a tape measure. Follow these guidelines to help you in reading all of those little ruler

marks. You will need and a tape measure. Step 1. Recognize the marks on the top of the tape

measure. The black numbers are inches and the red numbers are feet. There are 12 inches

in a foot. Step 2. Identify the shorter marks between the inch marks, divided into fractions

of an inch. Most tape measures are divided into 16ths of an inch. Therefore, there are

15 lines between the inch marks, all representing 1/16 of an inch. Step 3. Look for special

markings every 16 inches. These markings aid in many do-it-yourself projects that need

to be measured on 16-inch centers. Step 4. Notice the metric side of the tape measure.

The markings represent meters, centimeters, and millimeters. There are 100 centimeters

in a meter and 10 millimeters in a centimeter. Step 5. Write your measurement in feet, inches,

and fractions of an inch. For example 3 feet, 6 1/4 inches. Express metric measurements

in the smallest increments. You would not say "2 centimeters and 3 millimeters." Instead,

you would simply say "23 millimeters." Step 6. Measure precisely and double check your

measurement. It takes a lot less time to measure twice than redo an entire project because

of inaccuracies. Did you know James Chesterman patented the first spring-loaded tape measure

in England in 1829.