Serious question, did anyone else think a 6-foot level was overkill for setting posts until they had to redo a 40-foot section in Chandler?

I used to eyeball it with a 2-footer, but after that job where the top rail had a visible dip you could spot from the street, my foreman said, 'You're not building a fence, you're building a straight line,' and now I won't touch a post hole without the big level.

3 comments

3 Comments

the_brian1mo ago

I learned that lesson the hard way too. My first solo fence looked like a roller coaster track. Now that six-foot level feels like a security blanket.

sethk501mo ago

My first deck build I figured eyeballing it was good enough. That thing had a two inch slope over eight feet before I gave up and bought a proper level. Now I check every other post with the four-footer and the long one for the runs.

cameron_chen1mo ago

Honestly, I read this article where an old carpenter said a short level is for checking your work, but a long level is for doing your work. That stuck with me. Tbh, it's all about catching the curve over distance, which a two-footer just can't see. You don't realize how off you are until you step back and see the whole line. Now I feel naked on a site without that six-foot stick.