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Question About A Good Measuring Wheel To Use For An Appraisal Inspection

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L

Linnz

Freshman Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2016
Professional Status
Certified Residential Appraiser
State
Florida
Can anyone recommend a good measuring tool, preferably a wheel (because it is easier to maneuver about the property) for an Appraisal Inspection?
 
i guess a bigger wheel is better. you may not know it, but it will measure differently with the direction of the grass, especially if wet grass, or ground. you'd be surprised with the slippage amount on different surfaces. i gave it up long, long ago. go with a 50 or 100 ft tape, with a laser if you have a lot of corners. get a long thin screwdriver for the tape to stick in the frozen ground, or unmowed lawn. the 50' tape is easier to carry around. if you do new construction, get a cotter pin & bend a L shape with a small bend at the end. good to hold a corner, or 2x4. an electrical clip is good to clip the carpet inside if you use it indoors. however, lasers are just to good to not use indoors.
 
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I use a Disto most of the time now. I still have my tape though. I used a length of electrician's fish tape to make a hook for the end that I can stick to ANY corner or stick in the dirt if necessary.
 
There is no such thing as a good measuring wheel for appraisal work. Not nearly accurate enough. Fence lines and driveways, fine, but not houses.
 
I am not well educated on measuring wheels, but I am familiar with measuring building, etc. for the purposes of sketching/calculating ;-) When I was an active appraiser (aka "the Stone Age"), we used engineer's 100' tapes and then went to DISTO products. We used rolling tapes when doing agricultural and/or farm & ranch stuff but most structural improvements if they were a substantial part of the value were not done with a rolling tape. I guess that if I were going to get a rolling tape, I'd recommend:
  • Following the advice that TLS gave in the foregoing post - get one that is well made. Saving a few percent by getting something that is of questionable quality/reliability seems counterproductive.
  • Shop at a store, brick & mortar or on-line, that caters to engineering types. Surveyors are the gadget freaks of the outdoor measuring crowd ;-)
  • Always get a device which measures in feet and tenths (i.e. "Engineering scale") since that is the proper scale for measuring for calculations. Measuring in feet and inches is silly IMHO since it just makes things more difficult.

FWIW, I found the model that TLS linked to is available in three models. The 32-401T model uses a feet and tenths scale. http://www.engineersupply.com/Rolatape-Professional-401-Series-Measuring-Wheel.aspx Looks like some other models are also available in feet & tenths models, but just dropping down to the "300" series means the wheel size starts dropping and I would suspect that means that the accuracy drops, too, when used in typical appraisal conditions over irregular surfaces, etc.

Keson, a brand which many appraisers may be familiar with, sells models that look to be very similar (perhaps just a re-branding or vice-versa?) at similar prices. Just glancing at the site linked to above, I see at least four models which are available in different "scales."
I would imagine one might find these as well as others at different sites and perhaps at better prices (?) I did a quick search on Amazon and found some models with slightly lower prices, but none of them offered feet and tenths.

Hope this helps!


-Randall Garrett-
+Apex Software+

/end/
 
Another wheel fan here, the problem is they don't make good ones anymore.

Best one I've had is called a Trumeter Mini-Measure. Made in the UK. I've had this one for 18 years. Still works perfect, however the new version is digital and doesn't have very good reviews. Had a fatmax too, but it only lasted 2 years (as a backup) before the reset button went.

I have a disto, 50' and 100' logger tapes, a lufkin large wheel, but the Trumeter is definitely my go to for measuring improvements. If I had known they were going to be discontinued, I would've stocked up.

This one has good reviews and is similar to the Trumeter I have-

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001QTVXVY/?tag=realestatappraat

Good luck!
 
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