A Knee-wall Ceiling Height Measurement

[Valueseeker]

Hello All.

Honest question...

If we are to measure knee walls or any lowered wall but stop/start the measurement where the wall falls below 7.5 feet, would that be fair to do?

The reason I ask is if you are not considering the square footage where the ceilling height is below 7 or 7.5 feet are you comparing apples to apples? The comps when referenced in public record almost undoubtedly (in my area) count the area sometimes where the floor is even 4 feet high.

If that is the case would it be ok to use that at the height min?

 

[Mike Kennedy]

http://accuratehomemeasuring.com/images/ANSI_SINGLE_FAMILY_RESIDENTIAL_standard_ANSI_Z765-2003.pdf

 

[Valueseeker]

So i am taking the knee wall to be that bottom part of your reference. So counting up to 5 feet? This is what I traditionally do (approx shoulder height). My question though is regarding the comps. We just have to assume that comp GLA doesnt count below 5 feet correct?

 

[sail143]

ANSI is your professional standard - not an arbitrary measurement you choose. The public record can be problematic because with capes and other non-full second floor homes the assessor may simply use a multiplier based on their classification of that house. Such multipliers can easily result in differences from ANSI.

 

[Valueseeker]

ANSI is your professional standard - not an arbitrary measurement you choose. The public record can be problematic because with capes and other non-full second floor homes the assessor may simply use a multiplier based on their classification of that house. Such multipliers can easily result in differences from ANSI.

right but what im getting at is if a cape shows 1500 sqft. (1.5 multiplier of the first floor of 1000) and truly the knee walls should have measured out to 1300, arent I comparing an apple to an orange? If im using ANSI and they are using a 1.5 multiplier, how does this do justice?

 

[Proactive]

I use the published assessor data and don't try to second-guess how they measured. Sometimes I do find egregious errors; I then I use my own estimate and comment in the report. It's not perfect, but it is reasonable.

You might ask your assessor how they measure and calculate GLA on homes with knee walls.

Good luck!

 

[Valueseeker]

I use the published assessor data and don't try to second-guess how they measured. Sometimes I do find egregious errors; I then I use my own estimate and comment in the report. It's not perfect, but it is reasonable.

You might ask your assessor how they measure and calculate GLA on homes with knee walls.

Good luck!

agreed. Thank you.

 

[The Bob]

Around here 5' is standard for knee walls. I've seen older homes with 12" knee walls. If it's a habitable room, IRC requires a minimum of 70 sf floor area. At least 50% of that area needs to have a ceiling at least 7' tall, and no part of the floor area with ceiling (knee wall) less than 5' can be included.

Its still usable area. You can place a couch/desk against a 5' wall.

 

[Artemis Fowl]

Assuming you use MLS. For comparison purposes, perhaps more important is how the comps were measured. Are Realtors using assessor data or measuring themselves. Around here they generally populate MLS with assessor data then revise the listing as needed. Square footage is most always what assessor records show. Point being...compare apples to apples. If you compare your 1,300 ANSI house to a 1,500 MLS comp and adjust you may be making a serious error. They may both be 1,300 ANSI...or 1,500 MLS...either way the market is treating them as equivalent and we should do likewise. I used to prominently note the ANSI measurement in subject comments and use the MLS/Assessor data for the comparison grid with an explanation.

 

[Valueseeker]

Assuming you use MLS. For comparison purposes, perhaps more important is how the comps were measured. Are Realtors using assessor data or measuring themselves. Around here they generally populate MLS with assessor data then revise the listing as needed. Square footage is most always what assessor records show. Point being...compare apples to apples. If you compare your 1,300 ANSI house to a 1,500 MLS comp and adjust you may be making a serious error. They may both be 1,300 ANSI...or 1,500 MLS...either way the market is treating them as equivalent and we should do likewise. I used to prominently note the ANSI measurement in subject comments and use the MLS/Assessor data for the comparison grid with an explanation.

Do you still do this? If not what have you adopted? I feel that doing this is better for comp comparison for sure