# rotary laser level



## eric131 (May 19, 2009)

I need to shoot grade with a rotary laser and have never used one. I need to dig for a foundation wall and want to go down 44" from top of existing foundation for an addition. how do i go about using the laser to achieve this depth accurately?


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## ChrWright (Jul 17, 2007)

eric131 said:


> I need to shoot grade with a rotary laser and have never used one. I need to dig for a foundation wall and want to go down 44" from top of existing foundation for an addition. how do i go about using the laser to achieve this depth accurately?


General Contractor??? Digging your own footers and you don't know this? :blink:

You'll find you won't get very good advice posing as someone you're not... or, posting a question that the average GC should know without an introduction.


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## ChrWright (Jul 17, 2007)

And don't double post!


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## Kgmz (Feb 9, 2007)

Do you know how to do this with a builders level or transit?

If you do its the same with a laser.


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## naptown CR (Feb 20, 2009)

This is really layout 101 my 16 year old son poot with his considerable skills knows how to do this. you cannot know what you are doing and therefore should not be here go to the DIY site. Thank you very much and good night!


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## eric131 (May 19, 2009)

Wow, I am suprised by the rude response. Give me a email address and ill send you plenty of pics of my work. i have never use a rotary laser before and have never dug my own footings before. i am a framer and a general contractor. i usually sub out excavating and concrete. it was a legitimate question that i needed an answer to. im sure before you became the big shot builder/remodeler you think you are that someone explained some things to you. im sure you had questions from time to time. thanks for the help.


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## ChrWright (Jul 17, 2007)

Kgmz said:


> Do you know how to do this with a builders level or transit?
> 
> If you do its the same with a laser.


He's right, have you never used a transit?


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## naptown CR (Feb 20, 2009)

What the F**K is the difference between a rotary laser and a 4 foot level. OK one shoots a cool light and one doesn't. they are both levels and the only difference is one reaches farther than the other. everything else is the same pretend its a 4' level and do everything like it was that and it will work out if not then you really don't know what the H**L you are doing and that scares me.


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## eric131 (May 19, 2009)

no ive never had to use a transit


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## loneframer (Feb 13, 2009)

eric131 said:


> how do i go about using the laser to achieve this depth accurately?


 Measure down from the reference line projected by the level. If that is not enough information, you are in over your head. I'm not being rude, I'm being truthful.


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## naptown CR (Feb 20, 2009)

loneframer said:


> Measure down from the reference line projected by the level. If that is not enough information, you are in over your head. I'm not being rude, I'm being truthful.


 This is the absolute truth and Loneframer is in a much better mood than I am.


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## ChrWright (Jul 17, 2007)

A man's got to know his limitations.

It's one thing if you're learning on your own house. Quite another if you're gambling with someone else's.


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## loneframer (Feb 13, 2009)

naptown CR said:


> This is the absolute truth and Loneframer is in a much better mood than I am.


 Why you so grumpy?:w00t::laughing:


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## katoman (Apr 26, 2009)

eric131 said:


> Wow, I am suprised by the rude response. Give me a email address and ill send you plenty of pics of my work. i have never use a rotary laser before and have never dug my own footings before. i am a framer and a general contractor. i usually sub out excavating and concrete. it was a legitimate question that i needed an answer to. im sure before you became the big shot builder/remodeler you think you are that someone explained some things to you. im sure you had questions from time to time. thanks for the help.


If you really were a framer, or a carpenter you would know how to do this. Carpentry 101:laughing:


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## naptown CR (Feb 20, 2009)

loneframer said:


> Why you so grumpy?:w00t::laughing:


Let me see 
Overqualified for every job I have applied for
Out of work for almost 6 months
Spent 35 years in residential construction and can't get an interview doing commercial which is the only thing shaking around here but you need a top secret clearance to do it.
Way too many MORONS here today that can't figure out a basic offset problem and call themselves General contractors.
That would be the short list


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## Kgmz (Feb 9, 2007)

eric131 said:


> i am a framer and a general contractor.


If you are a framer, how did you check the foundation before you set the sill plate and framed the floor system.

I hope you did check to see if it was level and square, because they usually are not.


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## Haroldo (Feb 28, 2009)

Hey
I thought this was a forum, not a put down. Hope some day you guys may have questions, even if simple ones, and can get the answer without all the c___p


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## loneframer (Feb 13, 2009)

naptown CR said:


> Let me see
> Overqualified for every job I have applied for
> Out of work for almost 6 months
> Spent 35 years in residential construction and can't get an interview doing commercial which is the only thing shaking around here but you need a top secret clearance to do it.
> ...


 OK, you have good reason to be grumpy, I hope things get better for you. In the meantime enjoy handing out the beatings, I for one enjoy the carnage.:thumbup:


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## katoman (Apr 26, 2009)

Level, plumb, square? Watchu mean man?


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## katoman (Apr 26, 2009)

Haroldo said:


> Hey
> I thought this was a forum, not a put down. Hope some day you guys may have questions, even if simple ones, and can get the answer without all the c___p


Yes, this is a forum for tradespeople. The guy claims to be a general contractor and a framer (carpenter) and he doesn't know how to determine excavation depth? Give me a break


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## kevjob (Aug 14, 2006)

:blink::blink:


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## kevjob (Aug 14, 2006)

eric131 said:


> no ive never had to use a transit


 ..................


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## naptown CR (Feb 20, 2009)

loneframer said:


> OK, you have good reason to be grumpy, I hope things get better for you. In the meantime enjoy handing out the beatings, I for one enjoy the carnage.:thumbup:


 Thank you for your support.
Why is it always the guys with one or two posts that ask questions like this? They are always a GC. and get bent out of shape when someone questions their ability. I am beginning to think that GC stands for goofy co**su**er


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## katoman (Apr 26, 2009)

Just wait till all those unemployed auto workers hit the streets. They all got pick ups and ladders. 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAArrrg


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## naptown CR (Feb 20, 2009)

katoman said:


> Just wait till all those unemployed auto workers hit the streets. They all got pick ups and ladders.
> 
> AAAAAAAAAAAAAArrrg


My head just f**king exploded


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## katoman (Apr 26, 2009)

naptown CR said:


> My head just f**king exploded


Sorry man, maybe they'll go into car detailing.:laughing:


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## PA woodbutcher (Mar 29, 2007)

katoman said:


> Just wait till all those unemployed auto workers hit the streets. They all got pick ups and ladders.
> 
> AAAAAAAAAAAAAArrrg


Don't forget the salesman....gonna be a ton of those too. Don't worry though change is a comin. Teachers will be out of school soon also.:sad:


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## copusbuilder (Nov 8, 2005)

Give the guy a break. You sound like a bunch of dicks:shutup:


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## greg24k (May 19, 2007)

I don't think anyone here had theirs dick in a bunch to know the sound they make :whistling Give us an example, you sound like a guy who been there and done that :whistling 



copusbuilder said:


> Give the guy a break. You sound like a bunch of dicks:shutup:


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## CharlesD (Feb 12, 2007)

A gallon of koolaid and fifty feet of clear plastic, flexible tubing should do the job.


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## naptown CR (Feb 20, 2009)

CharlesD said:


> A gallon of koolaid and fifty feet of clear plastic, flexible tubing should do the job.


 The old poor mans transit/laser


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## loneframer (Feb 13, 2009)

copusbuilder said:


> Give the guy a break. You sound like a bunch of dicks:shutup:


 I am a dick, so what?


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## tgeb (Feb 9, 2006)

eric131 said:


> I need to shoot grade with a rotary laser and have never used one. I need to dig for a foundation wall and want to go down 44" from top of existing foundation for an addition. how do i go about using the laser to achieve this depth accurately?


I'll handle this one. I do believe he is a GC, I have worked for many GC's who could not find their a$$ with both hands. So it is quite possible this fellow is legit.

Here is the procedure I use all the time:

1) Set the laser up so that the beam will project above the level of the existing foundation.

2) Place the receiver on a grade rod and place the grade rod on the existing foundation wall, if you can't get it on the wall, drive a nail between the wall and sill plate and set on the nail.

3) Adjust the receiver to get the "on grade" display, tighten into place.

4) Measure up the grade rod the 44" you need for the foundation depth. Mark the rod.

5) Place the receiver in the marked location.

6) Dig till you get to the correct depth.

7) Send rbsremodeling $20, cash only. He handles my collections. :shifty: 

Good luck, send some pictures of the progress.


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## naptown CR (Feb 20, 2009)

tgeb said:


> I'll handle this one. I do believe he is a GC, I have worked for many GC's who could not find their a$$ with both hands. So it is quite possible this fellow is legit.
> 
> Here is the procedure I use all the time:
> 
> ...


You have now ruined all our fun.


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## loneframer (Feb 13, 2009)

naptown CR said:


> You have now ruined all our fun.


 And I just called myself a Richard:furious:


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## wyoming 1 (May 7, 2008)

Don't worry he will post back wanting to know how bad it was to put gas in the diesel backhoe he rented or how to get the boom unlocked


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## tgeb (Feb 9, 2006)

naptown CR said:


> You have now ruined all our fun.


Ruined the fun?? Just wait for the pictures, I'm sure there will be more fun to be had! :jester:


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## naptown CR (Feb 20, 2009)

tgeb said:


> Ruined the fun?? Just wait for the pictures, I'm sure there will be more fun to be had! :jester:


But I need some now, please someone ask how much to bid something


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## katoman (Apr 26, 2009)

Does anyone want to tell him he has to match existing footings? etc.etc.etc. :w00t: Hire a contractor!


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## OGStilts (Aug 30, 2007)

tgeb said:


> I'll handle this one. I do believe he is a GC, I have worked for many GC's who could not find their a$$ with both hands. So it is quite possible this fellow is legit.


HEY!! I resemble that remark! I'm still trying to figure out how to work my tape measure!


I think this a great example for that thread a couple of weeks ago about what makes you a General Contractor. Even if he typically subs out his work to excavators and concrete crews.....who double checks their work? 

What do you mean I have to check their work? I thought I just got to sit in my truck all day, watch the guys work, and when this crew is done I can call the next guy on the schedule and tell him I need him to start yesterday. I just hide when the inspectors show up....I'm so afraid they might ask me a question about something construction related!


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## BuiltByMAC (Mar 11, 2006)

ChrWright said:


> Wow... sounds like the stone age...:wallbash: Get yourself an audible receiver :thumbsup:.


I've got a grade rod and an audible receiver. I've used them once or twice...
found the grade rod cumbersome and the audible receiver not precise enough.

When I shoot a laser out, I can measure down from ledger to dot and have a number that works all the way around the house. Align the laser over my footings and I've got a measurement from footing to laser. 
Add those two and I've got total rise from footing to top of ledger. 
Then, it's just simple math figuring post heights.

When I'm pullin' tape off the dot, I've got 1/8" margin of error, depending on size of dot. I usually measure from center of dot. When using the audible receiver, I've not been able to get a continuous tone for that tight of a tolerance.

I'm perfectly willing to accept that my methods are stone-age (funny term seeing how we're talkin' about lasers!!) - do you have pointers for updating my process?

Mac


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## naptown CR (Feb 20, 2009)

lou5577 said:


> :clap::whistlingarty:WOW i just registered an came to this page ..Holy SH--T are you guys gonna bite my head off if i ask a stupid ,lame ,back to 1st year carpentry school question like that.


That would be yes


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## shanekw1 (Mar 20, 2008)

BuiltByMAC said:


> found the grade rod cumbersome and the audible receiver not precise enough.


I only use the receiver if I'm grading a sloped driveway or something. If I'm laying out posts or anything like that it's the rotary laser line and a tape for me.


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## ChrWright (Jul 17, 2007)

BuiltByMAC said:


> I've got a grade rod and an audible receiver. I've used them once or twice...
> found the grade rod cumbersome and the audible receiver not precise enough.
> 
> When I shoot a laser out, I can measure down from ledger to dot and have a number that works all the way around the house. Align the laser over my footings and I've got a measurement from footing to laser.
> ...


Naaa, not for what you do... I use the dot & tape as well to be more precise...

But for footers, excavation, grading, etc... audible is the only way to go.


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## CharlesD (Feb 12, 2007)

Seeing the picture reminded me how much I hated working with Advance Forms.


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## tgeb (Feb 9, 2006)

BuiltByMAC said:


> I've got a grade rod and an audible receiver. I've used them once or twice...
> found the grade rod cumbersome and the audible receiver not precise enough.
> 
> 
> ...


Yes.

The most accurate way to measure with a receiver is to move the receiver into the beam from above or below consistently from the same direction, when you get tone use that point.

As you have found, the width of the beam and the "window" of on grade can make for a pretty wide margin of error, by essentially using the edge of the beam and the edge of the "window" you can increase the accuracy of the layout.


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## Kgmz (Feb 9, 2007)

Most laser detectors have 3 settings for beam sensitivity.

Mine are 
fine .75mm or less than 1/32"
medium 1.5mm or less than 1/16"
Coarse 3mm or less than 1/8"


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## lou5577 (May 21, 2009)

Don`t remind me!


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## eelliottcanes (May 29, 2013)

*Gc b.s*

Eric 131 don't let these tough guys bother you....its why you will NEVER find a real working man with a kind word about a GC....arrogant, know it all ,pin*&%#&'s....save it tough guys everybody had a first time....well wait some GC's probably have not had their "first time" shut your pieholes


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## Dirtywhiteboy (Oct 15, 2010)

eelliottcanes said:


> Eric 131 don't let these tough guys bother you....its why you will NEVER find a real working man with a kind word about a GC....arrogant, know it all ,pin*&%#&'s....save it tough guys everybody had a first time....well wait some GC's probably have not had their "first time" shut your pieholes


4 years old:whistling............................................................:laughing::clap:


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## rotarex (Mar 31, 2008)

Dirtywhiteboy said:


> 4 years old:whistling............................................................:laughing::clap:


He came back with Vengeance, and a new name :laughing:


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