About

In the global construction industry, the clash between Metric (SI) and Imperial systems creates constant friction. While civil engineering often uses decimal feet (10.5 ft), architectural and residential construction in the US relies on Feet, Inches, and Fractions (10′ 6″). Converting meters to this composite format manually is prone to rounding errors.

This tool is specifically designed for contractors and architects. It provides a three-stage breakdown: pure decimal for surveying, integer feet and inches for rough framing, and high-precision fractional inches (down to 1/16th) for finish carpentry.

Formulas

The conversion relies on the international foot definition (1959).

L_ft = L_m × 3.2808399

To extract inches and fractions:

{

Feet = floor(L_ft)Inches = (L_ft − Feet) × 12

Reference Data

Standard Length	Meters (m)	Decimal Feet (ft)	Architectural (ft-in)
Standard Door Height	2.032	6.667	6′ 8″
Standard Door Width	0.914	3.0	3′ 0″
Plywood Sheet (4x8)	1.219	4.0	4′ 0″
Ceiling Height (Std)	2.438	8.0	8′ 0″
Stud Spacing (16oc)	0.406	1.333	1′ 4″
Kitchen Counter Height	0.914	3.0	36″
Marathon Distance	42,195	138,435	-

Frequently Asked Questions

This tool rounds to the nearest 1/16th of an inch. This is the standard precision on most construction tape measures. For higher precision (machining), use the decimal feet or decimal inches output.

3.28 is a rounded approximation. The exact value is 1 / 0.3048, which is approximately 3.280839895. Using 3.28 can result in a cumulative error of about 1 inch for every 100 meters measured.

No, this uses the International Foot (defined in 1959). The US Survey Foot is slightly longer (1200/3937 meters) but the difference is negligible for general construction, only mattering in geodetic surveying over vast distances.