# How to measure your home's direction with a phone

> Stand on the main door's threshold with your back to the house, facing out. Hold the phone flat, top edge pointing straight ahead, away from metal gates, vehicles and electrical boxes. Wait for the reading to settle, record the exact degree and repeat at two or three spots. That number is your facing — not a compass name.

**Goal:** A reliable degree for your home's facing, ready for setting polarity and checking feng shui. A few degrees can move you into another mountain, so how you measure matters as much as what you measure with.

## What you need

- A phone with a compass and location turned on (so magnetic declination can be corrected for where you stand).
- Remove any magnetic case or metal phone grip.
- Know which door is the main door — the one residents use and guests come through every day.

## Steps

1. **Calibrate the compass.** If the phone asks, move it in a figure-eight a few times until the compass reports it is ready.
2. **Stand in the right place.** Stand on the threshold of the main door, back to the house, looking straight out. Keep at least 1–2 m from metal gates, motorbikes, cars, steel columns and electrical boxes.
3. **Hold the phone correctly.** Keep it flat at chest height, top edge pointing straight ahead, at right angles to the façade.
4. **Read and record the degree.** Wait a few seconds for the number to settle, then record the exact degree, for example 135.4°. Do not round it to “southeast”.
5. **Measure at two or three spots.** Measure again in the yard or on the pavement a few steps out, looking the same way. Readings that differ by more than a few degrees suggest magnetic interference — move away from metal and measure again.
6. **Check against a map.** Compare the façade's direction with the street in front of your home on a satellite map. When the two agree, the reading can be trusted.

## Common mistakes

- Measuring right next to a metal gate, aluminium door frame, motorbike or car — the needle can be off by tens of degrees.
- Tilting the phone or holding it upright while reading the compass.
- Looking into the house while measuring, recording a value 180° off (the sitting instead of the facing).
- Writing only a name like “southeast” — one name covers three mountains.
- In apartments, measuring in a steel-heavy corridor without checking a map.

## Do it in Home Check

1. Tap “Measure” to open the Measure (compass) screen.
2. Hold the phone as described; Home Check shows the degree, mountain, trigram and sitting, already corrected for magnetic declination at your location.
3. To look straight ahead through the camera, tap “AR Compass”.
4. Save the reading as a project to use when setting polarity on the plan.

## Questions

### Can I measure indoors?

Measure on the threshold or outside. Indoors, reinforced concrete, appliances and metal frames deflect the needle; if you must measure inside, also check against a map.

### What is magnetic declination — do I add or subtract it myself?

It is the angle between geographic north and magnetic north, and it varies by place. Home Check corrects it automatically for your location.

### How do I measure an apartment?

An apartment's facing is usually taken from its own main door. Since corridors contain a lot of steel, measure several times and check against the building's footprint on a map.

Terms in this guide: [Sitting and facing](https://myhomecheck.ai/learn/glossary/sitting-and-facing) · [24 Mountains](https://myhomecheck.ai/learn/glossary/twenty-four-mountains) · [Set polarity](https://myhomecheck.ai/learn/glossary/set-polarity)

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Original page: https://myhomecheck.ai/learn/guides/measure-house-direction  
Other languages: [Tiếng Việt](https://myhomecheck.ai/vi/tri-thuc/huong-dan/cach-do-huong-nha/index.md) · [中文](https://myhomecheck.ai/zh/learn/guides/measure-house-direction/index.md)  
Updated: 2026-10-21