Step One: Photos
1. Stand in each corner of the room and take floor to ceiling pictures as if you were moving in a circle.
2. These pictures should visually connect.
3. These pictures are not meant to be pretty! It's about collecting as much information as possible.
4. You cannot take too many photos! More is always better than less.
Step Two: Measuring
5. Start in one corner of the room and move in a circle. Pretend like you're tracing the outline of the room- every turn of a wall counts!
6. Whether you are using a tape measure or a measuring app with your phone, like Magic Plan, make sure you are running the tool across a flat surface if at all possible. Disregard movable furnishings, window coverings, hanging clothes.
7. If possible, measure from the floor. If not, try to keep measuring straight on the walls i.e., don't let the tape run downhill as it stretches across a wall.
8. For all doors and windows, we measure the part that would move. So ignore trim or any other decorative element. For doors, it's the width of the swinging door. For windows, it's the "cutout" in the wall, sheetrock to sheetrock.
9. For windows, we also need heights. Again, the window height is the "cutout" in the wall, sheetrock to sill. Additionally, we need the height from floor to the top of the window sill.
10. All openings with no doors are also measured from end to end. Do not include any decorative trim.
11. We typically do not need the wall "end" dimensions. Wall thicknesses are a standard dimension. We will call attention to any walls we think might be thicker.
12. Ceiling heights are easily measured in corners of the room by running the tape up the wall.
Notes: Plumbing & Electrical
13. Measure electrical outlets and switches. Take individual heights from the floor and from the nearest corner of its respective surface wall. Please include measurements of appliances you intend to use.
14. Measure plumbing locations. This is easily done by measuring roughly to the center of a fixture i.e., for a sink, hold the tape at a nearby perpendicular wall and measure to the drain.