Help, Math Geeks!!

wingnut4772

I have a wall that measures 8' high by 13' wide. I would like to paint a checkerboard pattern on this wall in .... Oh say about 20 to 24" squares. How do I figure out exactly what size the squares should be so they all fit evenly on the wall with no (or undiscernable) fudging on the end or bottom rows?

ben62670

All I can help with at the moment is paint the whole wall the easy color, and paint the other checkers after. No sleep has turned me into a Zombie!

24 x 22 1/4

disneyjoe7

Or if you felt it needed to be square boxes, I guess you could use a third contrasting color behind the squares boxes.

greg2350

Ok I asked my dad him being a math whiz he says you would have to make the squares 12" x 12". He says the problem is the odd number width 24" would give you a even number in feet.

tcrossma

Do the squares have to be the same space apart vertically and horizontally?

You don't have a perfectly proportional area (8x13) so something is going to have to give here. Either the squares are going to have to be something other than square, the space between them is going to have to be uneven horizontally vs. vertically, or they are going to get chopped off on the sides or bottom.

shack

0bviously 12" squares would work. 16" squares would work verically (6) but not horizontally (9.75). 24" s also would work vertically (4) but not horizontally (6.5).

Dennis Gardner

12 (12x12) squares acrossed, starting and ending 6 inches from both side walls will center the wall and look good with the floor to ceiling squares 8 high.

BIZILL

center the checkerboard and then paint a border?

unc2701

13 is prime, so the only solution is 1 foot for true squares....

HOWEVER, I doubt that it's exactly 13 feet by 8 feet, so your best bet is to get the exact measurement in inches, then see how much you'd have to "cheat".

Ben62670's 24 x 22 1/4 is going to be close enough that no one will notice that they're not really square.

amulford

If its'a true 8 ft x 13 ft, Come up 4 ft and that will be the top and bottom of that row. The middle column should center at 6'6" ( the side would be at 7'). Draw lines at those dimensions and block it out @ 12" squares. That should work out. 2' squares won't work out, and while Ben's dimensions are as close as you can get, you can see an 1 3/4" difference in a figure that small, IMHO

wingnut4772

OK. I am scratching my head still but thanks guys. Maybe I will think of something else.:p

wingnut4772

Here's a couple of pics of about what I want. One of the walls does not look square yet the squares do.

Early B.

Just out of curiosity, wing, have you studied feng shui?

wingnut4772

Early B. wrote: »

Just out of curiosity, wing, have you studied feng shui?

Nope.




Here's another one with lines between the squares which I kinda like.

unc2701

Those "squares" aren't exactly square. In the last one, they cheat the top row. In the left one on your previous post, they cheat the bottom row.

Cheating the bottom row is a good way to do it. Since the baseboard will break things up anyway, no one will notice. So divide the horizontal into equal sizes, then use the same sizes for the vertical, with any remainder (or shortage) going into the bottom row.

steveinaz

I did a DIY project in our family room that involved cutting large peices of 1/4" plywood into different size squares/rectangles and upholstering them with a neat old Spanish/Southwest fabric. The fabric was leftovers from pillows Bev had made, so everything coordinates. Guests always ask me where I bought them...

wingnut4772

steveinaz wrote: »

I did a DIY project in our family room that involved cutting large peices of 1/4" plywood into different size squares/rectangles and upholstering them with a neat old Spanish/Southwest fabric. The fabric was leftovers from pillows Bev had made, so everything coordinates. Guests always ask me where I bought them...

I thought of doing that as well. My whole idea is to make the wall behind the bed the 'feature wall'. How difficult a project was that?

steveinaz

It's very easy. I simply cut the boards in the shapes I wanted, then wrapped the fabric around them; staple-gunned and hung. Just run a fine file over your cuts so the fabric looks smooth where it wraps over the edge. You can even add some foam behind the fabric to make it more 3-D.

A real neat idea involves taking 2x4 pieces, cut the size of bricks, and upholstering them and hanging in different areas in small "groups." I haven't tried this one yet, but I will soon.

You can also use styrofoam backing instead of wood, there's a zillion variations and ideas you can do.

Have you considered the faux tin stuff? I just did our complete kitchen back-splash with faux tin (polymer--Home depot by the kitchen stuff) in an antiqued gold color, it came out really cool (looks very rich against our cherry cabinets) and far eaiser to work with than tin.

When I get home tonight I'll throw some pics up.

Imperitor

Do the squares need to be symmetrical or can they be a little taller then they are wide? Does it need to fill the entire wall or can there gaps on the sides? That would make it easier.

wingnut4772

Imperitor wrote: »

Do the squares need to be symmetrical or can they be a little taller then they are wide? Does it need to fill the entire wall or can there gaps on the sides? That would make it easier.

I would like them to fill the wall and be square. I would rather fudge a bottom or end row to achieve that that have them be off.

Imperitor

I would personally go with 24" high, 26" wide squares, 6 squares horizontally and 4 squares vertically. They won't be perfectly square but this will avoid messy fractions.
The next best option would be to go with 19.5" squares. They would fit perfectly horizontally and vertically you would only need to shorten the top or bottom row by 1.5". 8 squares horizontally, 5 squares vertically.

Hope my geekyness helps.

amulford

That would do it, just leave the altered row on the bottom and no one will notice.

I like Steve's ideas, gives more of a statement and dimensionality to it...

SKsolutions

Having the squares be asymmetric and dissimilar will add a warmth and comfort. Having them be perfect and the same, will cool and structure the room. If it's a bedroom, I'd do the former. Bathroom, the latter.
Good luck with the project.

steveinaz

See the below picture of our family room. The 3 squares over the tv are the plywood/fabric squares I made:

Gadabout

While not solving the square size problem, this would add some dimension...

You don't have to use the same type of paint finish. By not having the same finish in all the squares you can add some texture / dimensioality to the wall.

My choices if I were doing that would be Matte, Flat Enamel and Satin. Of couse the finsish would also depend on the wall location and presence of kids with drawing abilities.

Haven't done the squares with different finsihses, but I have done a Matte / Flat base and painted in deatils in Satin. Made it look great and a little 3d.

Paint Finishes

wingnut4772

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I still have two weeks to mull everything over. O may not even go this route but I am learning a lot.