Refer to a house plan. How many square feet does the patio cover (excluding sidewalk)?

• A. 420 sq ft
• B. 460 sq ft
• C. 500 sq ft
• D. 456 sq ft

Answer: (B)

To find how much space the patio cover takes, focus on the covered portions only and break the shape into simple rectangles, then add their areas together. Exclude the sidewalk entirely from this calculation.

Identify each rectangular section of the patio cover on the plan. For each section, multiply its length by its width to get square feet, then sum all the sections. If the patio cover is a single rectangle, just multiply length by width once.

In this plan, the covered patio areas add up to 460 square feet, which is why that answer is correct. Common mistakes can come from including sidewalk space or double-counting overlapping areas, which can lead to values like 420, 456, or 500.