Stop using inches in your sketch, now.

[Terrel L. Shields]

I suspect if we were to draw everything to 1/10th foot, we'd find a chaos of un-equal numbers,

My nephew is remodeling my parent's old home which started out as 2 room, then remodeled in 1955 to make 5 rooms. In taking the old interior paneling out, I saw a lot of the stud walls were full 2" oak 2x4s. The older part was closer to 2.5" x 4.5" because an extra layer of old lap siding had been reversed to make it flat- In other words the exterior wall thickness is not uniform. As for 'square' it is probably not perfectly square either. Just saying.

 

[Fernando]

My nephew is remodeling my parent's old home which started out as 2 room, then remodeled in 1955 to make 5 rooms. In taking the old interior paneling out, I saw a lot of the stud walls were full 2" oak 2x4s. The older part was closer to 2.5" x 4.5" because an extra layer of old lap siding had been reversed to make it flat- In other words the exterior wall thickness is not uniform. As for 'square' it is probably not perfectly square either. Just saying.

Are we talking squaring the sketch?
After measuring so precisely, I rarely square the sketch. Then I have to make appraiser "discretion" in adjusting the measurements. Is it just me?

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Are we talking squaring the sketch?

How a surveyor would close a survey isn't the same as trying to precisely measure each dimension. Again, a lot of houses are not 100% square. I've seen a few that were 2" out of square. Not common but it happens.

 

[Sandra Koutsopoulos]

Where is everybody getting this is metrics. If we were using metrics. We would be measuring in meters and centimeters. They are probably insisting on 1/10 to make it easier to digitize and it is easier to check consistency. Always easier to calculate using 1/10 than 1/12. So now I guess when doing from plans and specs we are going to have to convert the construction prints from inches to 1/10 ft when we duplicate for the report.

DUBLIN!!!! You've hit the nail on the head there! If it were metrics, we'd be measuring to meters, 10th of a meter, centimeters etc. So this attempt to use a foot of 12 inches and divide it into 10ths is some sort of incongruent Frankenstein monster! Half this--and Half that. Thank you for your observation. That's probably why so many of us are resisting, because we know dang well most things in the USA are not measured in 10ths of a foot.

"squaring the sketch"--Yup, happens all the time, because people are imperfect, carpenters make things fit, designers draw what's in their imagination, and we measure what happened.

 

[Fernando]

DUBLIN!!!! You've hit the nail on the head there! If it were metrics, we'd be measuring to meters, 10th of a meter, centimeters etc. So this attempt to use a foot of 12 inches and divide it into 10ths is some sort of incongruent Frankenstein monster! Half this--and Half that. Thank you for your observation. That's probably why so many of us are resisting, because we know dang well most things in the USA are not measured in 10ths of a foot.

"squaring the sketch"--Yup, happens all the time, because people are imperfect, carpenters make things fit, designers draw what's in their imagination, and we measure what happened.

Speaking for myself and others who are getting older with dementia and poor eyesight, the exact measuring edict (is it tenth or inches on my measuring device?) makes it more difficult to measure.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

makes it more difficult to measure.

Since I don't do secondary market, I have the standard that the local assessors use. To the foot. That's close enough to make an educated guess at the actual GLA and adjust accordingly.

Let me give you another example. Manufactured houses. A 28' x 65' on the title is more likely 4' of tongue, and the 28' is probably more like 27.7' wide and 60.7' long. But the assessor is going to round it up to what else? What everyone else recognizes as the real dimensions - 28' x 61' with 4' tongue.

 

[Tom4value]

America uses inches, not the metric system that was previously rejected..

Following our June 2025 Selling Guide policy changes related to the ANSI^® Z765-2021 standard, we have published an update to our Standardized Property Measuring Guidelines Fact Sheet and FAQ. Policy changes include retirement of our ANSI exception code, alignment of terminology, and requirement to report dimensions in tenths of a foot (rather than inches).

Something is flawed here. Inches and feet are NOT metric system terms. Therefore, a tenth of a foot is not a metric measurement.

Now, if they mean that you should say, “20.6 feet” instead of “20 feet 7 inches”, that is fine. When ANSI first became required, I did the math and made a chart for each of the 12 inches to the tenth of a foot. Then after about a year, to my surprise, I was able to change the calibration of my laser measure to 1/10 of a foot.

 

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

Are we talking squaring the sketch?
After measuring so precisely, I rarely square the sketch. Then I have to make appraiser "discretion" in adjusting the measurements. Is it just me?

Yes, it is just you.

 

[Dublin ohio]

It is somewhat amazing how many appear to be unacquainted with using decimals

 

[Tawfik Ahdab]

My 1/10th of a foot is someone else’s 2/10ths of a foot. The problem with precision is that it can still remain inaccurate.