PSA: My old boss in Charlotte told me to always dimension to the center of walls, and I just found out why he was wrong.

I was checking a set of shop drawings for a steel fab job, and the detailer had dimensioned everything to the face of the studs, which I thought was a mess. But the contractor called and said it made their layout on site way faster and cut down on field errors by a lot. When do you all break the 'centerline' rule for the sake of the build?

3 comments

3 Comments

clark.claire1mo ago

The Charlotte boss was right for concrete block layouts, where centerline is key. For steel studs or wood framing, the face is the real work surface. You pick the rule that fits the actual tools and materials on site.

gonzalez.vera1mo ago

Oh man, that hits close to home. I spent years thinking centerline was the only right way, like some sacred drafting rule. Then I watched a tile guy have to redo a whole bathroom floor because my pretty centerlines didn't match the actual wall he was starting from. Felt pretty dumb that day. Sometimes the right way is just whatever gets the job built without a headache.

holly_price27d ago

Funny how the real world changes your mind on stuff like that. I used to be a stickler for centerlines too until I saw a crew waste half a day trying to follow them.