I was helping my uncle build a deck in Duluth and his old tape measure trick saved me a ton of time.

We were laying out the joists and I was marking each one with a pencil from the tape hook, which is what I always did. He saw me and said, 'Just hook the tape on the rim and mark right through the tape's number window.' I tried it on the next joist and it was way faster and more accurate (no more guessing if the pencil mark was on the right side of the line). Now I do that for any repetitive layout work. Does anyone have other little layout tricks like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

oscarc534d ago

Wish I'd learned that before marking my own thumb ten times.

hunt.nora4d ago

Wait, you did it to your own thumb? How does that even happen more than once? I have so many questions about the logistics here. That sounds like a special kind of bad luck.

harper6933d ago

My grandpa taught me to use a speed square as a quick story pole. Just lock the square at your first layout mark on a long board, then slide it down to transfer the same spacing without measuring each time. It's perfect for rafter tails or deck balusters.