Leveling Ceiling
#1
09-18-16, 01:45 PM
Leveling Ceiling
Hello,
I am having an issue with leveling my ceiling. I currently have furring strips running perpendicular to the joists. I am using self leveling laser level to find the high and low points in the room. Once I have determined the low point, I strung a ferring strip across the cieling to the other side of the room.
Using the laser level I have to two ends at the same height. I strung a rope line across the ceiling along the edge of the ferring strip and then leveled the ferring strip along each joist between the two ends using the rope line as a guide with the two ends. My problem is that even though the ferring strip is right along the rope line, the dimension to the laser varies by as much as 1/8 inch.
What should I level too....the string or the laser?
I am having an issue with leveling my ceiling. I currently have furring strips running perpendicular to the joists. I am using self leveling laser level to find the high and low points in the room. Once I have determined the low point, I strung a ferring strip across the cieling to the other side of the room.
Using the laser level I have to two ends at the same height. I strung a rope line across the ceiling along the edge of the ferring strip and then leveled the ferring strip along each joist between the two ends using the rope line as a guide with the two ends. My problem is that even though the ferring strip is right along the rope line, the dimension to the laser varies by as much as 1/8 inch.
What should I level too....the string or the laser?
#3
09-18-16, 04:42 PM
Chandler,
Thanks for the reply.
Please understand I am a toolmaker by trade. I work with tolerances of +/-.00005 of an inch so a 1/8" deviance is a mile and a half to me. I guess my concern is more along the lines of why the string line and laser line are not the same. Is it something in my set up?
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"Tell me quick said old McFee, what's this all have to with me" -- the same Seger.
Thanks for the reply.
Please understand I am a toolmaker by trade. I work with tolerances of +/-.00005 of an inch so a 1/8" deviance is a mile and a half to me. I guess my concern is more along the lines of why the string line and laser line are not the same. Is it something in my set up?
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"Tell me quick said old McFee, what's this all have to with me" -- the same Seger.
#5
09-18-16, 05:08 PM
I had an older gentleman who worked for Roper Pump Company and dealt with the same tolerances you do. He informed me we couldn't proceed with a project we were working on because in 52' we were out 1/4" 
Luckily it was a church mission trip and I let him live.
Luckily it was a church mission trip and I let him live.
#6
09-18-16, 05:15 PM
Group Moderator
You should have sent him to straighten nails Larry... that would have kept him busy. I want each one "perfectly straight". LOL
#7
09-19-16, 03:25 AM
Don't laugh, back in the 50's I went to jobsites with my dad, and that was my job. None of this throwing bent nails away. They saved everything they pulled or bent driving. Small hammer and concrete block were my tools of the day.
We were raising a 12' wall on a church site when I did send this older gentleman away to "measure". Mainly to get him out of harms way. It was comical when he came running back to us with his profound news.
We were raising a 12' wall on a church site when I did send this older gentleman away to "measure". Mainly to get him out of harms way. It was comical when he came running back to us with his profound news.
#8
09-19-16, 03:47 AM
It seems like engineers are some of the worst when it comes to home construction. They always seem to nit pick the things that don't matter. I had a builder show me a 7 page, single spaced type letter of the things he found wrong with the house. One of the more notables was the substandard lumber used for framing - you know, a few studs with minor cracks, many with knots and without perfectly square edges. He also had a problem with trusses being made from 2x4s and set on 24" centers. He expected 2x6 trusses set on 16" centers ..... and this was a tract home in a subdivision 
I've also straightened many pounds of nails as a youngster and even as a young adult but now I wouldn't even want to consider trying to reuse a bent nail!
I've also straightened many pounds of nails as a youngster and even as a young adult but now I wouldn't even want to consider trying to reuse a bent nail!
#10
09-19-16, 05:46 AM
XSleeper,
I have this string line weighted with a 5lb weight, it hanges over a block I have attached to the bottom of the furring strip on one end. On the other end its looped over another block attached to the bottom side of the strip.
Here's the thing, its the bottom of the furring that is below the string, not the other way around.
I have this string line weighted with a 5lb weight, it hanges over a block I have attached to the bottom of the furring strip on one end. On the other end its looped over another block attached to the bottom side of the strip.
Here's the thing, its the bottom of the furring that is below the string, not the other way around.
#11
09-19-16, 06:01 AM
Group Moderator
Once I have determined the low point,
Here's the thing, its the bottom of the furring that is below the string, not the other way around.
Using the laser level I have to two ends at the same height.
Leveling things is trickier than you think. You can level around a room and get 3 lines perfect and the 4th one will be off. Should match but some times it doesnt. You have human error and mechanical error. No laser common in construction is perfect. Some are +/- 1/8" in 30', which is quite acceptable. Don't drive yourself crazy, you aren't creating a lens for a telescope... and no one will be rolling marbles across your ceiling.
