DIYbanter - View Single Post - Leveling lot for pole barn. Help how to measure.

wrote:
I got some rebar and used them as "stakes" for where my building will
be. I stretched a string between each one. To measure the difference in
level of the ground, how do I put up the string? I mean, do I put one
end on the ground and the other at level? What I am having trouble with
is I can get the line level in the center, but if I slide it ot eiher
end the bubble is off.

Does any of this make any sense? What I am trying to do is determine
how "off" my ground is from being level.

I bought a peep sight level 30 years ago and have used it ever since.
The level cost $25 and I bought a regular rod that cost $45. I cut a
piece of 2 X 2 exactly 5 feet long and cut a vee notch in the top of it
that sets the level's centerline at exactly 5 feet. Looking through the
peepsight level with your legs spread, you see the level mark and a
precision bubble. Get the bubble level and read the rod. Subtract the
5 feet and there you are. I have done a lot of landscaping, leveling
for building sites and even building walls with this setup. As someone
also said, if in doubt, check from both ends. Don't drink and level.
Unless you set the rod up, you need 2 people to do this efficiently.
I recently got a somewhat expensive self leveling laser that
produces very bright dots over about a 10 degree arc. Its rotation is
controlled by a remote, so you can set it up, go to the place you want
to mark and, if there's no dot exactly there, you just hit the remote
until one comes your way.
In the daytime and outside, I still like the peepsight level.

Pete Stanaitis