How to Calculate Your Lawn’s Square Footage

Calculating Square Yards

Square yard calculations are required for estimating floor coverings, etc. To calculate square yards (SQYDS), multiply the length times the width, in feet and divide by 9. There are 9 square feet in a square yard.

To calculate the number of square yards in a 12′ x 16′ room:

(12 X 16) / 9 = 21.34 SQYDS

Rectangle

The area of a rectangle is found by multiplying the length (l) by the width (w).

Area = (l)(w)

Example 1:

Calculate the area of a rectangular lawn with a length of 50 ft and a width of 25 ft.

Area = (l)(w)

Area = (50 ft)(25 ft)

Area = 1,250 ft²

Video

Triangles

The area of a triangle is one-half the base (b) multiplied by the height (h).

Area = [(b)(h)] / 2

Example 4:

Calculate the area of a triangle where the base is 60 ft and the height is 30 ft.

Area = [(b)(h)] / 2

Area = [(60ft)(30ft)] / 2

Area = 900 ft²

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.

FREE Lot Size Calculator

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Reader Interactions

Comments

1. Cooper says

   March 5, 2022 at 9:26 pm

   I never would have thought to use Google Maps to measure my lawn!! This is SUCH a helpful tip! Now I don’t have to go out and buy one of those measuring wheels!! Thank you so much!!!

   Reply

   • Mark says

     March 6, 2022 at 3:19 pm

     Thanks Cooper, technology is awesome!🙌

     Reply

Save Your Information

Save and edit your addresses: keep emails, phone numbers, names, and notes. Whether you are a homeowner or a contractor, it’s super useful to have your area measurements at hand.

Determining the Size of Area

Step 1: Inspect the Area

The first piece of information you need to know is the shape and dimensions of your lawn, particularly the width and length. You will want to measure and multiply the area length times the width in feet until the square footage is 1,000 sq. ft. and mark off this area with the help of a marking tool like washable paint or objects to distinguish the treatment areas border line. 

Step 2: Convert Measurements

If your yard is rectangular or square, measure the length and width then multiply together (length X width = square footage). For example, if your yard has a length of 10 feet and width of 8 feet, you would multiply 10 by 8 to get 80 square feet.

Be aware for triangle shaped lawns, you will measure the length and width, multiply together, then divide by two ( length X width / 2 = square footage).

If your lawn is a not a perfect rectangle, break the lawn into different sections to measure more easily, then add measurements together to get the area’s total square footage.

For treatment areas with flowerbeds and other obstructions in the yard you will measure the square footage of the object and subtract from your yards total square footage.

Example, you have a property that is 12,000 sq. ft. and in the middle you have a landscape bed with a length of 3 feet and width of 2 feet. You will multiply 3 by 2 to get 6 feet, then subtract from your yard total.

• 3 ft. X 2 ft. = 6 sq. ft. 
• 12,000 sq. ft. – 6 sq. ft. = 11,994 sq. ft. 

Therefore, you will treat an area with 11,994 sq. ft. 

Another great measuring option

1. On your computer, open Google Earth.
2. Search for a place, or select a location on the globe.
3. On the left, click Measure . Google Earth will switch to a top-down view.
4. Click the map to set measurement points.
5. To remove a point, on the right, click Undo .
6. To complete your line measurement, double-click on your last point, or click Done .

On the right, you’ll see the length. Tally up the total square footage and bingo you have your lawn area size, now you can get a price quote instantly for either installation or just the sod and soil materials.

Get a lawn installation estimate

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