If you need to measure a mitered piece of trim from the short point, you could try to hook the end of your tape to a very difficult purchase point and hope to get an accurate measurement, but there’s a better way.

This tip comes from Bruce Guertin of Coventry, Rhode Island:

It’s easy to hang a tape measure from a long point, but not so easy to hang from the short point.

Bruce uses a speed square, you can also use a regular try square or an angle square, and lines that up so the edge of the square is exactly at the short point. Then, he uses a spring clamp to clamp the square in place. Now, he can quickly hang the tape to the square and easily get an exact measurement from the short point.

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