TACTICAL DIAGRAMMING

ROOMS

Rectangle Rule• Virtually all rooms are rectangular

• Determining any two adjacent walls is nearly conclusive for the remaining walls

Rooms are functional• Food preparation, sleeping, eating,

recreation, entertainment, washing, grooming, cleaning clothes, etc.

• How a room is used will dictate how it is built, what is in it and what is next to it• Bathrooms and closets between bedrooms for

sound insulation• Linen closets near bathrooms and bedrooms

• Typically, kitchens follow only four floor plans and bathrooms follow only three

Kitchens• Sizes range from 50 sq. ft. to 150 sq. ft.

(typical ~120 sq. ft.)• Built to maximize use of three major

appliances• Refrigerator, stove, sink• Work triangle is 12 to 22 feet

• One of the easiest rooms to diagram• Sinks nearly always under a window with a

high sill• Stove requires exhaust vent

Kitchen Floor Plans

Linear L-Shape

U-Shape Galley

Bathrooms• Smallest occupied room in a house• Typically range from ~35 square feet to ~55

square feet• Built to maximize use of three major

appliances• Toilet, Sink, Shower/Tub• Requires vent or openable window for shower

(width is ≤ twice the height)• Modern houses often have bathroom and/or

dressing room inside master bedroom configuration

• One of the easiest rooms to diagram

Bathroom Floor Plans

Corridor

L-Shape

In-Line

Bedrooms• Come in two styles, master and everything else• Used to generally define size of living accommodations

(2 bedrooms, 3 bedrooms, etc.)• >70 sq. ft. by code, ≤110 sq. ft. by custom

• Bedrooms clustered with each other• Tend to be located at one end of the house• Two-story house will virtually always have all bedrooms on

second floor• Bedroom doors open into a common hallway (fire

escape and privacy)• Have medium-sized windows with high sills

• Windows required for fire escape• Shades and curtains• Adjacent to bathroom windows

Living and Family Rooms• Most “public” rooms in a house

• Modern floor plans sometimes combine the living and family rooms into a single “great room”

• Usually the largest room in a house (≤200 sq. ft.)• Largest windows in the building

• Provides the best view into a house at dusk• Contemporary houses have them in the back

but older houses tend to have them in the front (hence the term “front room”)• Close proximity to front door• Tend to be adjacent to kitchen• Almost never upstairs in two-story houses

QUESTIONS?Sid Heal, 909-732-8325 or H9692@verizon.net