See the inside size of every room
The plan already shows each room's inside size: the light measurements along the inside of every wall are wall face to wall face, and a room label adds width × length and floor area. Here's where to look and how to switch them on.
Walls have real thickness, so a room is always smaller inside than the outline of the house. RoomSketch3D measures both, and keeps them apart: the outside of the house is measured to the outer wall faces, and every inside measurement runs from one wall face to the opposite wall face, exactly what you'd read with a tape measure held against the walls. The plan never labels a wall's thickness as a measurement of its own.
Everything below uses the Small 1-Bedroom Apartment template, so you can open the same plan and follow along.
Step by step
- 1
Read the inside measurements along the walls
Each wall carries two kinds of measurement: - Outside lines (the outermost ones, darker text) run from one outer wall face to the other: the house's overall size. On this plan the top reads 24′ 6.5″. - Inside lines (closer to the walls, lighter text) run between wall faces inside the rooms. Where an interior wall meets the outer wall, the inside line splits into one piece per room: 13′ 6.5″ across the living area and 9′ 6.5″ across the bedroom. Those are the clear widths you can furnish. The inside lines appear when Layers → Show dimension lines → Split at wall intersections is on (it's on unless you turned it off). A room with no interior walls still shows its inside size next to the outside one.
Outside lines measure the house; inside lines measure each room wall face to wall face. - 2
Turn on room sizes in Layers
Click the Layers button in the toolbar above the plan (the stack icon). Under Show room labels there are two extra switches: - Keep labels expanded opens every room's label instead of the small tag you tap. - Show room dimensions and area adds the room's inside width × length and its floor area under its name. On a phone, room labels start switched off to keep the small screen clear; switch them on here.
Layers: the three room-label switches. - 3
Read a room label
An open label shows three lines: the room's name, its inside size (width × length, measured between the inside wall faces) and its floor area inside the walls. The bedroom here is 9′ 7″ × 15′ 7″, 149 sq ft. With Keep labels expanded off, each room shows a small tag; tap or click it to open that one label. Tap the pencil to name the room. The label rounds to the nearest inch, so it can read half an inch more than the measurement along the wall (9′ 7″ vs 9′ 6.5″). For an L-shaped or angled room, the width × length is the overall inside extent and the area is the true floor area.
A room label: name, inside width × length, floor area. - 4
Gross area vs Usable area
For the whole floor, look at the left panel (Build, Structural tab on a computer; Plan Settings on a phone) under Exterior wall placement: - Gross area is the footprint measured to the outside faces of the outer walls: what a builder pours. - Usable area is the floor inside the walls: the walkable space, with every wall's footprint removed. Each room's own area is on its label (step 3).
Same outline, two placements. Outside: the drawn 22′ is the inside size. Inside: the drawn 22′ is the outside size. - 5
Know what your typed size means: Exterior wall placement
When you create a room by typing its size (or draw its outline), Exterior wall placement decides which face of the outer walls that size describes. The dashed yellow line (the Outline button) shows the outline you drew: - Outside (the default for new designs): the walls sit outside your outline, so the size you typed is the inside size of the room. Type the measurements you took inside. - Center: the walls straddle the outline; your size is wall center to wall center. - Inside: the walls sit inside your outline, so the size you typed is the outside of the house, and the rooms are smaller inside. In the picture above the apartment was drawn 24′ × 22′. In Outside the left wall reads 22′ inside and 23′ 1″ outside; in Inside it reads 22′ outside and 20′ 11″ inside. Switching moves the walls, not your outline, so the inside sizes and areas change. Tap the ? next to the heading for the same explanation in the app.
The ? next to Exterior wall placement explains the three choices. - 6
Set a room's inside size by tapping its measurement
Want the bedroom to be exactly 15′ deep inside? Tap that room's inside measurement on the plan. Two boxes open (feet and inches, or metres and centimetres) with the current size filled in; the wall that will move to make that size is highlighted in yellow. Type the size and press Enter (or the ✓). Interior walls move before the outside of the house does. Tapping an outer wall's inside measurement changes that outer wall's length by the same amount. Once walls exist, a wall's own length box shows outside length for an outer wall and wall face to wall face for an interior wall, whatever the placement setting. See Set an exact wall length.
Tap a room's measurement and type the inside size; the yellow wall is the one that moves.
Tips
Measure any other distance with the tape
For a distance between two things that aren't walls (a counter to an island, a bed to a dresser), use the tape measure and keep the measurement on the plan.
Exports carry the inside sizes too
PNG and PDF exports with measurements on include the inside measurements along the walls, next to the outside sizes, just like the editor.
Common mistakes
Reading the outside line as the room size
The outermost line is the house to its outer faces. For the room you'll furnish, use the lighter inside line or the room label.
Typing inside sizes with Inside placement
If you measured inside your rooms, keep Exterior wall placement on Outside before you type the size. Inside placement treats the size as the outside of the house.
Frequently asked questions
How do I see the inside dimensions of a room?
Look at the lighter measurements along the inside of each wall: they run wall face to wall face. For a room's width × length and area together, open Layers and turn on Show room labels, Keep labels expanded and Show room dimensions and area.
Why don't I see wall thickness on the plan?
On purpose. Measurements show the spaces you use (inside, face to face) and the overall house (outside faces). A wall's thickness is shown in its settings panel when you select it, not as a measurement on the plan.
Where is the usable square footage?
Usable area for the whole floor is in the left panel under Exterior wall placement (Plan Settings on a phone), next to Gross area. Each room's floor area is on its room label.
Why is my room smaller inside than the size I typed?
Your design is set to Inside (or Center) placement, so the size you typed is the outside of the walls. Switch Exterior wall placement to Outside and the size you typed becomes the inside size.
The room label says 9′ 7″ but the wall says 9′ 6.5″. Which is right?
Both: the label rounds to the nearest inch, the wall measurement shows the half inch. Use the wall measurement when you need the exact figure.
Can I see room sizes on my phone?
Yes. The inside measurements show along the walls as on a computer. Room labels start off on phones; turn them on from Layers, and tap a room's tag to open its size and area.
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