each measurement by 3 to get its equivalent in feet. For example:

9\text{ yd}\frac{3\text{ ft}}{\text{yd}}=27\text{ ft}

Inches

There are 12 inches in 1 foot, so to convert from inches to feet, divide by 12. For example:

36\text{ in}\frac{\text{ ft}}{12\text{ in}}=3\text{ ft}

## How to find the square footage of a rectangle

1. Measure the width and length of the area in feet.

Note: If your measurements aren't in feet, convert them to feet first using our length converter.

Once you've carried out your calculation, you will have your square feet (ft2) figure. To calculate your cost of materials, simply multiply this figure by your price per square foot.

## How Do You Calculate Square Footage of a Whole House?

Square footage of a home includes finished, livable areas. In calculating the square footage of your home, you typically don’t include an unfinished basement, attic or garage. Outbuildings are also left out of this measurement. You should, however, include hallways, stairwells and closets in the square footage.

Measure each room or space individually like this:

• Bedroom 1: 10 feet x 12 feet = 120 square feet
• Bedroom 2: 10 feet x 12 feet = 120 square feet
• Living room: 12 feet x 15 feet = 180 square feet
• Bathroom: 5 feet x 7 feet = 35 square feet
• Kitchen: 10 feet x 12 feet = 120 square feet
• Dining room: 10 feet by 10 ft = 100 square feet
• Front hall: 4 feet by 10 feet = 40 square feet
• Closet: 1 foot by 5 feet = 5 square feet

Then, add them together for total square footage. In this case, this house is 720 square feet.

## Final remarks about square footage

If you live in North America or one of the other few countries that still use the Imperial system, talking about square footage might be natural. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that most of the countries in the world use the metric system, which measures area in square meters. Having a basic, approximate idea of what the conversion from square meters to square feet is, can be valuable in the communications across different countries. A good “ballpark” value that’s easy to remember is that 10 sq ft ~ sqm – to convert from sq m to sq ft, we just need to add a zero at the end of the number.

Another important thing to remember is that a board foot is not a unit of area, although it sounds very similar. In fact, it is a unit of volume. Therefore, there is no conversion possible between them, and they are not equivalent by any means. So even though how many acres are in square feet? is a valid question to ask, asking how many board feet are in a square foot? is like saying how many tables are in a swimming pool. But, if you wish to know more about board feet or you feel like calculating some volumes for fun (we don’t judge, people have different hobbies), then feel free to check the board foot calculator.