Any piece of mitered trim has two points on its end. The acute angle at the very tip of the workpiece is called the long point; the short point is the obtuse angle on the inside edge of the trim piece. Measuring from the short point is a recurring problem: There is no place to hook your tape.
The next time you need to measure from a short point, try this trick. As shown in the drawing, use a spring clamp to affix a square to the end of the workpiece. It can be a speed square, a combo square or a tri square; just make sure to align the blade of the square with the short point. Now you can hook your tape measure to the square’s blade and rest assured that you are measuring from the right point.
Bruce Guertin, Coventry, RI
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So simple. So Brilliant!
Thanks.
You can also measure from the long point and then add the Trim width to that number, provided it is a 45 degree miter! The difference in length is the trim width!
Measuring was not the way that I learned to cut and fit trim. To much room for error with that "27 43/64 of an inch". --Not to mention that a 64th may not be accurate enough. (If you simply use caulk to make it OK, go back to trade school.) By using a story stick or actually marking the trim while it's positioned in place with a knife edge will minimize errors.