Read a Tape Measure

Reading a tape measure is one of the building blocks to a ton of different projects. When you first look at tape measure it can be intimidating,  what’s up with all of the lines?  The good news is that it’s really not all that difficult. Here are the steps.

Reading the Inches

The most obvious marks you’ll find on your tape measure are the ones for inches. They’re the ones with the large numbers on your strip of tape. Each distance from one number to the next is exactly one inch.

Reading the Half Inch Marks

When you read a tape measure you’ll notice that there are lines in between each number representing an inch. The lines are of different lengths and the tallest ones mark each half inch. These are usually in between each number for every inch on your measuring tape.

Quarter, Eighth, and Sixteenth Inch Marks

The next thing you’ll notice is that there are other marks in between the half inch and inch numbers. The next tallest ones are the quarter inch markers, followed by the eighth inch, and sixteenth inch markers. Each smaller fraction of an inch is marked with a shorter line.

Here’s how you read a tape measure:

Step one: Pull out a length of your tape measure starting at the point where you want to begin measuring. If you’re using a heavy duty measuring tape you can lock it at the length where you stopped so you don’t have to hold the length of tape down with your fingers.

Step two: The first thing you read from your measuring tape is the inches. Read or write down the closest number to where you stopped.

Step three: You then go over each of the half inch, quarter, and other lines on it and write them down until you get to the point where you stopped.

Reminders

If you’re measuring large spaces you may hook one end of the tape measure and pull the whole length back. You may also lay and read a tape measure on the floor. Most tape measures you’ll find will have the same unit of measurement

This picture will hopefully help pull it all together.