Back during my largely misspent youth I used to work in construction, mainly remodels and roofing, but a little new construction also.
I finally managed to get my own home, but it needs some work.
Its what they call pier and beam construction, which is a fancy way to say its held up with concrete blocks.
Looks to be a 4" x 4" x 16" base, with an 8" x 8" x 16" solid cinder block standing on end in the center of the base, and the framing rests on these.
House is just a little over 1100sq ft or so, and was built in 1955. Its what they call a 'cracker box' down here in Fl I gather, a basic rectangle with a porch off one end. The porch was later closed in to become a laundry room, and an addition (dining room) off the long side, was added later - around 1984 I think.
Place is in fairly good condition basically, but the previous owners have gone about repairs/upgrades pretty much backwards. Nice new paint, decent fixtures, tile bath, new flooring, etc....
But I've already had to have a section of the roof reshingled due to a bad owner patch job - they turned a 15 minute bucket of tar patch job into a $500 repair pretty much.
I also had to throw down a quick 3/4" subfloor in the converted porch/laundry room before I moved in. It was still the original beaded decking from '55, which was getting a little soft.
I had to do the same thing in the 10x18 shed out back, fairly new shed, but not a strong enough floor to support my tool boxes/tools etc....
So having done the 'emergency' repairs as mentioned above - plus fix the shower faucet which they didn't replace when they redid the bathroom and was leaking behind the wall, I am now moving on to siding/windows/doors, etc....
The front door doesn't open all the way, and there is a noticeable drop in one corner of a bedroom floor, and a high spot in the living room.
Not bad for its age really, and its a fair bet the house has never been leveled since it was new. I am lucky in that the land is high and dry, somewhat rare here in west central Florida - most every other place I've lived in down here has had some kind of water/flooding issue.
In any case, I need to level the house before I move on with other repairs, I have located a couple possibilities for someone to do the work at a reasonable rate, one of which has actually leveled at least one other house in the immediate neighborhood.
I haven't gotten ahold of them to talk price yet, so its still possible I will have to do it myself.
Though like many of us I've gotten older and fatter and there isn't a lot of room under there - 16" - give or take. I would also have to buy more bottle jacks and round up blocking and metal plates and what have you.
Not to mention I'm not fond of spiders and there may be a couple under there - quite likely Brown Recluse which are fairly common here and not something you want to get bit by.
So if its not crazy high, somebody else will be under there, but still I want to know exactly what need to be done ahead of time, and be able to check the work as it goes and after its done.
Given the age of my construction experience I was thinking an assortment of levels and the faithful old string line to map all this out, but when looking around for a new 6' level I was reminded of laser levels.
We never had those back when I did construction and later when they came out I recall they were considered kind of gimmicky. It appears they have come a long way since them and look like they would actually work and be pretty handy.
I decided I wanted one of those plane levels, like the Bosch GLL2-80 dual plane, and its companion receiver for outdoor work - like under the house itself perhaps, and for later when I put down some concrete, and fencing and what not.
Then I checked the price and decided I could get by without a plane laser. The 2-80 is about $400 by the time you add tax, plus $150ish for the receiver, and then you kind of need a tripod, so $700 or better.
Plus one isn't available locally, so I would have to have it shipped, and being a delicate instrument compared to some of the stuff I have had mangled during shipping in the past I'd prefer to avoid that if possible.
Which brings us to the Bosch GCL 2-160 S. Its not a plane laser, but rather a dual line laser. I will have to move it a little more during use, but its available locally at home depot, so I can return it for a replacement if I get a dud, and its $179 plus tax.
I will still have to order the receiver online, but its only $80 ish plus tax.
Its also a lighter laser and I can use the $36 tripod (instead of the $150 one), also available at home depot.
So about $350 or less for the whole setup, laser, receiver, and tripod vs the $700 or more for the dual plane setup.
I figure I can set it up in one corner of a room, get most of that room and move it to another corner and get the rest, plus get reference marks in hallways/other rooms if necessary.
It can also use a receiver in pulse mode I gather, which makes it more useable in bright light/outdoors and also extends the range to 165ft.
I'm not having a great deal of luck finding 'real' reviews of the GCL 2-160 S, or many laser levels at all. Some, but mostly generic stuff I could figure out from the ad copy myself.
So what I would like to ask fellow GJ users is if anyone has any experience with this particular level (GCL 2-160 S) or has a better comparable alternative.
Also if anyone knows of a good home repair/remodel website/forum I would appreciate hearing about that as well. I've found a couple, but none were really targeted toward what I'm looking at, or weren't active enough to bother setting up an account for.
Thanks.
I finally managed to get my own home, but it needs some work.
Its what they call pier and beam construction, which is a fancy way to say its held up with concrete blocks.
Looks to be a 4" x 4" x 16" base, with an 8" x 8" x 16" solid cinder block standing on end in the center of the base, and the framing rests on these.
House is just a little over 1100sq ft or so, and was built in 1955. Its what they call a 'cracker box' down here in Fl I gather, a basic rectangle with a porch off one end. The porch was later closed in to become a laundry room, and an addition (dining room) off the long side, was added later - around 1984 I think.
Place is in fairly good condition basically, but the previous owners have gone about repairs/upgrades pretty much backwards. Nice new paint, decent fixtures, tile bath, new flooring, etc....
But I've already had to have a section of the roof reshingled due to a bad owner patch job - they turned a 15 minute bucket of tar patch job into a $500 repair pretty much.
I also had to throw down a quick 3/4" subfloor in the converted porch/laundry room before I moved in. It was still the original beaded decking from '55, which was getting a little soft.
I had to do the same thing in the 10x18 shed out back, fairly new shed, but not a strong enough floor to support my tool boxes/tools etc....
So having done the 'emergency' repairs as mentioned above - plus fix the shower faucet which they didn't replace when they redid the bathroom and was leaking behind the wall, I am now moving on to siding/windows/doors, etc....
The front door doesn't open all the way, and there is a noticeable drop in one corner of a bedroom floor, and a high spot in the living room.
Not bad for its age really, and its a fair bet the house has never been leveled since it was new. I am lucky in that the land is high and dry, somewhat rare here in west central Florida - most every other place I've lived in down here has had some kind of water/flooding issue.
In any case, I need to level the house before I move on with other repairs, I have located a couple possibilities for someone to do the work at a reasonable rate, one of which has actually leveled at least one other house in the immediate neighborhood.
I haven't gotten ahold of them to talk price yet, so its still possible I will have to do it myself.
Though like many of us I've gotten older and fatter and there isn't a lot of room under there - 16" - give or take. I would also have to buy more bottle jacks and round up blocking and metal plates and what have you.
Not to mention I'm not fond of spiders and there may be a couple under there - quite likely Brown Recluse which are fairly common here and not something you want to get bit by.
So if its not crazy high, somebody else will be under there, but still I want to know exactly what need to be done ahead of time, and be able to check the work as it goes and after its done.
Given the age of my construction experience I was thinking an assortment of levels and the faithful old string line to map all this out, but when looking around for a new 6' level I was reminded of laser levels.
We never had those back when I did construction and later when they came out I recall they were considered kind of gimmicky. It appears they have come a long way since them and look like they would actually work and be pretty handy.
I decided I wanted one of those plane levels, like the Bosch GLL2-80 dual plane, and its companion receiver for outdoor work - like under the house itself perhaps, and for later when I put down some concrete, and fencing and what not.
Then I checked the price and decided I could get by without a plane laser. The 2-80 is about $400 by the time you add tax, plus $150ish for the receiver, and then you kind of need a tripod, so $700 or better.
Plus one isn't available locally, so I would have to have it shipped, and being a delicate instrument compared to some of the stuff I have had mangled during shipping in the past I'd prefer to avoid that if possible.
Which brings us to the Bosch GCL 2-160 S. Its not a plane laser, but rather a dual line laser. I will have to move it a little more during use, but its available locally at home depot, so I can return it for a replacement if I get a dud, and its $179 plus tax.
I will still have to order the receiver online, but its only $80 ish plus tax.
Its also a lighter laser and I can use the $36 tripod (instead of the $150 one), also available at home depot.
So about $350 or less for the whole setup, laser, receiver, and tripod vs the $700 or more for the dual plane setup.
I figure I can set it up in one corner of a room, get most of that room and move it to another corner and get the rest, plus get reference marks in hallways/other rooms if necessary.
It can also use a receiver in pulse mode I gather, which makes it more useable in bright light/outdoors and also extends the range to 165ft.
I'm not having a great deal of luck finding 'real' reviews of the GCL 2-160 S, or many laser levels at all. Some, but mostly generic stuff I could figure out from the ad copy myself.
So what I would like to ask fellow GJ users is if anyone has any experience with this particular level (GCL 2-160 S) or has a better comparable alternative.
Also if anyone knows of a good home repair/remodel website/forum I would appreciate hearing about that as well. I've found a couple, but none were really targeted toward what I'm looking at, or weren't active enough to bother setting up an account for.
Thanks.
