Borrowed a laser level from a guy named Pete, thought it was overkill for a small deck job. Now I won't go back to string lines.

Pete kept pushing me to try his Bosch GLL30 on a 12x16 deck I was doing last month. I figured a string level was fine like I'd always done, but after one afternoon with that thing my layout was dead on in half the time. It made me wonder - how many of you swear by laser tools and who still thinks the old ways are better for framing and decks?

3 comments

3 Comments

clairem471d ago

Funny enough, I borrowed Pete's Bosch GLL30 for a bathroom tile job a few years back and then spent a solid hour just lasering random lines on my living room wall to see what it could do. I felt like a wizard. But then I almost threw it off the roof when I forgot the stupid thing can't self-level if you set it on a crooked 2x4. Guess who spent 20 minutes blaming the tool before realizing the block I set it on was a quarter inch off. Still beats string though.

verar211d ago

I hear you on the wizard feeling, that part I get. But I gotta push back on the "still beats string" thing. String has never made me want to throw it off a roof because it forgot how to work on a crooked block. I've used both, and a simple chalk line has never had a software glitch or a calibration freakout on me. Plus, when I drop string on concrete, I don't panic and check if it's still under warranty. Lasers are cool, but they make you feel like a wizard until they remind you that wizards need level tripods and fresh batteries.

olivia_bailey1d ago

Yeah I get that argument, but honestly I've had plenty of string lines sag or snap at the wrong time too. Batteries and calibration are a thing but I'll take that over fighting with tangled string on a windy afternoon. You run with what works for you though, right?