Bob Vila and Ty were right!

You've watched Bob Vila say it on This Old House, you've seen Ty say it on Extreme Makeover. Every carpenter you've ever seen or met has said it....Measure TWICE, cut ONCE. It applies to everything you do. It's also important to READ the measurements carefully. My client, Ann, just had a very expensive mistake. She ordered an 18" window. She thought that the glass area was 18". The 18" included the frame and the glass area was only 12". She got it installed and hated it. She had to have the contractor remove it, order a new bigger window, make a bigger hole and install it again. That's a very expensive mistake.

This is also important in space planning. An acquaintance of mine mentioned using my design services and never did. She felt that she could save some money by doing it herself. Six months later she came to me and asked if I knew someplace she could sell some chairs. She apparently had bought too many and now had purchased items that didn't fit in her home. Had she hired me, she would not have had this problem. The chairs were expensive and cost more than my services. It's always a good idea to measure whatever it is and make sure it works on paper first before you spend a lot of money or have to redo it all together. As the only saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. So listen to your favorite carpenter, he knows what he's talking about.