metric only tape measure recommendations

[Deleted member 174758]

About the only times I use Imperial are both very specific - it is when we are laying plywood or diaphragm floors onto joists which will use 8 x 4ft (2440 x 1220mm) sub-flooring or installing rafters which will get 8 x 4ft (2440 x 1220mm) sarking boards applied to them. Bear in mind that in those instances ceiling boards will be suspended on metal framing and not fixed directly onto the undersides of rafters or joists, so there is no need to accommodate metric PB, so those timbers (joists/rafters) all go in on 16in (and sometimes 24in) centres, for which I have a Bahco 8m/26ft metric/Imperial tape - but at this point I sometimes have difficulties getting the thicker ones to understand that when I say joists on 16in centres, I mean joists on 16in centres, not 400mm..... And still there's always one who can't understand why and has to be sent to do pennance (shuttering) in the deepest, darkest, wettest cellar I can think of ....

Everything else we do really is metric these days. One day, I'm sure, plywood will be, too - just don't hold your breath.

 

[phatboy]

Everything else we do really is metric these days. One day, I'm sure, plywood will be, too - just don't hold your breath.

Slightly smaller board, but 25% metric surcharge, no doubt!

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Yes, that'll work when you are laying them in 1000s... If your boards are coming in from an importer they generally only supply "mill size" which in China or Pacific Rim and Brazilian boards (or maybe 95% of the HW ply on the market) is Imperial unless you place a mill order. Whenever (rarely) I've requested metric sized boards they always attract a cutting surcharge and take 6 to 8 days longer to arrive - so it's often better to just cut them ourselves with a rail saw. Fortunately the sort of stuff I've worked on recent years the ceiling boards are never fixed to the undersides of the joists (poor sound insulation if you do that)

 

[John D v2.0]

I realise cutting them to metric is going to be more economical overall, but is it not possible to do 400 centresfor the plasterboard side but with an extra joist every so often to pick up the edge of the ply?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I realise cutting them to metric is going to be more economical overall, but is it not possible to do 400 centresfor the plasterboard side but with an extra joist every so often to pick up the edge of the ply?

It's only on domestic builds that you attach the PB to the underside of the joists, and on standard domestic builds the sub-floor above is invariably either 2400 x 600 (metric) T&G chipboard or sometimes 2400 x 1200 T&G spruce ply (so metric sizes). So rarely a problem. In England you rarely see sarking boards on domestic roofs, at least not from what I observe.

The sort of stuff I work on nowadays is a bit different - refurbs and repurposing of listed buildings, etc where altogether different construction techniques are used (e.g. double-skin stressed diaphragm floors?). This is the sort of environment where you do need to be able to work in a mixture of systems. The problem is really that you get guys coming in who have spent so long on domestic builds (which really are metric-only) that they are seemingly unable to comprehend that not everything is metric only - so they ignore instructions, or worse "convert " 16in to 400mm in their tiny, underutilised, addled brains and give the flooring guys (often including me) problems. Adding an extra joist may sound like a good idea, but the flooring team may be coming through a week after the joists have gone in, and it requires a very different tool kit, so they aren't going to be happy at the prospect of installing extra joists when it slows down their price work. And it's always better to avoid having to trim a thousand plus boards (the approximate board area of the last diaphragm floor we put down) if you can. Especially if you are on price

 

[^woody^]

Meanwhile, £58 three new tapes and some other tools to get free delivery later ......

Expensive thread.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Nice! Not tempted to buy a laser range finder then, @^woody^ ? Leica's X310 is a beaut!

 

[John D v2.0]

Meanwhile, £58 three new tapes and some other tools to get free delivery later ......

Expensive thread.

Hah step away from the buy button... my next thread will be about the best pencil, might be less taxing on your wallet!

 

[^woody^]

Hah step away from the buy button... my next thread will be about the best pencil, might be less taxing on your wallet!

I'm covered.

I have a Tracer and use Marksman - which is a great hole marker

 

[^woody^]

Nice! Not tempted to buy a laser range finder then, @^woody^ ? Leica's X310 is a beaut!

Also covered

Disto D8, with bluetooth to transfer measurements to my Tablet for plan drawing, and tele-video display to spot the dot in difficult to see places. Ultra accurate

And Bosch GLM for building work, which has a useful rotating display and other functions and is nice and small

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Disto D8, with bluetooth to transfer measurements to my Tablet for plan drawing, and tele-video display to spot the dot in difficult to see places. Ultra accurate

At least you're not a tight wad there, then

Not being able to see the red dot can be a PIA in bright places - fortunate that I spend most of my time indoors in the gloom...

 

[^woody^]

At least you're not a tight wad there, then

It was totally out of character. But this thread hasn't helped with my return to normality.

 

[^woody^]

Looks like my new German tape was made in China for the Australian market.

Also the back is not completely flat, so measurements could potentially be out by 1mm if not careful.

Not what I'd expect from Stabila

 

[kingandy2nd]

Wow, watermarks - get you @woody

 

[^woody^]

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