Thought 3D scanning in the field was a gimmick until a 1920s warehouse job in Baltimore changed my mind
I used to think those handheld scanners were just a way to sell gadgets to guys who never had to hit a tolerance on paper. Then we took on a renovation of a 1920s warehouse in Baltimore and the as-builts were off by almost 14 inches in some spots, which would have blown the whole steel package. We rented a Leica BLK360 for two weeks and the point cloud caught every out of plumb wall and that one column that had been moved in the 70s. Now I still draft everything by hand for smaller jobs, but for anything over 10,000 square feet I'm not skipping the scan again. Curious if anyone here has run into a job where the scan actually missed something important.
I did a scan on a church in Frederick last year and the point cloud somehow missed a whole chimney chase because the scanner was set too close to a wall. Had to go back and rescan the corner. Lesson learned: two setups minimum, always.