That fancy job site laser layout tool I bought was a total waste of $400

I grabbed a robotic laser level from a big name brand 6 months ago, thinking it would save me time on setting up duct runs in new builds. Ended up spending 3 hours fighting with it on a single job in Denver because the self-leveling kept glitching out on concrete slabs. I could have done the same work with my old string line and a basic torpedo level for a fraction of the cost. Has anyone else had luck with the cheaper manual laser levels, or am I just expecting too much here?

2 comments

2 Comments

garcia.charles5d ago

Honestly sounds like user error more than anything lol. Those self leveling tools are finicky but 3 hours of fighting? That's a lot of patience for something you could've just set down and walked away from. Maybe the concrete slab was just too uneven for the sensors to lock in but still that's not $400 worth of trouble. A cheap string line and a torpedo level wouldve gotten the same job done in 20 minutes if you ask me. People get too caught up in the fancy tech and forget the basics still work fine. Probably shoulda just thrown it in the truck and grabbed the old school stuff sooner.

the_tara2d agoProlific Poster

I mean, is it really that deep? "3 hours of fighting" sounds like someone who refused to try something else for way too long. Yeah the tech is neat but if it ain't working in the first ten minutes, you're just stubborn at that point. And you're right, a string line would've done the job fine. People act like using old tools is admitting defeat. It's just a level, not a personality test.