How to Use a Measuring Tape

By eHow Home & Garden Editor

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A tape measure is much handier than a ruler. It can be bought in lengths from 6 to 120 feet and some are even electronic.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Measuring Tapes

Step1

Pull the tape straight out of its case with one hand.

Step2

Note the markings on the tape. Each mark indicates a 1/16-inch increment. There is usually an arrow indicator at 16-inch increments to show the typical distance between wall studs. The diamonds are for marking joists and studs at points one-fifth of 8 feet.

Step3

Look at the back of the tape. Some manufacturers include lumber tables or other useful information.

Step4

Line up the 1-inch mark with one end of the object being measured. Sometimes the metal hook becomes loose and can cause your measurement to be off by up to 1/16 of an inch. Be sure to deduct 1 inch from the measurement.

Step5

Slide the thumb lock down to hold the tape in place. Not all tapes have this feature and newer ones have an automatic lock with a hold release instead.

Tips & Warnings

Mark your measurements with a caret rather than a line so the mark is exact and not affected by the width of the line.
Coat the metal blade with paste wax or spray it with silicone to keep rust at bay and maintain smooth sliding.
Be careful not to cut yourself when recalling the tape. Its sides are dull but they can still cut.
Don't pull the tape out past the allowable length or you may not be able to return it to its case.

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Comments

Saimon said

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on 5/24/2008 Some new updates are available at http://megauploadfiles.com/

mjazz24 said

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on 2/27/2007 how do you read a tape measurer?

mjazz24 said

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on 2/27/2007 how do you use a taoe measurer?

Anonymous said

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on 1/15/2008 The "hook " is supposed to be loose. It's a floating zero. It should float the thickness of the hook. This is important, because sometimes the tape is used to measure from the inside of the hook or the outside.

This allows the tape to measure distances with the hook over the edge or with the hook butted against something.

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