I finally learned the hard way not to cheap out on measuring tapes

Bought a $5 tape measure from a hardware store in Gulfport last month and it was off by a full 1/8 inch over 6 feet. Didn't catch it until I'd already cut 12 pieces of crown molding for a job. Had to re-cut everything and lost about 3 hours of work and 40 bucks in material. The cheap tape just had this flimsy hook that bent after a few uses. Anyone else have a tape measure fail on them like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

adam_baker11d ago

Hold on, are you sure it was the tape's fault and not just a bad day? I've got a beat up old tape that's been in my truck for years, cost me maybe 8 bucks, and it's still dead on. I hear a lot of guys blaming their tools when it's really just them rushing or not checking the hook for debris. Plus, that 1/8 inch thing, that's a pretty big gap for a cheap tape to have right out of the box. I feel like you would have noticed it on the first cut if it was really that far off. Maybe you just had a bad hook from the start and didn't check it, which happens to everyone once.

troychen10d ago

18 bucks for a tape, and it's already throwing your cuts off by a full 1/8 inch? That seems like a lot of drama over a tool, @adam_baker. I mean, yeah, cheap tapes can be junk sometimes, but that kind of error would make any project look like a mess. Maybe the guy just got a dud from the factory, but I've had plenty of $10 tapes that were fine for years of weekend work. Honestly, if a tool is that frustrating, just toss it and grab another one instead of writing a whole thing about it.

taylor_patel10d ago

Man, I once spent a whole afternoon cutting a shelf bracket backwards because I didn't notice my tape hook was bent. Eight bucks and a lot of cussing later, I realized it was me, not the tool. Still stung though, felt like the tape owed me an apology.