Got schooled by a framer at my own job site yesterday

I was on a custom build over in Brookside and had this old framer named Don check my layout for a bay window. He walked over and just redid my marks with a 6-foot level instead of my laser. He said lasers drift on sunny days and I never even thought about that lol. Has anyone else had their layout tools let them down on a bright afternoon?

3 comments

3 Comments

sethhernandez1mo ago

You really think the sun is going to mess with a properly calibrated laser? I've been setting layouts for twenty years and never once had a laser drift on me because it was sunny out. That old framer sounds like he's stuck in the 80s and doesn't want to learn new tricks. A 6-foot level is fine if you're building a doghouse, but on a custom home with bay windows you need speed and accuracy that a laser gives you every time. Don is probably the same guy who still uses a chalk line instead of a rotary laser for footings.

logan2361mo ago

Ha, I've definitely been that guy squinting at a laser in full sun wondering if I'm looking at a dot or just a sunspot on my retina. Guess my eyes are still calibrated to the 80s too!

rileyb611mo agoMost Upvoted

@sethhernandez sounds like he's never had a laser turn a 3/16" dot into a 1/2" blur at 30 feet on a July afternoon. I've watched a $400 green laser drift a full inch over a foundation wall just because the sun was cooking the sensor. Don might be old school but he's not wrong, sometimes the simple stuff just works when the fancy gear decides to take a nap.