The old timer at the 84 Lumber who refused to use a laser level

Last Tuesday I'm loading up on mud and tape at the 84 Lumber in Akron, and this gray-haired guy watching me grab a laser level just shakes his head and says "that thing's for show, string line and a chalk box never misses." He walked over to my cart and showed me how he snaps his lines on the studs first, costs nothing, and I spent the whole next job using his method, saved me about 40 minutes of fiddling with batteries and calibration. Has anyone else gone back to basics like that after a seasoned guy set you straight?

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wade_anderson1d ago

Man, that old timer knew what he was talking about. I had a similar wake up call when a framer showed me how to pull a line with just two nails and some mason's twine, and it beat my fancy setup every time. Now I keep a chalk box in my pouch at all times, batteries and lasers can fail but a snapped line never lies.