Laser Level

I own a large and medium sized Stanley fat max levels and they have served me well. I struggled a bit recently when setting the datum line for bathroom tiling. I’ve got a kitchen fit to do soon and thought that a laser level would be helpful.

I’m a DIY enthusiast as opposed to a builder and would like some recommendations on what may be suitable? I am looking for accuracy and a decent price of course

Thanks in advance.

settings
DEWALT DW088K SELF-LEVELLING LINE LASER

Hands down the best for the price in my opinion. Was £99 at Christmas in a Black Friday deal so you might get cheaper than what Screwfix are offering now (£139)

Thanks @pads1111. The reviews for this seem very good. Will search some more and may have some further questions. A couple for now please.
- if a room was 4m x 4m, would this beam a horizontal line which goes across all four walls and presumably the line is continuous?
- How does the self-levelling work? If I fit it on a stand or fix it to a wall when shooting across the beam, does it automatically get the horizontal line level - despite it being fixed to the wall in a crooked manner?
- How does the accuracy in the 4mx4m room compare to my stanley fat max level?

Thanks for your help.

Jupiter01 said:

Thanks @pads1111. The reviews for this seem very good. Will search some more and may have some further questions. A couple for now please.
- if a room was 4m x 4m, would this beam a horizontal line which goes across all four walls and presumably the line is continuous?
- How does the self-levelling work? If I fit it on a stand or fix it to a wall when shooting across the beam, does it automatically get the horizontal line level - despite it being fixed to the wall in a crooked manner?
- How does the accuracy in the 4mx4m room compare to my stanley fat max level?

Thanks for your help.

Click to expand...

Decent ones self level and give an audible warning when they can't.

a long plastic tube and some water - if it is only something you are going to use once or twice a year than why go to the expense of a laser level, they are no more accurate than gravity on water.

Jupiter01 said:

Thanks @pads1111. The reviews for this seem very good. Will search some more and may have some further questions. A couple for now please.
- if a room was 4m x 4m, would this beam a horizontal line which goes across all four walls and presumably the line is continuous?
- How does the self-levelling work? If I fit it on a stand or fix it to a wall when shooting across the beam, does it automatically get the horizontal line level - despite it being fixed to the wall in a crooked manner?
- How does the accuracy in the 4mx4m room compare to my stanley fat max level?

Thanks for your help.

Click to expand...

@juniper
It comes with a clip that is magnetic, and the back of the laser is magnetic too. I very rarely use the bracket as the magnet is good and will stick to Plasterer’s angle bead even once it’s been skimmed. There’s also a hole in the back so I’ll knock a nail I and hang it Over that aswell. The laser swivels so facing off the wall it fixes to I’ll swivel to the left when working on that wall and to the right when working on the other
The self leveller flashes of it tilted too far but it’s very forgiving.
It does vertical aswell and is accurate
To 0.3mm per metre so 1.2mm Over your 4m room

pads1111 said:

Jupiter01 said:

Thanks @pads1111. The reviews for this seem very good. Will search some more and may have some further questions. A couple for now please.
- if a room was 4m x 4m, would this beam a horizontal line which goes across all four walls and presumably the line is continuous?
- How does the self-levelling work? If I fit it on a stand or fix it to a wall when shooting across the beam, does it automatically get the horizontal line level - despite it being fixed to the wall in a crooked manner?
- How does the accuracy in the 4mx4m room compare to my stanley fat max level?

Thanks for your help.

Click to expand...

@juniper
It comes with a clip that is magnetic, and the back of the laser is magnetic too. I very rarely use the bracket as the magnet is good and will stick to Plasterer’s angle bead even once it’s been skimmed. There’s also a hole in the back so I’ll knock a nail I and hang it Over that aswell. The laser swivels so facing off the wall it fixes to I’ll swivel to the left when working on that wall and to the right when working on the other
The self leveller flashes of it tilted too far but it’s very forgiving.
It does vertical aswell and is accurate
To 0.3mm per metre so 1.2mm Over your 4m room

Click to expand...

Thanks @pads1111 very helpful.
Will it beam a horizontal light across all 4 walls at the same time? Apologies if that is a silly question but I've never used one.

You need a 360° one for all 4 walls
https://www.dewalt.com/products/han...ers/12v-max--3-x-360-green-line-laser/dw089lg

Whilst a 360 degree laser is nice (I use one for trade) it is going to be very expensive and not wholly necessary for the sort of use you will be putting it to. A cross line generally covers somewhere around 180 degrees field of view and TBH if set up in one corner and swivelled as required you should be able to cover pretty much all of the room with minimal movement. The main thing to be aware of is that with lasers the line has discernable width, so you need to set your "tick marks" on the wall at the middle of the beam (and you'd probably be amazed at how many idiots I work with who still can't get that into their thick heads). Even a 360 degree laser will have small "blind spots" (4 of them) where no line will be visible. This is because the protective cover over the pendulum has four metal legs to hold the top cover in place. The only way round that is to go to a rotating laser - a major step up in cost and frankly not worth for most tradesmen let alone a DIYer

The self levelling works by means of the lens assembly being mounted on a pendulum which is free to find it's own position. That means all you need to do is to is to physically set the level to within 5 degrees of level and the pendulum does the rest. Not all lasers beep if they are out of level - some of the older deWalts certainly don't, they flash, as do all the Bosch lasers I've used (although they do also beep). Worth bearing that some lasers (e.g the basic DW models) lack a pendulum lock. A pendulum lock allows you to use the laser to project a non level line, e.g a line up a stair wall to position a handrail. This can be useful in some circumstances. Also be aware that even lasers have a degree of error in them (they often run out 3 to 4mm level over 10 metres which is regarded as acceptable)

Line colour is another issue. More basic lasers use a red line, not a green one. This is more difficult to see in bright light (so you need to close the curtains/ cover the windows and set out in semi darkness), but they are a lot cheaper than green lasers. Green lasers are more visible in better lit conditions (because the human eye is more sensitive to green that red) but even they cannot be seen in bright sunlit conditions. There's nothing wrong with red line lasers (I used them for 20 years before going to a green laser this year), it's just that they are less useful in brightly lit situations, something easily overcome with a bit of ingenuity and some black Visqueen DPM

The pendulem lock on my Dewalt laser disables the beam so works a little differently for working at an angle.
It self levels from 0 to 5°, then flashes until around 10° when it changes mode to work at an angle.
The angled beam line is interupted every few seconds by 3 quick flashes to warn its not measuring on the level

OK I may kick the apple cart over here but I've got a cross line level from Lidl for £19.99 (available on ebay for 15.99 upwards) - it's got a standard (camera) tripod thread on the underside and my unit at least works a treat. I tend to pop it on a cheap photography telescopic light stand and there's enough rotation on the thread that you can set a 360 level with very little effort - either that or I use a manfrotto super clamp and (rip-off) magic arm.

Not kicking the cart over at all. I quite agree with you that you can often get more than acceptable results from fairly basic (i.e. low cost) kit if you learn how to use it. I've even worked with trade tilers who used fairly low cost Stanley cross line lasers because they are at least as accurate as trying to set out a line round a room with a 600mm level (probably more accurate) and if they got trashed doing the job it wasn't going to make the guy's eyes water (you'll note that I wasn't recommending any particular approach or model of level).

Had a flier from plumbfix this am
For anyone wanting a laser tripod

https://www.screwfix.com/p/magnusso...mpaign=E20W02P&utm_content=DOTD&utm_term=DOTD