Guides/Feet & inches → cm
Feet and inches to centimeters
Height charts, door clearances, and US lumber notes often mix feet and inches while metric plans use centimetres or metres. Convert everything to inches first, then to centimetres — or use centimetres as the single working unit.
Exact factors
- 1 inch = 2.54 cm (exact by definition).
- 1 foot = 12 inches = 30.48 cm.
- Total cm = (feet × 30.48) + (inches × 2.54), or (total inches × 2.54).
Worked examples
- 5 ft 10 in: (5 × 12) + 10 = 70 in → 70 × 2.54 = 177.8 cm.
- 6 ft 0 in: 72 × 2.54 = 182.88 cm (often rounded to 183 cm).
- 36 in shelf: 36 × 2.54 = 91.44 cm.
Reverse: cm → feet and inches
- Divide cm by 2.54 → total inches.
- Feet = floor(total inches ÷ 12); remainder = leftover inches.
- Example: 170 cm ÷ 2.54 ≈ 66.93 in → 5 ft + 6.93 in (about 5′7″).
Related length conversions
cm ↔ inches & kg ↔ lbs·miles ↔ km·metric ↔ imperial overview
Common mistakes
- Multiplying feet by 2.54 (that factor is for inches).
- Forgetting to add inches after converting feet only.
- Mixing metres and centimetres on the same sketch.