Does a shelf have…

[RichardG]

Following a confusing phone call with someone working at my Mother-in-Laws who is putting up some shelves I wondered is there a standard way of describing a shelf size? Does it have:

A width and a depth.

OR

A length and a width

I tend to use width and depth as you stand in front of a shelf and therefore it has a width and a depth plus a thickness. Which then led me to thinking about a cabinet size, I would say width, height and depth but you could say length, width and height…..

 

[Cabinetman]

I would suggest length and depth, as in how long is that shelf, can only apply to one of its dimensions and how deep is that shelf again can only apply to one dimension. And I would hope that how thick is that shelf is self-explanatory. Ian

 

[marcros]

I would say length and depth if I was buying a shelf, but width and depth if I was measuring one on the wall.

 

[Distinterior]

For me, a shelf is width x depth x thickness.
A cabinet would be width x depth x height.

 

[doctor Bob]

potato, potahto

although I'm with Disinterior and others.

 

[Distinterior]

potato, potahto

although I'm with Disinterior and others.

Maybe it's a "kitchen" thing Bob...?

 

[Orraloon]

Getting those terms wrong may shorten the shelf life.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

It wouldn't have occurred to me to say any other than length and width (and maybe thickness).

 

[Distinterior]

I can only speak from a cabinet perspective but i have always measured in width x depth x height, never "length" !

If asked its size, I would always state how wide it was, never how long it was....

If it's left to right, it's width.
If it's front to back it's depth.
If it's up & down it's height ( or thickness if it's a shelf).

 

[Phil Pascoe]

As would I for a cabinet, but not a shelf.

 

[RichardG]

I would be with marcros, buying sheets or cut sheets is always length x width x thickness as it could be used for any purpose, but once it has a target location then it’s width, depth and thickness…..

 

[Spectric]

Thats why I always do a rough sketch of what I want so that it is plain to see, just a simple drawing representing each piece I need so it is easier to visualise. If you have drawn a rectangle with the measurements stated it no longer maters which is what or what is which. I suppose you could say 2D is length, width and material thickness but 3D is WDT.

 

[Cabinetman]

Width and depth? It doesn’t work with beds, width maybe but depth? People will think you’re talking about how soft it is. You only ever refer to a bed as how long it is.

 

[Distinterior]

.....I thought we were talking about shelves & cabinets...??

Timber & sheet materials are stated as length x width x thickness.

Beds..??!!.....I thought they were Single, Double, King & Super King sizes...?

 

[Cabinetman]

Well now you’re contradicting yourself, if you have a look at your last two posts you didn’t mention length.
I think the most important thing is that nobody gets confused and if you look at my post (number two )there is no ambiguity.

 

[Distinterior]

No, I'm not contradicting myself!....The original post and my first replies were referring to shelves & cabinets and I stated my definition of how I believe their dimensions are stated.

Once the subject of sheet material and lengths of timber was raised, that's stated differently.

 

[MikeJhn]

Irrespective if it's a shelf or a piece of timber it should be sized as length x width x thickness, you should only resort to depth when explaining to a customer the depth of a cabinet or shelf.

 

[Lard]

As a retired quantity surveyor I can tell you that we had set measurement rules (from RICS) in order to ensure things like this didn’t occur as confusion invariably leads to additional cost. A simple example being patterned glass.

Always Length first, then Width (or breadth) then Height (or thickness/depth).

It’s like anything in that if everyone knows the rules then the likelihood of confusion is significantly reduced.

 

[PhilTilson]

I can only speak from a cabinet perspective but i have always measured in width x depth x height, never "length" !

If asked its size, I would always state how wide it was, never how long it was....

If it's left to right, it's width.
If it's front to back it's depth.
If it's up & down it's height ( or thickness if it's a shelf).

So... what is length?

 

[Terry - Somerset]

Starting with the proposition that for a shelf the default interpretation is likely to be:

- length is the longest dimension
- width = depth
- thickness

Width traditionally describes the second dimension of a plank. When fixed to the wall the plank becomes a becomes a shelf having depth, not width.