Cure for a crooked eye on the level?
$50k project crooked because of refference lines.
I’ve almost fired guys for not reading levels correctly – I’ve had a number of discussions with entire crews about how I won’t allow mistakes because guys aren’t taking the time to get good lighting and making sure a bubble is centered, not sort of centered, but really centered.
well…..
I start off each built-in project with refference lines – horizontal and verticle….that the rest of the project is built around….omg what a shock when it was time to measure for mirrors on an inset section and the mirrors aren’t square! lol
Anyway, nobody will ever know – accept me and the glass guy, but the $50k magogany thingamagig on the wall, with 4 columns and 3 tvs isn’t square…..I tracked it down to one perticular level…..put it through it’s paces since it was about to be replaced….perfect as a stabilia should be…
I set up the job in terrible light and as much as I hate to admit it, my refference line across an entire wall, and from floor to ceiling, were both wrong….not buy much, but by enough that I’m embarrassed…..good thing nobody knows! lol
Replies
Reference lines!
These are a couple of the most important "tools" for remodelers.
Two lines that are perfect with themselves. Everything else has a relationship to these crosshairs. Their the only sane thing in the room.
Learned long ago the importance of control lines. There's really no difference between them on the floor of a basement finish and those that start the layout of the demising walls of a mall..............except the size and cost of a mistake on a project.
In applications like yours, they can be a freehand template in an imperfect setting. Sure helps make order out of the chaos.
The crosshair line lasers have been a nice addition to level and plumb. The ones that lock in the lines square to themselves really help figure out the possibility of "fudging" one way or the other.
I'm still just a DIYer, but I've learned that two major "arts" of carpentry are:
Getting everything square and level
Dealing with things that aren't square and level (since nothing is in an old house -- and many new ones)
Dan
2a. Making it look right even though that perfect thing you're doing is in an unplumb or level setting. Nothing worse than calling attention to an imperfect situation.
3. Making it look like your remodel has been there all the time. Real art in practice.
So, what makes you think the vials are true?
You need to set the level on a "level" surface, and then flip the level end for end, and see if the vial moves. If it does you split the difference, and call that the center. Some higher end levels have adjustable vials, but they are getting rare.
I simply flip the level over and check the line horizontal or vertically - it should be the same unless something is wrong. Not all levels will read the same upside down, but stabilas are normally dead on.