If only rooms had straight walls, right angled corners, and customers never wanted patterned or striped carpets! But we’re in the real world and we need to know how to ensure we measure in a way which shows up potential issues so we can deal with them rather than face problems later.
The simplest check-measure is to take more than one measurement of the width and length of a room. With a laser measure, this is as easy as moving the measure and pressing the button again. Most measures have a screen which holds more than one reading, so comparing the two is simple and you still only need to write down one figure. Doing this might reveal that your first measurement was not right, perhaps because the laser hit something between you and the opposite wall, and it will also reveal if the walls are running out or the walls are not flat. It may need another reading just to check so that you can ensure the measurement will provide enough flooring.
There is a trend for homes to be refurbished by removing internal walls and adding steel joists to support the weight of the upper floors. This means that the downstairs ‘room’ can be huge and quite complex, so cross-checking is very worthwhile.
Measuring the sides of a rectangle or square will not reveal whether the corners are right angles. There’s another check measure that can prove useful: measure the diagonals of the room. If the room has right angled corners, the diagonals should be the same (this is the trick used by cabinets makers to ensure furniture carcases and doors are square). If they vary by more than five centimetres additional check measures will be worthwhile.
Of course, where rooms are L-shaped or more complex, it may not be possible to measure from corner to corner, but additional measurements between known points on opposite and adjacent walls can still be helpful.
When there are angled walls there are two simple ways to ‘measure’ the angles. The first involves carrying a hinged ruler that you can push into the corner (or wrap around it for external angles) and then mark the angle on your pad (taking care to label it to avoid confusion later) and some hinged rules even have a digital display from which the angle can be read.
If you want to avoid carrying an extra rule ‘just in case’, there’s a simple method that just needs two sheets of folded paper. Hold these so they overlap each other and one piece sits against each wall. Then marking the paper across the overlap in at least two places so the angle can be reproduced simply by aligning the marks.
If the angle is less than ninety degrees, simply fold one or both pieces in half again so you have a forty-five degree angle on one or both. You can use one pair of papers to mark lots of angles by numbering each set of markings and using different parts of the paper if it becomes too crowded.
The same paper can be used multiple times by assigning a corner number or letter to each set of marks.
Armed with these simple techniques, you should be able to get enough information each time to ensure you can estimate accurately and deal with potential issues, such as pattern alignment, even when you’ve gone away from site.
Next month we’ll consider how you can take measurements from plans and create scale drawings of any room you’ve measured, and how this will help you in your work.