My brother told me to "just eyeball" the foundation layout and I ended up 3 inches off on a 20 foot wall

So my older brother has been framing houses for like 15 years. He swore up and down that pulling a tape measure was a waste of time for a simple shed foundation. Told me to just snap a chalk line and go. Well that shed ended up with a 3 inch gap between the wall and the slab. Had to order a custom cut top plate just to make it work. Cost me an extra $60 and a full afternoon of swearing. Has anyone else gotten bad advice from a family member who was supposed to know better?

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margareth482h ago

Oh man, that is such a classic "trust the expert" trap! LOL. My uncle once told me to skip leveling the ground for a small patio because "the gravel will settle it out naturally." Three months later my patio looked like a funhouse floor, everything was tilting toward the house. I spent a whole weekend redoing it and learned my lesson about taking shortcuts. Some people have been doing stuff so long they forget what it's like to be a beginner, you know?