how important is slope on laser levil

dadster4 · Jun 23, 2016

There is a procedure outlined in my owners manual for my Bosch GRL250HVCK-B-RT Dual-Axis Self-Leveling Rotary Laser to verify and adjust the accuracy of the self leveling feature. I checked it when new, and when starting any new project. I do not travel with it, but I imagine that would increase the chances that it could be thrown off.

rodnok · Jun 23, 2016

The error was clearly by the contractor. He admitted it. Amazingly the 2 walls where he did not make a mistake in his marks were perfectly on level. It was only one corner that was 1.5 inches low. He snapped lines from corner mark to corner mark all the way around the inside walls. Now, that said if he had used a water level and gone from a central point in the room and marked to the level line he "should" not have been off anywhere. I have made my share of mistakes in my life and I don't hold a mistake against this contractor and have used him for other work after that. I was taught by my grandfather at an early age how a water level works. For me a laser level would not be financially worth while as I am "retired" and dont do much construction anymore. I have used them and have sen many people use them over the years. Mostly they are pretty accurate and faster to use. I may be building a new house soon and I will use water level. Hopefully I can still see good enough to make accurate marks!

Billrog · Jun 24, 2016

Best time saving tool I've bought was a laser level 10 years ago. It's never had to be calibrated since new. All you have to do to check it is lay out some marks with it move it 20' or so set it back up and see if it still reads the same on all previous marks. With a receiver on the boom of my backhoe it saves me dozs. of trips in and out of the hoe and running back and forth checking the level.

jenkinsph · Jun 24, 2016

Billrog said:
Best time saving tool I've bought was a laser level 10 years ago. It's never had to be calibrated since new. All you have to do to check it is lay out some marks with it move it 20' or so set it back up and see if it still reads the same on all previous marks. With a receiver on the boom of my backhoe it saves me dozs. of trips in and out of the hoe and running back and forth checking the level.

I agree with the use on a hoe, really helps get an even trench bottom and on grade for less labor costs.

Catmando · Jun 24, 2016

I worked for a testing lab for one summer. One of the jobs was laying a sewer. The contractor laid part of the sewer using batter boarders. Then he got a laser level to finish the job. The batter board sewer had its ups and downs that were plainly visible. The laser laid sewer was perfectly true to the slope it was laid on. I mean the invert of the sewer was a straight line. There are benefits to working with a laser.

joefromga · Jun 25, 2016

jenkinsph · Jun 25, 2016

rodnok said:
The error was clearly by the contractor. He admitted it. Amazingly the 2 walls where he did not make a mistake in his marks were perfectly on level. It was only one corner that was 1.5 inches low. He snapped lines from corner mark to corner mark all the way around the inside walls. Now, that said if he had used a water level and gone from a central point in the room and marked to the level line he "should" not have been off anywhere. I have made my share of mistakes in my life and I don't hold a mistake against this contractor and have used him for other work after that. I was taught by my grandfather at an early age how a water level works. For me a laser level would not be financially worth while as I am "retired" and dont do much construction anymore. I have used them and have sen many people use them over the years. Mostly they are pretty accurate and faster to use. I may be building a new house soon and I will use water level. Hopefully I can still see good enough to make accurate marks!

Your last sentence says a lot, making accurate marks is as important as which method is used. I think a water level for less money is a good choice for building construction particularly for small or residential projects.

FWIW, about two years ago I was working a project in a field with a long bowl shaped swale. The water was static and as a result gave me a chance to check both of my laser levels accuracy. This water puddle was about 350 feet long and I set up both lasers about 200 feet away from the center point of this puddle. The more expensive laser (about $3800 cost) was dead on all the way across the puddle. But the low cost laser (about $400) was dead on too.

For short shots up to 100 yards you can get good results with the less costly lasers. If you need long shots the higher cost laser is good for 600 yard radius. The less costly DeWalt laser works fine for the small flat work jobs and allows me to keep the better laser locked up and safe at home. I use the Topcon RL 200/2s laser for the larger field work and it a dual slope with a remote. Good for machine control use leveling larger fields.