Rant: laser levels keep lying to me on long walls

Been using a rotary laser for reveals and corners for about 6 months now. Last week I had a 40 foot run of brick in Topeka and the thing was off by over a quarter inch at the far end. I checked the bubble, checked the tripod, even swapped to a different battery. Turned out the wall I clamped it to was ever so slightly out of plumb and it threw the whole line. My old string line would've caught that immediately. Am I the only one who still runs a string for anything over 25 feet? Or do you guys trust the green beam and just check it twice?

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iris_jones8927d ago

You mentioned the wall you clamped to being slightly out of plumb, and that's exactly the trap that gets me every time. Those green beams are great for speed but they assume your mounting point is dead true. I still run a string line for anything past 30 feet, no question. The beam can lie to you through a bad clamp, a wiggly tripod leg, or even the laser bouncing off a wet brick edge. What I do now is set the laser, then take two quick measurements at the far end with a tape before I trust it. If it's off by more than a hair, I go back to the string and never feel bad about it. A string line might take an extra minute but it doesn't have a battery or a bubble that drifts.