Spent 3 days squaring up a door frame before realizing I was off by a level

I was installing a new prehung door in my own house last month, and I spent three full evenings shimming and checking the frame over and over. Turns out my 6-foot level was just slightly bent from being dropped a few weeks ago, something I never even thought to check. After all that work I grabbed a straightedge out of habit and there it was, a tiny gap under the middle of the level. Has anyone else wasted time chasing a problem that ended up being the tool itself?

4 comments

4 Comments

nina_taylor13h agoMost Upvoted

Yeah totally been there, I actually dropped my 4ft level two years ago and it threw everything off for months before I figured it out. And @violag80 makes a good point about old studs too, but sometimes the tool really is the liar.

the_robin1d ago

Used to blame my tools right away, but after wasting a weekend on a bad square I always check them first now. Bent level taught me a hard lesson about not assuming the gear is right.

nelson.wren1d ago

Dude, I did almost the exact same thing with a 4-foot level last year framing out a closet. Took me two days of fighting the studs before I noticed it was bowed in the middle from being tossed in my truck bed. @the_robin is totally right, now I smack my level against a straight counter first thing every time I pull it out. Felt like such a dummy when I finally held a flat board against it and saw that light coming through.

violag8013h ago

Respectfully, checking tools is smart but I think people jump to blaming the level too fast. Studs in old houses are rarely perfectly straight and drywall hides a lot of small differences. Sometimes the tool is fine and you just need to shim a bit more.