Old school chalk lines vs the laser I finally caved on

I mean, I held out for years, like since maybe 2006, using the same chalk line my dad gave me. The one with the crusty blue chalk and a reel that sticks every few snaps. Last month I was doing a long wall in a basement remodel over in Richmond, and my helper kept having to re-snap because the line was getting fuzzy on the concrete. So he pulls out this little green laser level he had in his bag, and we had a dead straight reference in like 20 seconds. I still think there's something honest about the chalk line, but I gotta admit that laser saved us a full morning of re-measuring. Anyone else switch over and never look back, or is it just me being stubborn about the old ways?

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victor_carter5122d ago

Man, my buddy Nate went through the exact same thing last summer. He was doing a garage slab layout and kept fighting with his old chalk line, snapping it four or five times in the same spot because the chalk was clumping up in the humidity. His kid grabbed a cheap laser off the truck and had the whole thing lined up before Nate even finished winding his reel back. Nate swore he'd never touch the chalk line again, then two weeks later he pulled it out for a quick deck job because the laser battery died on him. Funny thing is he told me both tools are staying in his bag now, chalk for the fast small stuff and the laser for anything long or fussy. Sounds like you're not stubborn, you just know when each one earns its keep.

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