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I'm looking at a lot of house plans and I am mystified. If a room is labeled 10X11, which measurement goes in which direction? Is the room 10 foot this way and 11 foot that way? Or is it 11 foot this way and 10 foot that way?
Oriented to what? Oriented to the door of the room? Oriented to the front of the house?
The first # = width; left to right of the principal entrance; if a room has multiple entrances of the same width then it's the first entrance one would approach from the principal entrance (front) of the structure (in most cases).
The first # = width; left to right of the principal entrance; if a room has multiple entrances of the same width then it's the first entrance one would approach from the principal entrance (front) of the structure (in most cases).
So in other words, yeah... it's 10 foot this way and 11 foot that way, or 11 foot this way and 10 foot that way...
I've always wondered that myself. Thanks for the reply.
Seems simple enough when looking at a plan, a rectangle that is longer on one side than the other will be easy to spot and the longer measurement goes to that side. On a 10x11 ft room, then the longer side of the rectangle as you are looking at the plan is the 11 foot side. Should be easy enough to visibly see that difference in length. Not sure where the mystery comes from?
So in other words, yeah... it's 10 foot this way and 11 foot that way, or 11 foot this way and 10 foot that way...
I've always wondered that myself. Thanks for the reply.
I dont believe there is any real standard on it, but usually its east/west X north/south, but dont quote me on it. Also often times those numbers are rounded off, so you need to refer to actual dimensions.
Seems simple enough when looking at a plan, a rectangle that is longer on one side than the other will be easy to spot and the longer measurement goes to that side. On a 10x11 ft room, then the longer side of the rectangle as you are looking at the plan is the 11 foot side. Should be easy enough to visibly see that difference in length. Not sure where the mystery comes from?
10 vs 11 is not very much disparity in length. And if it includes something projecting into the space or pushing further out like a bay it can be a little confusing for some people.
Also make sure you are sure that is a clear dimension inside- typically it is to the face of stud so you lose the depth of the drywall and then the baseboard in terms of placing furniture. Other times (typical construction drawings) will measure from the face of one stud, across the stud and to the face of the next stud- so that dimension is for framing purposes and the actual room dimension looses the width of one wall.
The first # = width; left to right of the principal entrance; if a room has multiple entrances of the same width then it's the first entrance one would approach from the principal entrance (front) of the structure (in most cases).
I misread the OP's question. The above reply pertains to the measurement convention of a single room. For example, a walk-through with a real estate agent, each room entered would have it's dimensions given as distance left-to-right (width) then distance from entered door to opposite wall (length).
However, when (ie.) looking at a magazine of house floor plans, the standard design convention has all widths (left-to-right) with the front of the house toward the viewer (bottom of the page). This is a standard that comes from when we actually sat at drafting tables. Those that do it differently do it wrong because it causes confusion. There are a lot of designers that do it wrong.
If the main entrance is facing the bottom of the sheet, then I'm in agreement with LIGuy. But, when I'm drawing a plan, the main entrance doesn't always do that. Usually, north is up (which doesn't apply, when looking at plan books, obviously) or the plan has to be oriented some other way to better fit on the sheet. I'm not saying that I'm right, but it hasn't caused any issues for me, yet.
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So in other words, yeah... it's 10 foot this way and 11 foot that way, or 11 foot this way and 10 foot that way... 
