Find the sq foot of beds with serpentine edge??

[New2TheGreenIndustry]

I have a property manager that wants to know the sq footage of all the beds in a community we maintain. How do I get a number for beds with a serpentine edge line?

[MarcSmith]

estimate....turn the area into something easy to measure Squares, circles, rectangles, trapeziods and triangles. then add up the corresponding area...

basically the same way you'd figure out square footage of an irregular lawn

[KeystoneLawn&Landscaping]

Serpentine Tape Measure!:laugh::laugh::laugh:.....sorry had to go there!

[eatonpcat]

Serpentine Tape Measure!:laugh::laugh::laugh:.....sorry had to go there!


Nice!!!!!!!!:laugh::laugh:

[White Gardens]

estimate....turn the area into something easy to measure Squares, circles, rectangles, trapeziods and triangles. then add up the corresponding area...

basically the same way you'd figure out square footage of an irregular lawn

Exactly.

I generally try to square everything off as much as possible.

[Runner]

Please forgive me for being naive, but what is a serpentine edge?

[lawnboy852]

depending on just how winding it is, simply square it off, this A) is easier, and B) saves you from under-estimating, so long as you square off to the outside of the curves. You will have a little extra mathematically doing it this way, but in practice you can always find something that needs a bit more mulch or something like that...

[topsites]

Did I hear that right, the folks responsible for maintaining this property
can't figure the square footage of some beds?

And I ain't trying to make fun of nobody, but do you see how that comes across?

Just ask the question, leave the details out.

Like, how do I figure the square footage of irregular size beds?
Serpentine size, or curved edges or however you want to say it, fine, I can accept that.
But that's all I want to know, I don't care whose beds they are, what's going to happen with them, or who is in charge.

So go figure it out, as was said, estimate them.

[grassman177]

Did I hear that right, the folks responsible for maintaining this property
can't figure the square footage of some beds?

And I ain't trying to make fun of nobody, but do you see how that comes across?

Just ask the question, leave the details out.

Like, how do I figure the square footage of irregular size beds?
Serpentine size, or curved edges or however you want to say it, fine, I can accept that.
But that's all I want to know, I don't care whose beds they are, what's going to happen with them, or who is in charge.

So go figure it out, as was said, estimate them.

it is not like he gave all that much info, one sentence. damn, give himm a break

[David Haggerty]

My Garmin GPS will measure an irregular curved area. Just walk around the preimiter & push the button.
They're fairly cheap now, around $100. "Garmin e-trex vista" has the surveyor's calculation feature.

I'm not worth a danm at "guesstimating" so I bought one. Plus it's suprising how many customers will outright lie about the amount of acreage.

[44DCNF]

Take a few measurements across the various widths of the odd shaped bed...say, one at it widest point, one at it's narrowest point, and one at an average width. Do the same with the lengths. Average each of those two sets of measurements seperately. Multiply your two averages for the square feet.

Various Widths....18',7',15'....18+7+15=40 40/3=13.3=your average width
Various lengths......50', 60'.....50+60=110 110/2=55'= your average length
13.3' (av. width ) X 55' (av. length) = 731.5 SF

[Kiril]

My Garmin GPS will measure an irregular curved area. Just walk around the preimiter & push the button.
They're fairly cheap now, around $100. "Garmin e-trex vista" has the surveyor's calculation feature.

I'm not worth a danm at "guesstimating" so I bought one. Plus it's suprising how many customers will outright lie about the amount of acreage.

I would recommend caution using cheap GPS units to measure areas. There can be a high amount of variability in the accuracy of the readings.

[1993lx172]

Just take a length of rope and outline each side of the bed, then measure the rope. Using the measurements calculate the square feet of the bed.

[MarcSmith]

Just take a length of rope and outline each side of the bed, then measure the rope. Using the measurements calculate the square feet of the bed.

care to elaborate on this method...

[David Haggerty]

I would recommend caution using cheap GPS units to measure areas. There can be a high amount of variability in the accuracy of the readings.

It's possible to get errors due to interference with buildings, heavy tree cover etc. but it's usually obvious, like it's 100 times larger than expected.

GPS is incredibly accurate and are used by surveyors.

All these methods of laying it off in squares and circles and adding them up isn't any better than a good guess. Unless you have a transit to acurately measure the angles, you're just guessing.

I've had a class in surveying and have written deeds that are recorded at the Clinton County Court house. I was the right-of-way engineer for GTE.

GPS is the only way to get an accurate measurement. Probably overkill for anyone decent at guesstimating. The measurements ain't that critical. A GPS gives measurements down to a fraction of a sq. ft.

[1993lx172]

care to elaborate on this method...

Sorry about that I accidentily deleted the rest of the post. I didn't catch it untill after the 10 minute time limit for editing a post.

Take rope and out line the edge of one side of the bed. Mark a start and end points on the rope with tape (the start of the side and the end of the side). Stretch out the rope and measure the distance between the two marks. Do this for each side of the bed.

Of course this is the cheap over complicated style, the easiest way would be to take a measuring wheel and walk the perimeter of the bed following the edge with the wheel.

[Kiril]

It's possible to get errors due to interference with buildings, heavy tree cover etc. but it's usually obvious, like it's 100 times larger than expected.

Not in my experience, unless you consider a difference of 3-5 feet from the real position 100 times larger. I am using two "cheap" $400 units to collect positioning data and they are anything but consistent when there are sources of interference.

GPS is incredibly accurate and are used by surveyors.

You don't really think surveying is done with a $100 hand held unit do you? A high precision (subfoot) basic GPS setup can easily cost around $8,000 or more.

All these methods of laying it off in squares and circles and adding them up isn't any better than a good guess. Unless you have a transit to acurately measure the angles, you're just guessing.

An relatively accurate guesstimate is all you need to determine the amount of material you need for something like mulching.

GPS is the only way to get an accurate measurement.

Not the only way, but certainly the quickest, assuming you have the appropriate equipment and software.

Probably overkill for anyone decent at guesstimating. The measurements ain't that critical.

Exactly!

[MarcSmith]

1993-

so you take a rope... or a measuring wheel and measure the perimeter of the bed. this does nothing to help you figure out the area...knowing the perimeter wont do you any good unless your bed is a circle.

to explain my my methodology

a square bed 1x1 means you have one square foot. the perimeter is 4'
a circle with a perimeter of 4' will give you an area of 1.27 so lets try m L shape bed

H
H
HHH

each H is 1' square which gives us a perimiter of 12. and an area of 5sqft
a circle with a perimiter of 12' will give you an area of 11

make the bed a rectangle 3'x2'
HH
HH
HH
your area is now 6 sqft and your perimeter is 10

a circle with a perimeter 10 will result in and area of 8

if you are using this method to calculate your area its a crap shoot....you will always end up being high....you just wont know how high...

[Kiril]

You guys are making this way to hard. Here is a simple method with explanations and examples of how to do it.

http://www.spectrumanalytic.com/support/library/ff/area_calculations.htm

Anything short of using calculus (http://www.chuckeasttom.com/intcalculus.pdf) is going to be an approximation. Some approximations will be more accurate than others obviously.

[eatonpcat]

WOW!!! You guys are turning this into brain surgery, It's not that difficult.

[David Haggerty]

when there are sources of interference

Which is almost always the case when measuring beds.

BTW that's a teriffic link you posted for measuring...they ought to make it a sticky. Maybe it'll steer people away from the rope trick. The only measurement you could get from that would be the length of the rope.

I've had real good results with my little GPS. Checked it several times against known surveys and came up with identical results. Though it took a little practice to get my technique right. It's helped me with my guessing.

[Kiril]

Which is almost always the case when measuring beds.

Yes. In urban situations the reported accuracy of my units can vary up to 15 feet. On the flip side, in a relatively open space one of my units can get a fairly consistent accuracy of 5-6 feet, the other about 9-12. When I map it into my GIS application the points almost always need manual adjustment, which of course, reduces the accuracy.

BTW that's a teriffic link you posted for measuring...they ought to make it a sticky. Maybe it'll steer people away from the rope trick. The only measurement you could get from that would be the length of the rope.

Yea, that site has a lot of useful info. :)

[Mowbizz]

Damn... like someone else said...just measure the length and width of the bed and multiply, and you'll have a pretty good idea of sq footage. 100 sq ft either way (for each bed) should NOT make a difference at all...if it does, subtract a bit from each one and give them the numbers...;)