PSA: That one dimension I measured 3 times still ended up wrong

Spent 45 minutes on a simple draft for a shed foundation because I kept misreading the 0 on my tape. Turned out my tape measure had the hook start at 1/16th off center. Anyone else ever get burned by a wonky tape measure?

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rowan6664mo ago

Are you really building a shed that needs foundation measurements down to the 1/16th of an inch? I mean, I get being annoyed at a defective tape, but 45 minutes on a shed draft sounds like overkill for something that's probably going to sit on gravel anyway. My dad built a whole deck with a tape that was off by an 1/8th and it still stands just fine 10 years later.

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matthew_owens94mo ago

Wait, @rowan666 did your dad actually check the deck later to see if it stayed level or did it just not collapse? Because there's a huge difference between "still standing" and "still square and true." I get that a shed is just a shed, but if you're putting in windows or a door, even an 8th of an inch off can make those gaps look terrible over time. Plus, 45 minutes on a draft isn't that bad when you consider how much time you'd waste cutting and recutting material later. A defective tape might only be off by a tiny bit, but that tiny bit multiplies with every measurement you take. It's not about being perfect, it's about not making a dumb mistake that snowballs into a headache later.

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