sage308•5d agoProlific Poster

Old timer on a job in Nashville told me to stop using a level, been thinking about it since

So I was working a restoration job off Music Row last spring, this old guy, must have been pushing 70, comes over while Im setting up my line. He watches me check the bubble on every single brick for like ten minutes. Finally he says, "son, the wall doesnt care what the bubble says, it cares what the string says." I laughed it off, kept doing my thing. But then he showed me how he just sets his first course by eye, trusts his corners, and runs the whole damn wall without touching a level once. I argued with him for a bit, said precision is precision, but he pointed at a 30 foot stretch of wall he did in the 90s that was still dead plumb with zero repairs. Right there I saw two ways of thinking: trust the tool or trust the feel. I stuck with my level but Ive thought about that conversation every week since. Is there any of you guys who actually work without a level on straight runs? Or is that just a recipe for a call back in a year? Has anyone else had an old timer drop some wisdom that you still cant shake?

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1 Comment

finley_gonzalez494d ago

That old timer is right about the string being the real boss on long runs, but Ive found a middle ground. I set my corners with a level, pull a tight line, and then only spot check with a level every 5 or 6 feet to catch a sag or a shift before it becomes a problem. You trust the line for the straight shot and the tool for the start and finish, saves time without gambling on a call back.