when is 8 x 24 not 8 x 24

 When it's really 9.75 x 25.75. But more on that later.
Good morning.
It's so far been a steady week in the Salon, but I'm booked late today and tomorrow.  I did get out of work early yesterday. My last customer, a foil highlight and haircut, didn't show. I called, and got her voice mail and left a message. Now I'll have to work her in next week.  :-/
And I ordered a return air vent for the living room.
The previous opening was L shaped and used 2 vent covers. One horizontal and one vertical. I didn't like the looks of that, sooo last weekend, I patched the upper part of the opening and extended the horizontal opening. So I needed a longer vent cover. I went online and ordered one from Home Depot. I needed one that was 8 x 24, and found one on their site. It arrived at the store on Wed. so after work, I picked it up on the way home.

Well, the vent was actually 9.75 x 25.75. I was sure they sent me the wrong one. But to make sure, I went back online to double check the measurements.  Sure enough, if you click on the specifications tab. the measurement they give is actually for the grill opening, not the over all size.  :-/
Soooo I couldn't use it because the vent cover needs to fit between the baseboard and a wall outlet. I don't want to hassle with moving up the outlet, so back on line I went and ordered a 6 x 24 vent cover which is actually 7.75 x 25.75. It's a bit longer than I wanted, but it will fit much better. I'll return the first one when I pick up the second one.
It's been a cold week for the end of March, so not much spring out there yet. At least all the snow is gone.  :-)
Now off to work.