How to Determine an Angle in House Construction

During construction of a house or any building, you must know the exact angles used in cutting wood and putting it together. Although a carpenter's square allows you to measure 90-degree and 45-degree angles, you may need to measure other angles. This is where you need a carpenter's protractor. Unlike the standard protractor used in high school geometry class, this type of tool consists of two metal bars fixed around a swivel point with a circular dial for angle measurement in the center.

Things You'll Need

• Carpenter's protractor

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Instructions

1. • 1

     Place the center of the protractor against the inside corner of the angle you want to measure.

   • 2

     Open the edges until there is no space on either side of the protractor.

   • 3

     Take the protractor out of the corner. Most models have some degree of tension, allowing the legs to maintain their measurement without you having to worry about it losing its place.

   • 4

     Look at the center dial for the angle indicator. There are two readouts: one for angles measured clockwise and another for angles measured counterclockwise.