Length: inches to feet and inches, and back
The conversion a tape measure asks for most: a count of inches into the notation on the drawing. Pick Inches, type 73, and the first line reads 6’-1". The lines under it are the same length in decimal feet, yards, millimetres, centimetres and metres, so a survey figure, a product sheet and a dimension string are one entry apart.
The other way is the feet-and-inches row: 6 in the feet box, 1 in the inches box, a fraction from the menu if there is one, and the readings are 73", 6.0833’ and 1854.2 mm. From millimetres the same: 2400 reads ≈7’-10 1/2", with the ≈ because 94.4882 inches does not sit on a sixteenth. Set Round to 1/8, 1/16, 1/32 or 1/64 and the feet-and-inches line rounds to that grid; everything else is exact to its own places.
| Typed | Feet and inches | Decimal feet | Millimetres | Metres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 73 in | 6’-1" | 6.0833 ft | 1854.2 mm | 1.8542 m |
| 6 ft 1 in | (typed) | 6.0833 ft | 1854.2 mm | 1.8542 m |
| 2400 mm | ≈7’-10 1/2" | 7.874 ft | (typed) | 2.4 m |
| 1 m | ≈3’-3 3/8" | 3.2808 ft | 1000 mm | (typed) |
Area: square feet, square yards, acres
Pick the unit you have and type the number; square feet lead every reading. An acre is 43,560 square feet, 4,840 square yards and 6,272,640 square inches. 1,000 square feet is 111.111 square yards and 0.023 acres; a quarter-acre lot is 10,890 square feet. The square inches are there for a tile or a vent, the acres for a site, and the square yards for the paving and carpet that are still bought that way.
Square metres and hectares read last, for the product sheet or the consultant abroad that asks. The factor is the square of the foot, 0.3048 m exactly: 10.7639 square feet to the square metre, so 1,000 square feet is 92.903 square metres and an acre is 0.4047 hectares.
Grade: percent, 1:n, degrees, inches per foot
A slope is written four ways and every discipline prefers a different one: civil in percent, accessibility in 1:n, structural in degrees, roofing and plumbing in inches per foot. State it in any one and the panel restates it in the other three. A 2% slope is 1:50, 1.15° and about 1/4" per foot; a quarter inch per foot, precisely, is 2.08%, 1:48 and 1.19°. A 1:12 ramp is 8.33%, 4.76° and an inch per foot. A 4:12 roof, which is 4" per foot, is 33.33%, 1:3 and 18.43°.
The pitch line rounds inches to the grid you set and carries a ≈ when the slope did not land on it, which is why 2% reads ≈1/4" per foot and 1/4" per foot reads 2.08% without one.
A rise and a run work too: choose Rise/run and type both in decimal feet. A rise of 2.62’ over a run of 50’ is 5.24%.
And the length question underneath most slope questions: state the slope, then type the run or the rise you know and the panel gives the other, in decimal feet and feet-and-inches. A 3% slope over a 40’ run rises 1.2’, which is ≈1’-2 3/8" at 1/16; a 1:12 ramp that must climb 2’ needs a 24’ run.
Where this sits
This is the Conversions tab of the calculator that rides beside Loupe inside LODE, published as a free page. The Dimensions tab does the arithmetic, adding and subtracting feet and inches as they are written on a drawing, and the Coursing tab checks a dimension against brick and block. Nothing you type leaves your browser; the only thing stored is which precision you last used.
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert 73 inches to feet and inches?
Divide by 12: 73 ÷ 12 is 6 with 1 left over, so 6’-1". In the converter, leave the unit on Inches, type 73, and the first line reads 6’-1", with 6.0833 feet, 1854.2 millimetres and the rest underneath. A fraction of an inch rounds to the grid you set.
How many square feet are in an acre?
43,560, which is 4,840 square yards: a chain by a furlong, 66 feet by 660. A quarter-acre lot is 10,890 square feet and a half acre 21,780. Pick Acres, type the number, and square feet lead the readings, with square yards, square inches and the metric units under them.
What is a 2% slope in inches per foot?
A hair under a quarter inch: 0.24" per foot, which the panel shows as ≈1/4" per ft. The exact quarter inch per foot is 2.08%, 1:48 and 1.19°. Choose Grade, state the slope in whichever form you have, and the other three read underneath.
What is a 1:12 ramp as a percentage and in degrees?
8.33% and 4.76°, one inch of rise per foot of run. Type 12 with the form set to 1:n. Add the rise the ramp has to climb and the panel gives the run it needs: 2’ of rise needs 24’ of run.
Is anything uploaded or saved?
No. The conversions run in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere. The browser remembers which precision you last used, and nothing else.