Leveling trick that saved my back and my wall on Friday

Been laying block for 15 years and always fought with the string line sagging on long runs, especially in this heat. Last week on a job in Tucson I tried pulling the line tight and then clamping a spare brick on each end to hold it, instead of tying knots. Worked way better than any line tensioner I've messed with, the line stayed dead straight for a 40 foot wall. Anyone else got a weird field fix like that they swear by?

2 comments

2 Comments

barnes.kai21d ago

The brick clamp trick is solid, I do the same but use two zip ties wrapped around the brick to keep the line from slipping off. The sag always comes from the knots creeping, so anything that locks the line down beats tying it off. For long runs I also wet the line before pulling it tight, that extra stretch holds through the afternoon heat.

joseph_west5921d ago

Watch the ground where you set up, not just the brick, because wet grass or loose dirt will let the whole thing sink and throw your line angle off before you even get started. @barnes.kai, that zip tie trick is smart, but I found pacing the line out in a figure eight on a dry tarp first stops the twist that makes the knots creep worse than any clamp. A little extra setup time on the ground saves you from redoing the whole run once the sun hits it.