DecisionalReview.info

Almost good enough

I bought one of these units for a floor that I was installing into an existing home. The first thing I wanted to do was cut open the wall around the perimeter of the room to expose the studs. I mounted the laser on one of the walls and leveled it and drew a line around the room. I checked the level on one wall with an 8′ level and it seemed ok. I moved the laser up 12″ on the same wall and leveled the unit again. The line on the wall that the laser was mounted on was exactly 12″ from the line below. I checked the wall across the room and it ws 11.5″ between the lines. I went back to the laser and noticed it was a little out of level so I re-leveled it. Every time you touch the adjustment knobs (even without turning them) the laser moves slightly (yes it ws secured tightly against the wall) and the bubble moves too far. So you have to adjust the knob…say an eight of a turn and let go and see where the bubble ends up. I had to do this about 15 times before the bubble looked to be perfectly centered on both axis. Then I checked the difference between the lines again. 12″ on one side of the room and 11 3/4 inches on the other side. Bear in mind the room is only 17 feet across. No matter how much time I spent (and I spent a lot of time), I could not get the two lines to be accurate within 1/4 of an inch. Time is money and I spent way too much time trying to level this floor. In the end I don’t have enough confidence to position the headers with this level. So I will get something else and try again. I’m going to probably try the Robo Laser ($250.00) or the David White 900 model ($1,100.00 for the kit). It’s a little difficult to see if the bubble is perfectly centered. There is some shiny metal (pot metal) behind the bubble that makes it almost clearly visable but I would guess a white background might be better. The wall mount unit is really kool in concept, but the plastic rack and pinion mechanism for moving the level up and down has a lot of free play in it. Maybe that’s why the level went out of level a few minutes after I adjusted it? 1/4″ out at 17 feet…that’s about 1.5″ out at 100′ and that was the very best I could dial it in after a couple of hours of fussing with it. The David White 900 (self leveling) has a guarantee of 1/16th” at 100′. I think the robo laser would be good for smaller projects indoors and maybe use the more expensive laser for larger foundation work. I have quite a bunch of DeWalt tools and I really like them all except for the laser. I will take it back to home depot and get something else.

Update (2/3/2012): I also found some auctions for this item here.

The featured review for this product, DEWALT DW073KD 1/4-Inch at 100-Feet Manual Level 9.6-Volt to 18-Volt Ni-Cad Cordless Interior/Exterior Rotary Laser Kit Tools & Hardware, was written by Bryan.

The average rating for this item is 2.7 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.