– In today's video lesson we're learning how to read an architectural scale so that you can start reading architectural blueprints, and scale drawings. The scale that I have here and the drawings that I'm gonna be using today, are in the scale of feet and inches so just be aware of that for those of you are in different parts of the world. So if you look back at the ruler that we have here you can see that there's a lot of numbers so where I want you to start first is look at all the way down to the end of the scale and you can see it there's two numbers, 1/4, and one, and on this side there's an 1/8 and 1/2 now these are the scales, that are on this ruler there's actually 12 of them on this ruler. So how do you know which one of the 12 to use? Well it's pretty simple because you just need to look at the scale that your drawing is drawn in. So you can see that the the drawings themselves are actually drawn in 1/4 scale meaning for every 1/4 inch, it equals one foot. So then if you look back at the ruler is very easy we find the 1/4 scale and you can see that it's right here. So as we look at the 1/4 scale, you can see it this is zero line there's numbers on the bottom there's also numbers on the top. Remember that each side of the scale here is working with two different scale systems so on this side's 1/4, and on this side is an 1/8. So, we're using 1/4 scale the 1/4 numbers are on the bottom, so moving from zero over to two, four, six, and so on, that's measured in feet. And then when you go to the right of the zero this way, this is a measurement in inches. And for the 1/4 end scale it's very easy because each line or mark represents one inch, and there's 12 of them adding up to one foot. Let's take a measurement then so you can see exactly what this looks like. So if I show you we're taking a look at the kitchen plan and you can see here we're gonna verify this 13 feet, six inches, it's a measurement from this outside wall, to this inside wall of the kitchen. So what I'mma do I'm gonna slide the ruler up, and I'mma start my zero mark close to this edge line, and I'm just gonna look down two four, six, eight, and I can see that I can get to 13 pretty easily so what I do is I actually take and put the 13 mark, here on the left side, and then I know that I'm 13 feet, all the way back to my zero, and then I can go ahead and count in inches. And so for this case each one of these is three so three, six, so 13 foot six is the measurement. And let's move on to something a little bit more complicated because the 1/4 scale like I said before it's pretty simple, so let's slide down the ruler here, and go ahead and take a look at the 1/8 inch scale. Now first off you can see it the 1/8 inch scale is different than the 1/4 scale, and you can see it in the inches there's less marks than there was on the 1/4 scale. So same principles apply, in this case we're using the top numbers 'cause we're on the other side of the scale, so here we're starting at zero and then going to four, eight, 12 all the way down, but moving to the left again you can see that there's a lot less marks, but knowing that these are in inches still, and these have to add up to 12, you can notice then that if we do the math that each one of these marks is two inches and not one like the 1/4 inch scale. And that's really the hardest problem about reading an architectural scale is just figuring out the inches, but if you take some time to look at these and knowing that these all have to add up to 12, you can pretty much figure them out with just a little bit of effort. Let's take a look at one more then just to help you better understand the scale let's take a look at the three inch. Now this one's completely different. So as we take a look at this you can see that the zero mark, is right here so we know going to the left, is still feet so there's one foot, two foot, three foot, and then we're on the other side of the scale which is inch and 1/2 but we're looking at this side which is a three inch so then moving from the zero line over this way, we know that all of these marks have to add up in inches to 12 inches equaling one foot. So now we can see that from here to here is three inches, so now we know that this is one two and three okay so now if we take a closer look we know that this is one inch we know that this mark here is 1/2, then 1/4, and then 1/8. So each one of these marks on the three inch scale is actually an 1/8 of an inch. And so you can see how this differs and you have to sort of slow down with a scale to figure out what the inches are but if you can take your time, it's pretty simple to figure out but let's take a look at seeing how to read the three inch scale on the drawings. For that we're gonna turn the page to a section view here this is an exterior wall section view, this is the interior part of the house this is the exterior, it's a double stud wall house. So, I wanna know then the distance between this outside edge to the inside edge of the stud, say I wanted to figure out what the sill plate width needed to be. So roll over here to my three inch scale mark, I can start with my zero and I'm moving to the left I'mma say is this bigger than a foot? And you can see that it is not, it is actually less than a foot so I know then and I need to move then and work off the inches scale. So start over at the zero line moving to the right I'm measuring in inches, on the exterior stud here, and I'm counting over three, six, nine, and I see two marks, I know each mark is an 1/8 so 2/8 or one 1/4, so now I know that this exterior wall, and what I need to purchase for the sill for this, is 9 1/4 inches. You can see then how beneficial this tool is, when you need to get numbers off a set of plans quickly, if any of this didn't make sense or if you have some other questions, leave them below please don't forget to like and subscribe to the channel, and I'll see all your smiling faces next week. (bright upbeat music)
