That advice about using a level for every shelf turned out to be right

My buddy Dave told me I needed to use a level on every single shelf I hung in my garage. I thought I could just eyeball it since the shelves were small and it was just a storage space. After the third shelf, I noticed things kept rolling off to one side. I grabbed his level and checked my first shelf, it was off by almost a quarter inch. I had to redo all three shelves and it took me an extra two hours. Has anyone else skipped the level and regretted it later?

2 comments

2 Comments

jade_hunt4827d ago

and honestly that's how it goes with a lot of things in life right. we always think we can cut corners or our own judgment is good enough but then the small mistakes pile up and you're stuck fixing everything twice. it's like cooking without measuring spices you might get lucky once but the next batch will be way off. or when I try to guess how much time a project will take and end up doubling it. the lesson is usually the same cheap tools or shortcuts save you a few minutes but cost you hours later. so did you end up buying your own level after that or do you just borrow Dave's every time.

casey_torres6027d ago

Oh come on, "cheap tools or shortcuts save you a few minutes but cost you hours later" is such a blanket statement. I've been cutting corners my whole life and it works out fine more often than not. Like I built a whole deck last summer using nothing but a tape measure I found at a garage sale and a level that was clearly bent, and it still looks solid two years in. Yeah sometimes you mess up but the time you save by not overthinking everything adds up way more than the occasional do-over.