Learned I was reading my tape measure wrong after 11 years on the job

Last Thursday I was marking studs for a partition wall in a basement in Tacoma and kept coming up a half inch short on every layout. The homeowner pointed out that I was reading from the 1-inch mark instead of the actual end of the tape, which I guess I'd been doing since I started framing. Anyone else catch a dumb habit like this late in the game that changed how you measure?

2 comments

2 Comments

henderson.vera21d ago

Honestly, that one would sting for a minute. But hey, you caught it now, and that's what matters. Most guys I know would've blamed the lumber.

bettyfox20d ago

Watched my buddy Mark tear into a load of cedar planks for a fence, and he hit a knot that sent the saw jumping. Cut his thumb pretty bad, but he just stood there bleeding and yelled at the board like it called his mother a name. Took him three days to admit he should've switched blades first, but you wouldn't hear that from his mouth at the time. Some folks gotta learn the hard way, I guess.