Loading…
23
Can we talk about how I used to frame a wall with a pencil and now I use a phone app?
Ten years ago my whole layout kit was a carpenter pencil, a speed square, and a roll of flagging tape, and I was proud of it. Last week my crew was standing in a garage in Boise and I marked every stud location with an app on my phone, then sent the layout to the guy running the nail gun so he never had to ask me where anything went. The funny part is I fought this for two years because I thought a screen in your hand meant you didn't know your trade. Then we did a 14 foot wall with 16 inch centers and the app caught a vent stack I would have walked right into with my head down and a tape measure in my teeth. Now the pencil lives behind my ear and mostly gets used to open paint cans. My old lead guy still does it all on the concrete slab with soapstone and I respect it, but we finished that garage in 5 hours instead of 8. Has anyone else made the switch, and did you keep the old way for small jobs or go all in?
1 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In1 Comment
grant.kevin6d ago
The app on my phone saved me huge on a basement job last spring, I had pipes and wires everywhere and it flagged a floor drain I totally spaced on. I still use the pencil and speed square for little stuff like a closet wall or a quick patch, it's just faster than pulling out my phone. But for anything with real layout, like a whole floor plan or a run of walls, the app wins every time. My old timer buddy gives me grief about it but he's the one double checking studs with a tape while I'm already done. Keeping both tools in the pouch is the move, use the old way for the small stuff and the phone when it actually matters.
6