The Lowly $5 Line Level: Is it “Level” Enough?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 เม.ย. 2023
- Be sure to use the right level for the job you are doing...sometimes it has to be exact, sometimes not so much. Check out this one: • The Luxurious 8 ft Level
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![Installing Batter Boards with String Line [Shop Foundation]](/img/n.gif)
Also: take any level, place it, and spin it 180 degrees, placing it in exactly the same position. If it reads the same both ways, you know the level itself is reading correctly, within its own tolerance and the ability of your eyeball, anyhow. This is a remarkably useful and quick test to make sure your level is in order before using it.
Great Idea!
Makes the line level very accurate. Not to compete with a laser level or a water level, but enough even for a deck.
I started doing this recently and it is a great trick.
I learned this in the army back in 1970, they called it an “End to End” test. And it works.
It should be mentioned that using a "bad" level works perfectly with this method. You just make sure the error is equal and opposite.
Awesome book that gives you step-by-step photos th-cam.com/users/postUgkxTNB_zFBSnTo_O1PqfVUwgi7ityw0JlKt and directions to make every day project. I can see myself making a few of these projects and giving them as housewarming and holiday gifts!
My favorite low-cost level is the humble water level. All you need is a garden hose, two short lengths of clear tubing and hose fittings for both. "Dead nuts" accurate, goes around corners and doesn't need batteries! Takes two people to operate efficiently, though.
Add a tube of Perspex to the end and tape to a peg. Mark the peg at 1/2 meniscus. A windy day can play havoc though. Have a great day.
And it's quite accurate!
Add two tstakes and some zip ties or tape and you can run it solo too! I learned this from a friend who learned it from his dad. So simple. Add food coloring or dye to make it easier to read in the clear tube.
I set the height of the outer joists of my deck at the beam like this, relative to the ledger board. Worked great.
The water level is obscenely accurate, but there are some things to know about it… like if it he fluid in one end is hotter it can throw it off, so you do need to check it against itself before assuming it’s accurate. Done right it can be better than the best laser level, though.
I just want to thank you again for all your videos. You're the builder grandpa a lot of us never got.
HGTV needs to have a Construction Series and have this Gentleman host the show. So much wisdom and knowledge from the Essential Craftsman...
I'm NOT a professional carpenter by any means, but I have used a line level in only one application that I can recall, and that was years back. I have about 20 feet of fencing in the back yard (of a total of about 250 feet) where the ground was flat enough by eye that I didn't have to account for grade while placing pickets. The line level was indeed good enough to make the tops of the pickets appear just fine by eye (and honestly, I never went back with a better level to check it.) Thanks for all your and your family's content. Always a pleasure to watch.
It was state of the art a hundred years ago, countless foundations and buildings built...makes you wonder what tolerances you really need to build to and where craftsmanship and knowledge is more important than "the latest and greatest"
State-of-the-art one hundred years ago was a transit.
It depend on a few things. How fussy you are - your level of OCD; It depends on how lucky you are - do subsequent errors compensate for or compound previous errors.
Found an OLD one of these on my grandpas workbench (he passed away). I took it because I thought it was cool and maybe It’ll get me out of a pinch some day. I also like old tools. It has an old leather case, too.
Nice
Thank you for this, Scott. I'm an archaeologist who digs in Israel. We do our surveying with a total station but use line levels (the same brand you use in this video) to establish datum lines for producing section drawings. We usually stretch our lines about 4 meters. Assuming that we use our levels as accurately as you do, we can expect an error of .52 cm over that distance, so let's say 1/2 cm. That's about the thickness of the nail shaft we set in the dirt. We draw at 1:25 scale, which means that the lines made by our 0.5 pencil leads represent about a centimeter. Hence, we can't draw 1/2 cm and we are within our 1 cm tolerance for surveying and drawing. I very much enjoy your channel.
Hmm.. i like that. Its nice to confirm what should be true with some simple napkin math.
I have a 6 inch one I've used for all kinds of foundation work on cabins and small buildings. It's definitely been acurate enough for my needs. Also remember to check for a good one by making sure it give the same reading one way and flipped the other way on the string.
What a relief cus I leveled my pier and beam foundation with one.
Very, very useful bit of kit, fast and easy to use and accurate enough for some things.
Cheap doesn't always mean useless or inaccurate.
Tolerance is key and knowing what those are.
Great video!
Wardrobe is always the same! Love It.
When I was a kid my father built an 18x36 foot in ground concrete pool with sand bottom and liner using a line level. (We helped). When we completed the pool and finally filled it with water, the pool, end to end, was out by 1/8 of an inch when measuring off the calm surface. A laser wouldn’t have done better.
A regular level woulda, Ive done 40Ft runs with wood thats only off by a 1/16 across the whole run (had to be extremely accurate for pre-made glass and glass doors to go in
@@alextheonewarriorso you just set the level under the line and had someone adjust it on one side of the stake/pin ? Tough keeping it steady like that
Years ago I built a paver patio. I needed to check for level so I could set my slope. This was before I really knew how to use one of these levels properly. I put the level at the far ends of the string and wondered why it was reading high on the staked side of the string. It finally dawned on me how much sag is in the line...and this line was on 22 feet long. Like he said, ALWAYS place these in the center of the line. Not even the instructions on the box told me this. As with many tools in the trades, there's a lot of assumptions given as to how to use a tool.
Boils down to it can be the right tool for the right job. I don’t own a transit so it was great to see this demonstration. I sometimes use two line levels - both in the middle or each 1/3 of the way. Takes out the lightning striking twice. Great content from a trusted source. Thank you.
If u flip an turn it 180 I may find it's out now more then 5/8 the other way so it's directly aligned
What you did @ 2:25 to "remove burs" can also be used to "fine tune" a spirit level. Just "remove burs" a bit more on the high side then flip, test and repeat until it reads the same both ways. Most of the time you can save a favorite level or, the "only one you have with you".
Please do a video like this on a water level. With some surfactant in the water.
As a Civil Engineer and former carpenter helper, I have leveled some home projects that do not require (1/google plex) accuracy. A line level is good enough for my needs.....and I actually like using a quote from Shrek - "That'll do, Donkey, that'll do."
I see masons and landscapers use them around me. In a bind a clear hose with water is a useful substitute although I have never tried.
We once set grade for a footing measuring off the water in the hole.
I would love a deep dive into levels and how to read the bubble better.
I use line levels for building patios daily.
They work great for this kind of work, and I can get very accurate results.
But like you said, for projects requiring the most precise accurate measurements, a quality transit is a must.
Love your channel. 👌
Good video. I agree a line level is usable for the types of jobs you mentioned. In addition to your tips, I always reverse the level and read it both ways to see if it has any built-in bias. If it does, I take the average and buy a new (and hopefully more accurate) one for future jobs.
I built an 8x10 shed yesterday, basically a square fence with a roof, using only a line level. Funny to see this video pop up! It came out great to the eye and I really liked how easy it was to transfer lines post to post using the string. It's also nice to have to double check things quickly that only need a rough leveling. However it is indeed a rough carpentry product, it definitely stops there for me, I agree on a laser level for anything that counts.
I laid my fieldstone patio behind the house and a line level was essential to establish pitch for drainage.
Great video, as always! I learned about the line level 50 some years ago, while working on a block masonry crew. Have used them ever since, for layout work, etc. Always double-checked with a carpenter's level, and have never had a problem.
Thanks for answering my question regarding line levels.
I'm late to the party, just watched this video. I'm a retired archaeologist. Here's my experience. We use line levels to check the depth of our excavation units and relative level floor of the unit for mapping and photographs. A line level in the shirt pocket is useful for quick leveling office furniture. I've used it taped to a board for quick and rough tire alignment and temporary post setting. In the field for checking small pad level placement for various uses. I've given my nephew's gift boxes of line levels, C clamps, box cutters, zip ties, and other small items that are useful but overlooked.
You've got such a good narrators voice and choice of words, I believe you could talk about the flat builder's pencil and make it sound interesting.
I think he has!
lol he did, and it does
Consider a video on using a water level.
I recently got a laser level from Amazon for less than 60 and it works amazingly well. Does wonders for joist and subfloor repair.
Line levels are useful. I feel that setting the level close to one end is more accurate and easier to use alone. You can check it by moving to opposite end of string. Gets it close enough to follow with a regulars level when you sit your boards. Six inch magnetic level is almost useless for steel pipe or uneven surfaces.
If you need a cheap accurate level over a long distance, chain some garden hoses together and attach some clear tubing to each end. Fold the hose in half and lay the folded end at the bottom of a slope, the open ends at the top. Get a pitcher of water and put a few drops of soap in it to break the surface tension. Sone food dye isn't a bad idea either. Slowly pour the water into the hose until both sides have water in the middle of the clear tube. Let it sit for a bit to let any bubbles work their way out, but the point of filling it that way is to not get any bubbles in it, in the first place. It's a good idea to leave the water out for a day for any dissolved gas to dissipate as well for even better accuracy.
Then get two people, place your thumb over the ends to not spill and drag the ends to what you need to measure. The water will level itself in each end. Mark the water level on your structure and that line is level.
Swap ends to verify there are no trapped bubbles. They should read the same and with high accuracy.
Back in the day I used a water level for batter boards, siding over a long run, etc. My favorite was one that had a plastic water well in the middle and you wrap the 50' of clear tubing around the well and had a cover. Nice and compact. Add food coloring to the water and your good for a radius of about 50 feet. I never did any jobs in extreme cold where I needed it. I was told to put in a mixture of antifreeze and water, never tried it.
Thank you Scott, and yours for all the videos over the years, I always try to do my best, BUT I’m always a little more motivated to work, learn and do better after watching. Hahah So far I’ve only ever used line levels, in my life, for setting pavers on pedestals on 2-4% slope SBS roof top patios, and they worked well! and we didn’t have listen to the beep of the laser all day. Just check in with the laser once in while :-)
Once again, thank you from Canada
Aaron
Thank you for your videos and all your insight
Just want to let you know, you are one of the best person I listen to. You sound more like a wise relative whose advice in any topic is very reassuring,conversational,educational and full of wisdom. May you live long healthy life. Thank you.
This is completely new for me, never before i even heard about line level. It´s not perfect but seems precise enough and very practical for many jobs.
Great knowledge from this content..
the first level i bought, probably 40 years or so ago, was a stanley line level. i've put up a lot of fences, sheds and shelves with that thing, and like you said, it was good enough. that little thing is still in my toolbox, and every once in a while, it's the best thing to use for the job i need it to do.
like einstein said, everything is relative.
Thanks for the awesome content and great video!!!
thanks for slowing down to show how to tighten the line
How much is enough?
Enough is enough!
In the hands of an experienced builder, it is amazing to see the accuracy one can achieve using a plumb bob, a line level, and a lowly ball of braided string.
Good video like this help alot.thanks
Love your work 👍
I never built a bloody think in my life but I love your videos, primarily because of the type of man you are. There is such an intelligence coming out of you and a superb ability to communicate which are of star quality. What you say also reflects on all tradesmen. We, the uninitiated, see the intricacies first hand. Thank you for what you do and continue doing it, please!
Excellent as always
Hi Scott I just love your whole series.
I was viewing your video of using a line level.
Have you ever done a video using a water level? It is very accurate, even in situations where you cannot get a direct line of sight between two points.
Picked up a pair from Amazon, good for establishing pitch for my new drain on an addition 😊
I bought a line level at the hardware store once. It was totally out of wack. Pretty frustrating. Looking closer, it was marked 2% grade. So, pay attention when buying a line level. They all look alike.
As a landscaper from 1976 to 1991 I used the string level a lot. Check grade and slope for yard drainage, sidewalks, patios, and driveways. Great tool.
i flip levels around to c if the level is good.
I have used those to get level points on a pole barn. They work!
Good vid man thank you
Clear tubing and windshield washer fluid… poor man’s laser level.
Used one for years then graduated to a water level for long distances. They were good enough for the Egyptians.
You said recently something to the effect of, sometimes it’s better to get the job done than to get it perfect. Thanks for that.
its funny, but having used them for years for block and stone work, the method you showed to rub the line into the groove helps. But, turning it 180 and doing it a second time helps more- most being plastic, there is a minor amount of scrap plastic burrs that get rubbed off first time you put it on a line. the rubbing in helps clear those burs but we are never equal to both sides, so the difference you saw is typical.. but to cast a house in block for instance, using this to try to set your initial corner height at 35, 50, even 200 feet, without a level, well, it is surprizing just how level the building is after just 6 stories, using just that level cord, and then tying in your corner blocks after the corner is set.. letting the masons use their 4-8 foot levels with the strings to run the middles. As long as they do not get lazy and just depend on the strings-
But that is what your beam is for, to fix the out of level on your blocks- haha
great video. Pretty much the only thing I use my little string level for is fencing because it doesn't matter if it's level as long as it look level.
This level is my favorite line level 💯just pull the line tightly and your Good.
I kept a 100ft roll of polyhose in my truck with 2 12in rulers and some food coloring. For those jobs that had to be on the money
Thanks Scott
I used it for my personal 22’x13’ garage and 8’ x 18’ home extension. No complaints from the block masons. It’s all I had at the time.
How about the water level?
Hey for the price and amount of room you have to dedicate to storing it that's a heck of a deal and well worth having. I'd also say it's pretty precise when you consider how short it is, how cheaply made, etc. Thanks for sharing.
I’ve had excellent luck with line levels, though I prefer the metal ones to the plastic ones; you also need to flip them and make sure they read the same both ways otherwise the level itself is off.
I feel good and a sense of accomplished accomplishment when EC tells me to keep up the good work!
I wish I would have seen this before I attempted to pour my first slab on a garage build behind my house. But as EC said it’s good enough 😂😂
For when good enough is good enough. I used one to level my pavers under my skoolie and it worked great!
The cheapest and most accurate means by which to establish a perfectly level surface is a water level. True, they're much more cumbersome than a laser level, but they'll establish an equally level surface or datums to work off of. I have a Topcon rotary laser level but for the most part my go-to laser lever is my magnetic horizontal and vertical magnetic laser by DeWalt. Cost me about £200 but you can see the green laser clear as day when the sun is shining its brightest. Steer clear of red lasers. They're cheaper but harder to see on a surface in bright sunlight.
In the States, the green one may put you on a watch list.
Dido on the water level. I keep one ready to use at all time and use it quite often. It can be used by a single person with the right setup (a valve on one end helps to keep the water in while moving it). I also keep a section of an old tape measure attached to one of the poles so that I can measure elevation change.
There's no way you can see the beam when the sun is shining its brightest even if you paid your laser 5000 dollars
This past week, I pulled out my line level to build a deck. Got to show a younger co-worker how to use it, and that a $5 level isn't obsolete in an age of lasers.
God stuff, I love those. Got 3 of them now, I think. Hard to keep track of them. I use 2. Line as tight as you can and put one on each end.
Greetings from Palau! Liking before viewing!❤ I know it will be good 👍🙏
Good enough for those of us building decks in our own backyards and learning how to do it on TH-cam!
Used these a lot for smaller buildings. It would be good for roughly checking existing grades. The shortcoming is needing another person to use it efficiently.
I keep two in my bags, use them all the time for things like patios and driveways. Maybe checking out a slope roughly when I don’t want to set up a laser.
Like you’ve mentioned before: “reasonable expectations .” Nice video and excellent information.
It would be interesting if you compared the laser and line levels to a water level... Done correctly, the water level is going to be perfectly accurate... That will tell you how much your laser and line levels are off...
A water level has been proven countless times, to be just as accurate as a laser level.
im over 50 now, I remember my uncle . whom was an exceptional concrete worker/finisher. ( over the 20 plus years the good cement / concrete jobs from sidewalks to patios's of various sizes . yea Bernie's work never did crack ! ) I need to level some ground and im going to build a shed. I almost forgot about the line level, he used for sidewalks and small jobs, so many years ago. he hired a 10 year boy, ( me the nephew ) who became an arborist, who know nows a lot about construction, thanks for so many years of great advise and my uncle Bernie who is today a Viet nam vet at the golden age of 78 . still has great advise about concrete ..
Joe
I have used the things many,many times, they are fine for guttering falls and coarse work like that. we also used to use them for rafter levels, setting the string line to which the rafter had to come up to (Agricultural buildings). In fact we have used them for almost everything at one time or another , bearing in mind that the reticule in the Dumpy level was broken half the time (we had three of them) they could break in the car on the way to the job ! One thing is that about 100 feet, bricklayers line won’t get taut enough without breaking, you have to upgrade both the line and the end fastenings.
Sometimes it's even good enough to put the line level on the loose end of the string. You fasten it to your starting point, pull quite hard on the string and have your good enough equal height end point right where you are. This way you can use it alone.
Nice video and kudoes to including grandson
Do not forget about the water level.
I tried a laser level and a line level on a long fence once and decided that I preferred the line level... The laser level gave a wide dot at that distance whereas the line level gave was a single point... Right or wrong, it was a single point... :)
When in the store buying a new level, (bring a fine pencil with you) find a open area on a wall and do as "Will" says. mark it, and flip it around. Test it for both plumb and level. I have had to test 8 or 10 levels in the store before I found one that is right-on both horizonal and vertical. And they don't stay accurate for ever. Check your levels periodically.
Great video - a word of warning, once I bought an old used line level, and checked it on a short piece of string, and it didn't agree with itself. One of the hanger tabs was bent. Never hurts to check your levels.
I like the video process, multiple cameras wireless mics.
I always wondered about these so I appreciate the vid.
I'd like to see a test of not putting the line level in the middle of the string. I really don't think it matters much if you use nylon (stretchy) string. The level is just 2 light weight to sag the string at the end. But, the level is also only a few inches long so perhaps the slightest sag can make a difference over a distance.
We used to be able to get quite accurate with them. The technique: two guys one reads the level while the other controls the string. Establish “level”, rotate level 180 degrees. Out-of-bubble in both directions should match.
We would double-check with the transit and found that a careful line level “bubbled” in both directons got extremely close(+/- 1/16 over nearly 100 ft. If memory serves.
I used one to set grade for a retaining wall on the smallish side. It let me set up my strings so I could then use those and a grade stick I made on a stick of wood
The lowly line level is now among my favorite tools. Wonder if Estwing or Milwaukee makes one.
Good enough is good enough, just make sure it’s good enough!
I have always used only a line level. last job was my 16' X 46' garage. The level, as you said, goes in the middle- I will add- dead nuts in the middle. The closer the line level gets to one end, the lower that end will be. with a transit, all errors are cancelled by putting the transit exactly between your two points and shooting at 180 degrees
Water levels are a pretty reliable tool especially on hillside applications, ( of course not as accurate as laser levels but $25 versus $1000. Like your videos
And as usual. He is correct. The absolute center is the trick. The weight of the level must be in the center. Then the sag is balanced, therefore level. (somewhat)
I have used different types and brands of levels my entire career. For their time, they were the best on the market. Even the most expensive can get out of calibration and should be calibrated by a known standard on a regular basis. The way the equipment is handled in the field and transport to and from the field is equally important. The more sensitive the equipment, the easier to get out of calibration. Thanks.
The most replayed moment is this master tying knots. Would love yo see an in depth video tutorial on useful knots and how to tie them.
My suggestion is to put translations into the metric system whenever you mention measures, thanks!
Hey, we left jolly old England to get away from your metric system, then when you showed up here to make us use it, we kicked your butts all the way back across the pond. Leave us alone with our system!!!!!
I have set up dozens of exterior concrete with line levels. I always use to for redundancy and the farther the distance the tighter the string line must be as well as stay offset of center to avoid drooping the line.
Old timers always raised the center of a string line by an 1/8" when spanning 25' plus.
Just get a long clear PVC tube, fill it up to an approximate level of your work with water, then move the ends to the reference and to the compared work. Water in both ends will automatically level out. Lower or lift one of the ends until you get the water in the tube to the correct height of your reference, then take a reading. Easy to put together, no calibration, and fully reusable.