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Heard a guy at the supply yard in Tacoma say he never uses a string line for a straight run
He was bragging about just eyeballing his posts for a 50-foot section of privacy fence. Said it saved him twenty minutes a job. I tried that once on a short run and the whole thing had a wave you could see from the street. How do you even trust your own eye that much? What's the fastest you've ever seen someone mess up a simple job by skipping a basic step?
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brian_ramirez5mo ago
Man, my buddy tried to skip setting batter boards for a small patio slab. Just laid out the forms by eye, said it was flat enough. Poured the concrete and the whole thing sloped toward the house. We had to bust it out the next day before it fully set. He lost a whole weekend and a yard of mud. Some steps are basic for a reason.
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grace_knight705mo ago
Used to eyeball small projects all the time, figured a little slope wouldn't matter. Then I helped my neighbor with a shed base. We didn't check the grade, just filled the form. Ended up with a giant puddle inside every time it rained. Took a full day to jackhammer it out. Now I always use a level and string lines, even for the simplest pour.
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hollyg595mo ago
Some guys just have a natural eye for it. My uncle could set posts for a long run without a string and they'd be perfect every time. It's a skill you build over years, not something I'd recommend for most people. Skipping the line is a gamble, but for him it really did save time.
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