Need help figuring out square feet including attic space.

[Plainwacky]

Hi everyone...

 

I need to figure out the total square feet of my design that also includes attic space to address fire district requirements. 
I'm finding it difficult to figure out the attic space when there are so many spaces of complex shapes.  Anyone have some suggestions? 
When it comes to the attic square feet, that is divided by 2 and added to the main square feet (living area). 

[Rookie65]

If you have the room defined, go to the drop down box and select "Include in living area" and that should do it, as long as the perimeter walls allow for room definition

[Plainwacky]

That just shows the room "living area"...it doesn't include the attic that could be above the room. 

[Rookie65]

Read it again and apply it to the attic area 

[Plainwacky]

6 minutes ago, solver said:

 

Explain more about what you need.

 

What is the definition of attic?

 

Many houses will have an attic over the entire floor below, so the attic area would be the same.

The fire district requires that the gallons of water available (say in a water tank) for fire suppression is dependent on the square feet of the home. For example say a 2,000sqft home would require a 10,000gal tank. 

As you know, the program provides the square feet of the "Living Area", but there are areas above (say a room) that aren't living areas. So, let's say you have a room that is 10ftx10ft and an attic above, the square feet of the room would be 10x10=100sqft and the square feet of the attic space would be 100sqft/2 (1/2 of the square feet of attic space). So, the total square feet of this one room, would be 100sqft + 50sq = 150sqft. 
Could I just add up all the square feet (living area) that the program provides and divide that by 2??



 

[Rookie65]

Do you want the square feet, or the volume of the attic? Square feet is width x depth, which the plan will tell you and nothing gets divided by 2. If you need the volume in cubic feet, click the room, look at the drop down box and it will show you that amount too.

[Plainwacky]

3 minutes ago, Rookie65 said:

Do you want the square feet, or the volume of the attic? Square feet is width x depth, which the plan will tell you and nothing gets divided by 2. If you need the volume in cubic feet, click the room, look at the drop down box and it will show you that amount too.

 

My bad!! 

I have been saying "sqft"...yes what I need is the CUBIC FEET (the volume).

 

Because the program provides the sqft of the living area, and say you have default 8ft ceiling heights, a person can easily determine the cubic feet.

But when it comes to the attic, the volume isn't that easy to figure out, cause it may not have (and in most cases doesn't) uniform wall heights; as an example a room where the attic above is a slanted roof...or say a partial slanted hexagon roof. 

In regard to the "divide by 2"....because the attic space is not "living area"...the fire district states that the volume associated in an attic is divided by 2 and that is added to the total cubic feet associated with the living area.  

Sorry!!!
 

[Rookie65]

Again, the program will give you the volume, whether you make the attic living space or do as Eric mentioned and add the attic as an additional floor with the roof moved to that level. You can get the volume for any room by opening up the dbx and reading it. Then add all rooms up for your total. 

[Plainwacky]

15 minutes ago, Rookie65 said:

Again, the program will give you the volume, whether you make the attic living space or do as Eric mentioned and add the attic as an additional floor with the roof moved to that level. You can get the volume for any room by opening up the dbx and reading it. Then add all rooms up for your total. 

Thanks!!

I didn't realize that it provides the volume, but I see it now (as shown in the screen shot below). I'll be adding up the cubic feet of a lot of rooms. It's too bad the program doesn't provide the total cubic area of the home much like the "living area".  

To complicate things....when it comes to the attic area, the divide by 2 comes into play...and how does just determine the cubic feet of the attic in order to divide by 2?

 

[Plainwacky]

So...back to square one...anyone know how I can figure out the cubic feet of the attic space?

[y-g-m-n]

omg

Go to floor plan and A level.

goto wall drop down and click on Room Divider.

now start on outside wall and go all around attic until you come back to where you started,

 

Now it is a ROOM so click in the attic space and open up this room and make sure EXCLUDE fro livig area checked and then go to structre page and make sure FLAT ceiling over room is not checked so it goes to undersideof rafterers.

Then close and I would reopen this page again and read volume on that first page,

 

as they have said above you need to make it  room not an attic.

[Plainwacky]

1 hour ago, y-g-m-n said:

 

you need to make it  room not an attic.

When I go to the attic level, it's fragmented...meaning many of the walls are either missing and don't connect. Why is that?

[y-g-m-n]

you need to read about why attic walls are made.

 

 

but to draw the outline then use the REFERENCE FLOOR DISPLAY feature which shows the floor above or below (you choose) in a funky red color so you know where it is.

Then you can draw walls over the top and click one of them icon thingys to align it, or for your case just get close and draw the room divider around the exterior walls where the attic space resides.

 

you need to play more and have the help screen open so when you click on a command or function or whatever the help screen keeps up with you and displays HELP info which all in all is pretty darn good at explaining software and plans.

 

PLAY more.

[Plainwacky]

On 2/9/2024 at 1:57 AM, y-g-m-n said:

omg

Go to floor plan and A level.

goto wall drop down and click on Room Divider.

now start on outside wall and go all around attic until you come back to where you started,

 

Now it is a ROOM so click in the attic space and open up this room and make sure EXCLUDE fro livig area checked and then go to structre page and make sure FLAT ceiling over room is not checked so it goes to undersideof rafterers.

Then close and I would reopen this page again and read volume on that first page,

 

as they have said above you need to make it  room not an attic.

I went to the attic level, clicked on the "reference" display, and then used the "Room Divider" and traced out the walls...and this is the error I got. 
I was just doing the top left "square" you see in the photo and had the camera view displayed so I could see if adding the room divider messed up the existing plan. 

 

[Plainwacky]

3 hours ago, solver said:

I'm going to repeat what I said earlier (since deleted).

 

You cannot create/define a room on the A (Attic) level. You can draw all the walls you want, but you will not get room definition, which is needed for the program to compute volume or square feet.

 

Also, your signature says Pro 2020. Are you using something different?

 

And again, if you really need help with this, attach your plan file.

 

 

 

I'm using Pro 2024...I just upgraded.  Thanks for catching that. 
What I have done is "estimated" what the cubic feet is by using a tape measure.....I was hoping there would be an easier way. 
I don't want to upload my plan for the world to see. 

[Plainwacky]

3 hours ago, solver said:

Also, your signature says Pro 2020. Are you using something different?

 

 

 

 

 

Where do I change my signature?? I have been looking all over and can't find it...I would have thought it would be in my profile. 

[Plainwacky]

3 minutes ago, Plainwacky said:

Where do I change my signature?? I have been looking all over and can't find it...I would have thought it would be in my profile. 

I found it