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The old guy at the lumber yard in Boise told me to check my level before I blamed the wood, and he was right
I was at the lumber yard in Boise picking up 12 two by fours for a new gate frame last weekend, and I was grumbling about how half of them looked bowed. This older guy in a faded apron watched me for a minute and said, "Buddy, lay your level on that stack before you blame the lumber." Sure enough, my level was off by about a quarter inch over four feet, which means I've been building crooked gates for who knows how long. How often do you all check your levels, or do you just trust them like I did?
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amy97511d ago
A quarter inch over four feet is a lot, but it also depends on what you're building. For a gate frame, sure, that could throw things off. But people built houses and barns for a hundred years with wooden levels and knotted string, and those buildings are still standing. The wood itself moves way more than a quarter inch every time the weather changes, so blaming your level for crooked gates might be giving it too much credit. Most of us are not building cabinets that need to be dead perfect, and a gate that's a hair off still opens and closes fine. Check your level once a year if it makes you feel better, but the lumber and the ground and the hinges are all fighting you anyway, so a perfect level might not save you.
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