# I tend to overestimate its size



## MurrayTX (Nov 4, 2011)

This falls.under "atmosphere" as haunt room dimensions are integral to all those other atmosphere topics. Maybe I am not alone in this....but despite using graph paper and multiple measurements, my planning sketches for next year seem to consistently appear bigger, than reality allows. I have been a mad sketching and plotting fool in my little notebook for weeks. But I actually walked my sideyard yesterday and realize only the Olsen Twins could maneuver the narrow hallways I had on paper. Is this common for most forum members, or simply one of those stereotypical male afflictions? ;-) So I get to remeasure my play yard and start crushing some ideas I was all psyched about last night.


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## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

I find when doing something like what you are doing, is to find a real room or hallway to measure to get a good visual as to the size. If you can tape or string off the build lines before hand it would give you a easy simulation of the real build before doing all the work. Sketches are nice but marking off the area so you can walk it through is best. Once you have a good "feel" for the space, sketches work fairly well to make changes. Then when you think you got what you want, go ahead and mark it out again. Its so much easier to move tape or strings then fully built wall panels.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Basic question - did you measure the sideyard before doing the sketches?

Perhaps what might be missing from the graphic equation is the minimum width you need for a hallway (three feet, at least as far as OSHA is concerned), which does not include the thickness of the wall material used and will actually feel a bit claustrophobic at that width when you add walls. Other than that, Bone Dancer's suggestion is a good one.


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## MurrayTX (Nov 4, 2011)

OSHA isn't invited. Neither is ADA....as the floor is mulch on dirt. But no, my initial measurements weren't correct. I winged a few of them. This mostly just limits me to a straight run, no zigzag hallways. My doorways will be around 2 feet wide. Admission will be selective, free, but more like getting into a club due to it being a yard and limited in what it can handle. The new measurements just make those limits more apparent now.


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## BioHazardCustoms (Aug 5, 2009)

MurrayTx,
Even if you don't invite code enforcement in, they can still show up and shut you down. With the floor being mulch on dirt, it qualifies as a "temporary or seasonal structure" which means that it doesn't have to have all the amenities. 

It does, however, have to conform to certain legal minimums. Most states require ADA compliance, which means a minimum width to hallways, a minimum height for ceilings (usually 80+ inches, so no crawl areas) and myriad other things. It also has to conform to local and state fire code. This is to ensure that you haven't constructed a death trap. Lighted exit signs and minimum number of fire extinguishers (usually one every 25 linear feet or so)

All it takes is one pissy neighbor with a grudge, and you're shut down, if not hit with a steep fine. Not trying to rain on your parade, but it is better to be safe than sorry with a home haunt. Some people just like to throw us under the bus, in a manner of speaking.

Now, as for laying out your design, the best way I have found is small (1/4") graph paper. A square made of four blocks = 1 square foot. That way you don't draw it out too large. Before going in, figure out what you want the outer dimensions to be (for example 10ft x 10ft.) Each side will be 20 blocks long, in this case, with each block being a 1/4" so this design would be 5in x 5in. You can scale up or down as you need to. 

Hope this helps you out!
-James


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## GhoulishCop (Sep 25, 2009)

MurrayTX,

I've always found it helps to have a bit of reality to go along with my theory.

This year I want to build a facade on the front of my house. Tape measure in hand I measured the width and height of where I wanted it built, noted where my windows were so I could build around them, where the steps were to make a portcullis for a castle look, etc., and dove in to make the first panel.

But having been down this road before with other (non-haunt) projects I decided to put it in place first before I got too far to make sure it really would go as planned. That's when I realized that I forgot to account for the gutter downspout on the house so that the nice, flat plane I thought I was working with didn't really exist, or didn't go as far as I thought it did. Also, there's no place to attach it to the house: the house has vinyl siding and it runs all the way up behind the soffit. Unless I really want to tick off the cryptkeeper, there's no way I'll be drilling screws to mount it securely.

So while my plan looked good on paper, seeing the reality of the design in place made me realize I needed a Plan B.

To a certain extent that's what you've done (hey! maybe it _is_ a guy thing!). You had your design and then you physically checked out the location and realized it wouldn't work. All the planning in the world at your desk doesn't compare with actually seeing where you're going to try to construct it. You need reality to go along with your theory.

As James says, though, I wouldn't dismiss out of hand the local code officers. Most home haunters don't have to worry about getting shut down, but "most" is not "all."

This year I saw reports of two people who were running a free home haunt get shutdown because their walk-thru's weren't up to code. We can probably get by without running a sprinkler system through the haunt, but we ought to try and be as code-friendly as possible if for no other reason than the safety of the people we're inviting in (not to mention our financial security in the event something goes horribly awry).

With that said, a good friend of mine has a walk-thru haunt in his basement that is incredibly awesome, but a fire marshall would have a coronary if he ever saw it. There's only one way in and out, and that's the basement stairs, the passageways are a little more than one person wide, and it's got twists and turns with doors that change your direction that are disorienting so you wouldn't know where you were if a fire broke out. But it _is_ cool as hell!

Now he minimizes the risk by only allowing 2-4 people at a time to go through and he or his family are there throughout the haunt so that if something did happen the people could be led to safety quickly. Yet all it would take would be one ticked off neighbor to end it.

And, to be honest, I'm surprised the town hasn't been called yet. He gets hundreds of people every year lining up outside his house and up the block waiting to go through. How someone has not complained yet I don't know, but he does walk the fine line of risk between having this awesome home haunt and being in a world of trouble with the town. You should just keep in mind the hazards you face in your situation and try to minimize them to the greatest extent possible.

Good luck with your build. I hope we get to see progress pics or video.

Rich


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## MurrayTX (Nov 4, 2011)

See my updated album for daylight pics of the yard.

I have found that a good way to stay a bit rooted in reality is to scribble in a human head and shoulders at various parts of my sketch. My initial measurements were off, but mostly the culprits were the props being scribbled in at about half size, leading the mind to wonder about all that extra space I didn't have.

As for doorways, I am willing to bump them to 30 inches. More is pointless for my place as the entry and exit at 30 inch wrought iron in stone walls. Can't do anything about those. I plan on putting a fire extinguisher every 20 feet...meaning 3 in total. No sprinklers, but 2 hoses (at front and back), all plug-ins on GFCI or power strip. Only 3 separating walls throughout. It being a sideyard, two sides are hard, either house or rock wall. My biggest concern are people falling into plants, so no actors or active props will be near those. Check my album to see the yard before decorating. If I see a line deeper than 25, I will break it off and tell them to try later. I will also stick with no groups bigger than 4, preferably 3 or less, as the yard can't handle much more and be spooky. And no ceilings so far. But the mulch (that concrete in pic will be removed) will definitely prevent anything with wheels. I will seriously try to avoid fines and injuries, but the first complaint will have me shut it down and limit it to coworkers and friends. I am intentionally making the entrance low key to avoid the human tendency to form insane cues for things they don't really understand. People are attracted to lines. I don't know if it will work, but am thinking of almost playing like a strip club street hawker, just targeting small groups coming for the ToT and asking them if they want to do the haunt rather than put up a big sign to attract everyone. Am not being snobby. Am thinking of quality of experience over quantity. And being El Paso, rain is crazy unlikely. I seriously had around 1000 ToTs this year, so any yard haunt with walls/fences will attract huge, fire dept drawing lines if I am not selective.


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