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That moment when a level told me I was wrong

I was hanging kitchen cabinets in my own house in Austin and felt so confident after getting the first one up. Pulled out my 4-foot level and saw a half-inch gap at the bottom corner. Spent 45 minutes redoing the bracket placement and it still looked off until I realized the floor itself had a slight slope from a 1970s foundation shift.
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3 Comments
blairm77
blairm777d ago
Ugh, that's such a classic home project trap. I've had levels lie to me before just because the floor was off, it's maddening how much time you waste chasing a phantom problem. At least you figured it out before you started shaving the cabinet legs or something drastic.
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the_laura
the_laura7d ago
Right? Levels are just so dramatic sometimes. They act like the floor is the problem when really they are just looking for drama. At least you caught it before you did something permanent like taking a saw to the cabinet legs. That would have been a real bummer.
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caseywalker
Yeah "phantom problem" is exactly right. I spent a whole afternoon once shimming a shelf in my garage only to realize my level was off by a tiny bit and the floor was actually fine. @the_laura called levels dramatic but honestly I think they're just unreliable friends who show up late and blame everyone else. Now I always check my level against a known straight edge first, like a cabinet door or something I've squared up before. Saves you from chasing your tail for hours.
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