My old drafting instructor told me to never trust a measurement twice. I thought he was just being dramatic.

Back in trade school about 8 years ago, Mr. Henson used to yell at us if we measured something, looked at it, and then measured the same line again without writing it down. I always figured he was just old school and cranky. Then last month I was working on a set of floor plans for a small office remodel in Austin. I measured a wall at 12 feet 3 inches, got distracted by my phone, and measured it again a few minutes later. This time I got 12 feet 7 inches because I had the tape at a slight angle. If I had just trusted that first number and moved on, I would have ordered the wrong stud layout and cost the client an extra day of labor. Now I write every single measurement down the second I call it out, no exceptions. Has anyone else had a bad experience from repeating a measurement that messed up a job?

3 comments

3 Comments

susansingh8d ago

Put a little voice recorder app on your phone and say the measurement out loud right when you get it. That way you can write it down later but you've still got the real number. I started doing that after I trusted a re-measure that was off by half an inch and had to shim every single cabinet.

charles_young928d ago

Honestly, I'd be careful with that voice recorder idea unless you can lock the screen. I've accidentally butt-dialed my recording before and lost half my measurements.

park.miles8d ago

Oh man, I feel your pain on that shim nightmare. I once trusted my own handwriting and thought a 2x4 was 92.5 inches when it was actually 92.0. Let's just say my "custom" shelving had a very unique gap. I've got a voice recorder setup too, but I've also learned to repeat the measurement three times in a row like some kind of crazy person. That way if I accidentally erase one, I've got two more to fall back on. Plus it makes me feel like I'm in a spy movie, which is a bonus.