Best devices for setting out?

[Russell griffiths]

Where abouts in the country are you. 

[Onoff]

Try a pair of red, laser enhancing glasses:

 

https://uk.rs-online.com/mobile/p/safety-glasses/1248880/

[epsilonGreedy]

@Tony KHave you calculated the volume of soil to be removed during the levelling phase? I ask because you mentioned removing 600mm with a mini digger.

[Roundtuit]

I bought a used Leica Rugby 100 with receiver for about £200 on eBay, whilst I was getting twitchy waiting for pp to come through.  I checked/adjusted calibration and it's accurate to within a few mm over 100m, so plenty good enough for landscaping and shed bases etc (which is all I've ever used it for). If you've got the time, it's worth a look.

[Tony K]

1 hour ago, Russell griffiths said:

Where abouts in the country are you. 

Surrey. Epsom to be precise. 

 

48 minutes ago, epsilonGreedy said:

@Tony KHave you calculated the volume of soil to be removed during the levelling phase? I ask because you mentioned removing 600mm with a mini digger.

I have. It's a logistical pain and no mistake for all sorts of reasons. So much so the only way to get it done is to do it myself. 

[Tony K]

20 minutes ago, Roundtuit said:

I bought a used Leica Rugby 100 with receiver for about £200 on eBay, whilst I was getting twitchy waiting for pp to come through.  I checked/adjusted calibration and it's accurate to within a few mm over 100m, so plenty good enough for landscaping and shed bases etc (which is all I've ever used it for). If you've got the time, it's worth a look.

Cheers. I'll look into this. 

[Miek]

I have a DeWalt laser and detector and I find that the detector doesn't work when it's cold (below about 5 degrees); and in direct sunlight it can be intermittent but that's less of a problem as you can shade the unit to get a result.

 

Great tools for by building a house though!

[epsilonGreedy]

8 hours ago, Tony K said:

I have. It's a logistical pain and no mistake for all sorts of reasons. So much so the only way to get it done is to do it myself. 

 

 

My concern is that a larger digger would be better suited, is there an access problem? The amount of sub soil that came out of my foundations and later drive scrape back and levelling was incredible. The levelling is best done with a wide bucket which implies a digger with some muscle power.

[ToughButterCup]

In addition to the point made by  @epsilonGreedy above, site clearance is space-hungry.

I've forgotten the volume multiple once soil is dug, but I am still- after four years with my own digger- surprised at how much space spoil takes up.

 

I mention that because you mention space is tight on your site..... 

We seriously underestimated how much room spoil eats up. And luckily were able to lose some spoil on a sloping garden. 

[Tony K]

2 hours ago, ToughButterCup said:

In addition to the point made by  @epsilonGreedy above, site clearance is space-hungry.

I've forgotten the volume multiple once soil is dug, but I am still- after four years with my own digger- surprised at how much space spoil takes up.

 

I mention that because you mention space is tight on your site..... 

We seriously underestimated how much room spoil eats up. And luckily were able to lose some spoil on a sloping garden. 

 

Thanks both for this. I have thought it through in great detail now and hopefully am not underestimating the task. 

My access is down a long narrow footpath from the highway. I will be using a mini digger with as much power and as bug (or wide) a bucket as possible, and a track dumper to get the muck away from site down to a large skip, where a series of muckaway lorries will collect it. 

 

All of which will be for nothing if I've got the levels wrong of course, but I shall follow the advice on here to avoid that.  

[epsilonGreedy]

Back to the original question, I would add that your current back garden is a useful setting out tool i.e. somewhere to practice.

[Tony K]

I'm now trying to buy my level.

 

This character in the US of A seems to have used a dewalt DW088K self-levelling line laser (or suchlike) without a receiver:

 

 

Looking at what he has done I may not need a receiver, though of course the distances aren't the same. I will need the laser to reach me 20m away.

 

Nevertheless, am I right to think that I could just set up as he has?

 

 

[epsilonGreedy]

I have the same laser and would not expect it to work at 20m in full daylight.

 

It does work at twilight, I know this because last month I got up at 3am to project a laser line onto some nearby roof tops relative to my wall plate height in order to gauge my final ridge height. In the early morning gloom I could see the red line on other properties up to 25m away.

[Tony K]

1 hour ago, epsilonGreedy said:

I have the same laser and would not expect it to work at 20m in full daylight.

 

It does work at twilight, I know this because last month I got up at 3am to project a laser line onto some nearby roof tops relative to my wall plate height in order to gauge my final ridge height. In the early morning gloom I could see the red line on other properties up to 25m away.

 

Cheers. I might try it without the receiver first and see how I get on. 

[Conor]

2 hours ago, Tony K said:

I'm now trying to buy my level.

 

This character in the US of A seems to have used a dewalt DW088K self-levelling line laser (or suchlike) without a receiver:

 

 

Looking at what he has done I may not need a receiver, though of course the distances aren't the same. I will need the laser to reach me 20m away.

 

Nevertheless, am I right to think that I could just set up as he has?

 

 

 

We have been setting out this last week or two. I setout two corners using a GPS unit with 25mm accuracy (hire ran out before we got all the setting out done). We did the rest of the corners and slab penetrations with tape and a site laser. I thought I'd do some checking with my laser level.... And tbh it was useless. Even though it was quite dull and overcast, couldn't see more than about 4m.

 

The site level with detector is the only way to do it tbh. The guys were flying around checking levels, it beeps according to position of the beam and it's very easy to get an idea. No squinting at a bit of card looking for a feint line.

[Mr Punter]

To set out anything other than simple, get someone in with a total station.  Proper survey equipment and very accurate.

 

To get levels for foundations, drains or whatever, hire a proper rotating laser level with a staff and receiver (that goes beep) or buy one from ebay and sell it when you are finished.  Look for Leica / Rugby as decent brands.

[Gus Potter]

For the DIY er that wants to build say a small wrap around extension, dodging away at the weekend and wants to keep hire costs and trips back and forward to the hire shop down.

Thanks Tonyshouse. To quote Tony.

"A piece of orange string, set out front of building first then the critical side square to it then c/l of trenches then the rest of it 

 

I mostly used ancient Egyptians 345 and double checked by measuring the diagonals os any rectangle"

 

Levelling.

What about a water level. Get a garden hose & some clear plastic tubing say 2.0m long from the DIY store. Couple 1.0m of the plastic tube to each end of the hose. Get some food dye. Choose your own colour – just make sure it is a darkish one so you can see the water in the clear tube. Get ALL the air out the hose.

Calibrate it by putting the two tubes together – the water in each should be at the same height. Jiggle / shoogle / do something to it and check again. Pin one end of the clear tube to something and take the other end to where you want, just make sure the water does not spill out. Mark the levels of the water to the bottom of the meniscus.

Now you have a datum and you can measure up or down from that. Change the tube ends round and check again to give you confidence it works.

Lastly, when you are finished plug the ends of the tube to preserve the coloured water. The great thing about this is that it goes round corners and as many as you like. A laser beam goes in a straight line unless you can apply some physics I think. You can take it into the house to check the floor levels to tie say an extension in... probably plug the ends first in case you get dye on the carpets. No points for that!

Setting out dimensions

For smallish stuff invest in a good steel tape, fabric ones stretch very easily without you knowing. If measuring over a distance use blocks, wood or something to support the tape frequently so it does not sag and try and keep the same tension on the tape each time you take a measurement. Set out and double, triple check. If you take your time you’ll get will within the tolerance a bricklayer can build to.

You can use Pythagoras (3,4, 5 triangles to get a right angle) there lots of school maths formulae you can use to calculate the sizes say if you know the length say two sides of a triangle and the angle between them.

Hope someone has fun with this and saves a few quid.

 

[SuperJohnG]

This is all good info. I do have a query of anyone can help. 

 

I have a full topo and have used the topo to tell tell my architect where to posotoon house whichnis all fine and we have set FFL to suit.

 

Positioning  the house on site is fine and I will use the surveyor again to set out fornthe insulated raft. 

 

However I am a little confused as to the best way to get levels relative to the topo (I have this in ACAD 2D/3D which I can pick points off) 

 

I will want to excavate to the correct approx depth and my only on site  references are 4-off hilti nails which I have then positions and correct levels for fromthe drawing. 

 

But they are all minimum 60m from the foundations  ( I have a 4 acre plot nkce and mostly flatish). So I'd like to check the FFL and then set the excavation depth. But without using a total station whats the best way to do this to reference off the survey points to get a known height then use a gauge rod at the house postion to set the level?  

 

Would a dumpy be best?  Or a rotating laser level?  

 

Either case. Set up dumpy or rotating laser level wherever. Find relative height to survey marker,  then find relative height using gauge rod/ laser receiver at the foundation position?  

[Russell griffiths]

Yep exactly as you said it, transfer points over to another post banged in the ground, put a little fence around it so you don’t knock it over later, do it then re check it setting dumpy up in another location just to be sure.