Ripped out a whole staircase because I trusted a level from 2008

Honestly, I just spent last weekend tearing apart a set of stairs I built in my own basement because they wobbled like crazy. I kept checking with my old 2 foot level that I got from a yard sale years ago and everything looked fine. Ngl, after I packed up and left the job for the day, I came back the next morning and realized the level itself was bent on one edge. I bought a new level from Home Depot for like 40 bucks and checked every tread I had already cut - a solid 8 of them were off by almost a quarter inch each. Has anyone else had a tool just quietly go bad on them and cause a ton of rework? I'm thinking of buying a new level every 3 years now just to be safe.

3 comments

3 Comments

ruby_jones3d ago

My grandfather's 1970s Stanley level is still dead on, so I always thought that older tools were built better and would last forever. But then I grabbed my dad's 90s era level to check a floor slope last year, tossed it on a concrete slab, and the bubble was reading level on a spot I knew had a clear 1/8 inch drop. That thing sat in a hot truck for twenty summers and the vial must have shifted. It changed my mind completely. Now I keep a digital level for critical work and I'm not ashamed to replace my old ones every couple years even if they look fine.

wade87122h ago

Bet you've got a good point there about the battery fear. I've had my digital level die on me once mid job and I had to run back to the truck for a spare battery pack. But here's what gets me - how often do you actually check your old bubble levels for accuracy? Like do you have a test spot at home or on site where you flip it around to make sure it's still reading true, or do you just trust it till something like your story happens?

betty_wells2d ago

That thing about the vial shifting after sitting in a hot truck is wild, I never even thought of that. But here's what I gotta ask you about the digital level thing - do you ever worry about the battery dying mid job and leaving you stranded? I ran across a guy framing a deck last spring who was using a digital level and his phone for everything, then his level died and his phone was at like 5% and he had no backup. Kinda made me think having a good old fashioned bubble level as a backup is smarter than just going all digital, even if the old ones can go bad on you.