Taking Accurate Inside Measurements

Two techniques for easily measuring between two surfaces

Hello and welcome to Joe Shows How! In this week’s video I’ll share two ways to take accurate inside measurements. When measuring the distance between two vertical surfaces, most people bend the tape measure and firmly press it into the corner. But then they have to guess at the measurement, which is very inaccurate. Here are two better—and more precise—ways to take inside measurements:

First, take a credit card or similar rigid plastic card and slip it behind the tape measure. Next, clip the card to the tape with a binder clip. Now, as you measure the space, slide the credit card tight against the vertical surface. Straighten out the tape measure, being careful not to disturb the card, and read the dimension where the tape crosses the end of the card. That represents the inside measurement.

For the second technique, measure about three-quarters of the way across the surface and make a pencil mark at a whole number; let’s say 50 inches. Then, simply measure from the opposite direction up to the 50-inch mark. Now add together the two numbers to calculate the inside distance between the two vertical surfaces. Quick, easy, and accurate.

Thanks for watching!