Water level

[biker]

Does anybody use a water level. I read you can make a water level with a 5 gallon bucket and 3/8 clear tubing. I want to level a 30 x 60 floor for concrete. Will this work or should I rent a transket ( can't spell).

Thanks

 

[walrus]

Does anybody use a water level. I read you can make a water level with a 5 gallon bucket and 3/8 clear tubing. I want to level a 30 x 60 floor for concrete. Will this work or should I rent a transket ( can't spell).

Thanks

I know a guy who has erected gasoline canopies all over the East Coast and all he ever uses is a water level. He hates transits and won't use them. The water level always works, no adjustments. All he has tubing though, no 5 gallon bucket?

 

[ddawg16]

Water level.....

1. Needs no power.
2. Needs no calibration
3. As accurate as your eyesite.
4. Cheap.

Sometimes simple is best.....

 

[sammerdog]

Ditto with using clear tubing (no idea what the bucket is for). Put up quite a few fences over the years and installed a couple pools with the clear tube & water trick. Or a length of clear tubing on each end of a garden hose.

One thing I learned the hard way though - if half of your tubing is in the shade and half is in direct sunlight, the warmer water WILL affect your "levelness"..... crazy, but true.

 

[rockwithjason]

get some clear vynil(sp?) tubing from home depot. 3/8 is usually best. fill the tube with water until you have about a foot on each end that is dry and rest is full. if you have a hard time seeing the water level add some food coloring. use a cork or something to plug the ends between uses. you can use the level to set bench marks on different walls or posts or whatever and you will always have a level reference point to measure from.

here are some links
http://www.factsfacts.com/MyHomeRepair/WaterLevel.htm

http://watrlevel.com/waterlevels.htm

http://www.taunton.com/finehomebuil...ng-skills/making-and-using-a-water-level.aspx

 

[bgott]

The water levels I have used to level mobile homes were made out of a 100' roll of 3/8" clear tubing and used a gallon jug of windshield washer antifreeze for the liquid fill. You can see the blue AF and then you can use it when you are done leveling. To fill the tube you stick one end in the jug and blow in the jug around the tube.

Like this, http://www.180039atlas.com/products/tools/water-level-steel/prod_630.html, but it's a hair cheaper if you build it yourself.

http://www.180039atlas.com/products/tools/deluxe-water-level/prod_632.html, for the up- town leveler.

 

[mmg440]

Funny years ago I actually bought a zircon electric water level. It beeps when you are at the same level. Water is forced up the tube and hits a sensor at the senor line on one side of the tube filled with water. Frustrating because it is somewhat slow to respond and you were not sure were it ended up after the water settled. (they should of had a sight glass on the thing so you could see the water line). I ended up just setting up the tubing and reading both sides off of that. So much for technology. Level points can always be measured from with a tape measure and no sensor was required.

 

[pipehack]

Rent a laser !!! Simple . Very simple and accurate as hell!!!!! My father in law likes to show off once in a while with that old school stuff and it's nothing more than a waste of time.

 

[nadogail]

Hydraulic Levels, they work fine and last a long time.

Affordable too

 

[rieferman]

I have this one, attaches to a garden hose and has shutoffs built in so you can stop the water flow it you want:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004YZP8/?tag=atomicindus08-20


You could build this yourself, but for $11 and free shipping, why would you want to?

Note, I did find that using the water level all by yourself takes some practice. I ended up using a clamp to hold one end to something stationary, while I held the other end.

Although, for a concrete floor job, I'd use a laser personally.

 

[nate379]

I never figured out how they work. I know when my Dad built garage #1 in 1990/91 that is what he used to set the forms for the slab.

 

[walrus]

Rent a laser !!! Simple . Very simple and accurate as hell!!!!! My father in law likes to show off once in a while with that old school stuff and it's nothing more than a waste of time.

What if you set up the laser wrong? It happens. What if someone dropped the laser and you don't know it? This has happened to my buddy thats why he insists on using his simple water level

 

[fomocoforrester]

Great for painting waterlines on boats.

 

[biker]

Thanks guys for the responce. For a one time job a bucket and some 3/8 clear tubing is cheap. It's Like you guys said a water level is as accurate as your eye can read a rule. I read that a water level is always accurate and don't need calabreating like a laser level. Like one said if the laser is not level or has been dropped you wont get a accurate reading. I will take some pictures of my water level and post them to hear what you guys think about my setup soon.

Thanks

 

[stick004]

Can someone tell me how this works? or link to an explaination... I'm young and dumb and well, let's just leave it at that. I do realize that water is always level.

Nic

 

[auto-x fil]

I do realize that water is always level.

That's all there is to it. If you run a length of tube along the ground between two points, and then run it vertically for a bit at each end, water in the tube will be at the same height on both ends of the tube. You can either adjust the water to get to the height you want, or measure from wherever it ends up to where you want to be.

 

[Gary S]

My brother has a transit I can borrow whenever I'm building something. If he didn't have the transit, I'd just use a water level.

 

[FunfDreisig]

That's all there is to it. If you run a length of tube along the ground between two points, and then run it vertically for a bit at each end, water in the tube will be at the same height on both ends of the tube. You can either adjust the water to get to the height you want, or measure from wherever it ends up to where you want to be.

The PHYSICS of a water level are simple. The USE of long plastic tube partially full of water to make accurate measurements with only one person is not quite so simple. Like holding both ends of a flexible tube vertically stable while making measurements, adding more water, etc..

FWIW I have used water levels a lot. But when I started building my 3 bay garage, I bought a self leveling 5 point laser. As they say, I'll never go back [unless my batteries run out]

Funf Dreisig

 

[biker]

Ok! Here is my water level I made from a bucket and 100 feet of 3/8 clear tubing. I also made a stand to hold the open end of the tubing up so I can measure to level with a wooden ruler from a known hight point. This floor is 30 x 60 and is with end a 1/2 now. One end was 24 inches lower to start with. I used a Skid steer loader and a atv 4 wheeler with a 4 foot scraper blade and a shovel and it took a week and a half to get it this way. Here are some pictures of my water level.