June 7, 2002, Newsletter Issue #21: Something you would have known had you been paying attention in school

Tip of the Week

For years, old carpenters have known how to lay out a square corner using only a tape measure. They call it The Rule of 3-4-5.
When building a deck, or laying out guide marks for a tile floor, or anytime a square corner is needed, you can use the Rule of 3-4-5. Let`s use building a deck as an example.
You want your deck to come out from the house at a 90 degree angle (a square corner). Make a mark on the house wall at the starting point of the new deck. From that point, measure along the house exactly 3 feet and make another mark. Nail the end of a string to the first mark, and pull it out more or less square from the house. Make a mark on the string exactly four feet from the nail.
Nail another string at the second mark, and mark that string at exactly five feet from the nail.
Pull the 2 strings together until both marks line up (the 4 foot mark and the 5 foot mark).
The four foot string will make a square angle from the house.
Had you been paying attention in Geometry class, you would have recognized this as the Pythagoran Theorem which says that in a right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the square of the other 2 sides.
Or, in English, the square of the hypotenuse (25) is equal to the sum of the square of the other 2 strings (9 + 16).
This trick works with any multiple of 3-4-5, for example 6-8-10.

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