Spent 4 hours leveling my container foundation because I eyeballed it

I figured I could save some cash by just leveling the gravel pad myself instead of renting a laser level. Wound up with one corner a full 2 inches off after getting the first container dropped. Took me all Saturday with a bottle jack and shims to get it right. Anyone else try to skip a step and pay for it way worse later?

2 comments

2 Comments

reeseanderson10d ago

Eric, you nailed it about the stake and string line. I did the same thing with a shed foundation once. What finally worked for me was using a long 2x4 and a basic 4-foot level. I laid it across the gravel pad in a grid pattern and kept adding or removing gravel until it was dead flat. Took an extra hour but saved me from the bottle jack headache you had.

ericjackson10d ago

You said "eyeballed it" and that tells me everything. The real issue isn't the leveling itself but that you skipped checking the ground before the container arrived. A quick stake and string line test would have caught that 2 inch gap before you had steel on site.