The $230 laser level from the pawn shop in Gary taught me more than my 15 years on the line

Hugo Grant · 2026-10-11T04:30:04.698479+00:00

I spent $230 on a used rotary laser level at a pawn shop in Gary, Indiana about two months ago, mostly because my old bubble level kept giving me fits on a 40 foot wall we were running on a commercial job. First week out it was dead on, saved me maybe three hours of stringing and re-checking, and the foreman even asked where I got it. Then last Tuesday it started drifting about a quarter inch over 30 feet and I didn't notice until we were 200 blocks in on a corner. Had to tear out and relay half a course, which cost me a full day and a lot of grief from the GC. Turned out the tripod mount was bent from the previous owner, so the tool was fine but the base was junk. The real lesson was that I trusted a machine over my own eye, and that is a habit I picked up somewhere along the way without noticing it. Any of you older guys still check your work by hand even when the laser says you are good?

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The $230 laser level from the pawn shop in Gary taught me more than my 15 years on the line | Bricklayers - Librear