On Wed, 17 Sep 2008 07:00:53 GMT, The Medway Handyman wrote:

Well, yes. In t'olden days tapes used to have 'add xxx' on the base so
you could accurately measure inside dimensions, but none of my tapes
seem to have that now.

All mine have including the £1 5m metric only from Tesco, except that has
the "add xxx" in imperial!

As for ultrasonic measures, they aren't that good unless your tolerance is
+/- 1 foot in every ten. Good enough for estate agents but I wouldn't
trust one for short distances or for any accuracy. You really don't know
what it is getting reflections off, even with a laser spot. Doing the
width of an alcove cupboard, is it "seeing" the open cupboard door or the
wall reccessed 6" further back or some combination?

As Mr Rumm has said you if you want decent accuracy you need to go to
laser only, at least then you can be sure what you are measuring from the
spot location. They don't come cheap and I'm not sure what the minimum
range is either.

The B&Q wbiste doesn't have half the things you'll find in store. It's
mostly "home wares" rather than DIY stuff, I guess so they don't compete
with the sister company Screwfix.

--
Cheers
Dave.