tyler6•15d ago

Pro tip: using a laser level saved me 4 hours on a ceiling grid install last week

I was putting up a suspended ceiling in a small office space near Portland and kept messing up the T-bar alignment. Usually I just snap chalk lines and hope for the best, but this job had a weird angled wall that threw everything off. I borrowed a rotary laser level from a buddy just to try it, and honestly it was a game changer. Set it up on a tripod in the middle of the room and marked the perimeter in about 20 minutes flat. No more redoing rows because the grid was drifting. Has anyone else had good luck with lasers on drop ceilings, or do you still prefer string lines for accuracy?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_paul15d ago

Man, I used to be a total string line snob. I always figured lasers were just a gimmick for drywallers and you couldn't trust em for something exact like a grid. But last year I did a basement with a weird offset wall and after fighting with chalk lines for two hours I finally broke down and rented a rotary level. Honestly it saved my butt on that angled section, the string would have taken all day to figure out. I'm a convert for sure now, especially on any room that isn't a perfect rectangle.

anna_fox714d agoMost Upvoted

Oh you're talking to the wrong person for that argument, Paul. I still won't touch those things for layout work. A laser is only as good as its batteries and its tripod. One little bump and your whole grid is off an eighth and you don't even know it until you're hanging drywall. I did a house last fall with a guy who swore by his rotary level and we ended up pulling strings anyway because the laser couldn't handle a long hallway without getting fuzzy. String lines don't lie. They don't flicker, they don't die mid-day, and they don't care if the floor is unlevel. If you know how to snap a good chaulk line on an offset wall it takes ten minutes, not two hours. Trust the old ways.