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Found out the original 18th-century carpenters in Boston used a 13-inch 'foot' for some timber framing, which I read in a library book on colonial building codes.

That explains why some of the old beams I've measured on renovations never quite matched up, so has anyone else run into weird historical measurements that threw off a project?
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2 Comments
ericgonzalez
victor_carr25 should check a pre-metrication building guide.
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victor_carr25
weird historical measurements" just sounds like an excuse for bad measuring now. I bet those old beams are off because of wood shrinkage over centuries, not some secret ruler.
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