Squaring a Shed Floor... Diagonals of a Rectangle

The property that diagonals of a rectangle are equal is used to ensure that a shed floor is exactly square before proceeding with construction.

[fennecfox]

It’s 2024 and this video is 12 years old and STILL helping folks! I’m building a greenhouse base and this explanation of how to make a perfect rectangle is exactly what I needed. Thank you 😃

[djerniet]

Thank you for this video, it's still helping people in 2022, like me. Took me an hour before i came to you tube to find a way to square my floor. Now I can move on to securing it to the skids and putting on the floor.

[KismetBP]

Still a wonderful video in 2024. Thanks you this is going to help a ton!

[wer]

I was just outside scratching my head trying to figure out how to square up my floor before laying down the OSB sheets. Watched this video and then 2 min later and a few taps with the sledgehammer and a block of wood, it's perfectly square! Thanks for the simple breakdown and easy-to-understand drawing!

[runninghead]

Thanks maths guy! Came here looking for the method to correct the misalignment on my shed base frame and found exactly what I needed. Awesome!

[cynt]

This is the most concise video!!! THANK YOU!!

[norcalnate]

Simple explanation, not so easy to find anymore. Thank you for this.

[marlboroman]

Great video. I like how you explain how to fix the forms when they aren't square.

[AMadScientist]

I stink at this stuff so I have a question. What if I have my boards at the correct measurements...say my rectangle is 8 x 10 but I have to square it a few inches like you did. Is it now 8.5 x 10 ...etc? Does this make sense?

[harveyhelms]

Thank you!! Every website resource I referenced said measure and adjust. Fine, but how to adjust to reach square? You laid out HOW to do that. The line drawing helped immensely!

[Koumondji]

Question: What if the 2 parallel lines are not matching? Such as one line is 20 ft, and the other line parallel to it is 21 ft but the lines appear straight? How do we fix that

[BLAM]

was just trying to do that for my cabin. I put the stakes in and they were 16'×16' on all sides but I couldn't get the corner to corner right. one would be 21' and the other would be 23'. then I would re adjust the stakes and they would be off again.

[trentmeidinger]

Your video helped me several years ago square up a shed floor and again this weekend for a floating deck. When the measurements are off, how did you determine which end/corner to adjust? Thank you!

[Snowwie]

How would this work if you had to use separate concrete edge beams?

[Pryde]

Great video! Explains two great Geometry concepts.

[bubbascoutdog]

Great technique but there IS still slack in Ur tape to account for. That dip in the tape could be as much as an inch? Just an unsolicited observation? Thanx!

[frostygill]

Great video! Thanks for such a simple and concise explanation. Very helpful! :)

[HsingSun]

Thank you for the video. @1:50, the diagonals are not equal, about one inch off. I have my problem too when I did my wood floor today. All length and width are equal, but diagonals are not. I could figure out, why?

[bitheroes]

Can't seem to get my head around this. We have 4 stakes and a string, with lengths and widths measured that were correct. This wasn't square though. So using this method I measured the diagonal one side, noted the measurement then measured diagonal the other side and noticed this was off with the 1st side. So I marked where it should be based on the noted measurement of the first. Then I went to check the length dimension of this side that I had just marked and it was way out. I have an equivalent of dyslexia when it comes to math. Can anyone point out where I went wrong?

[robklaproth]

Is it ok if they are about 1/4 inch off? I'm getting 176 on one diagonal and 176 1/4" on the other, but I've already screwed a few screws in (they must have shifted when I was screwing in the 4x4 support beams (I'm building a different kind of shed then you are).. I'm just wondering if I should unscrew and get it perfect... should be like 176 1/8" on both measurements instead. :)