PLUMB VS. LEVEL VS. SQUARE...What's The Difference?! When And How To Use These Three Terms
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- Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
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PLUMB VS. LEVEL VS. SQUARE...What's The Difference?! When And How To Use These Three Terms
These three terms--plumb, level and square--are often used incorrectly by carpentry and DIY newcomers. This video from The Honest Carpenter will explain in detail what they mean and how they relate to building homes and other structures!
PLUMB means truly vertical; upright; perpendicular to the horizon.
We need our framed walls to be very plumb so that they will avoid collapsing sideways or being crushed!
We find plumb using bubble levels or spirit levels, and laser levels as well.
LEVEL refers to a horizontal surface in which both ends are on the same plane.
Level floors and other surfaces are perpendicular to the force of Earth's gravity! This means that round objects sitting on them will not roll to one side or the other.
We also find level using bubble levels and spirit levels, as well as laser levels.
SQUARE means that two intersecting surfaces are positioned at exactly 90-degrees to one another.
We find square angles all over construction and carpentry, from the smaller things we build (like cabinets and drawer boxes), to the position of walls to walls, and floors to walls. Even our building materials rely on square angles.
We find "square" by using a variety of tools set at right angles, such as speed squares, try squares, framing squares, and combination squares.
Thanks for watching!
Be sure to check out our other videos on important construction concepts:
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A very clear representation of these terms.
Thanks for making these videos, it’s refreshing to watch these with your delivery style. You are a natural teacher!
I’m really enjoying your explanations. They’re so plain english, you make it so easy to grasp.
Thank you, Linda! I always strive for clarity. I appreciate the feedback!🙂
Honestly, you nailed it Ethan James. You took something I knew, explained it so fundamentally that I still learned something from it, and I now can explain it to others better than before. Not just this, but great channel overall. Thank you.
Thank you, Jeff! I always shoot to dive just a little bit deeper than the fundamental explanation. I appreciate the support!
I couldn't be more appropriate in sharing my thoughts!
A friend had a house built 4-5 years ago. They did a “Level 5” finish on his kitchen walls as som walls had floor to ceiling cabinets. If I remember correctly they used man man studs and used plywood on the studs and then drywalled over the plywood and then the drywall finish was made as flat as possible. I remember the cabinet installer was very happy with the walls.
Excellent video and excellent explanation. Thank you.
Nice review. Thanks! 👏
Great videos! All the time. I am learning a lot. You make concepts sound simple and show practicality
Thank you, Light Bulb! I’m really glad they’re helpful 😄
Excellent video as per usual. Thanks for doing what you do.
I'm a scaffolder. Plumb level and square are the most important part. Get up 50 feet and a little off level because a huge problem.
Not every single floor had to be true. say, shower room floor, pavement, you make it true, you will have to do it again few years later. if it is a multistory building. Fire sprinkler and a true level floor may be a perfectly legal combination to kill your elevator that worth $$$$$. the tricky thing is, suppose the workman get kicking around by the foreman, should he still “level” the floor on these critical points? the building belongs to the client, the reputation belongs to the company. And a “not true” floor is the workman get kick on the butt.
If you are not plumb and level and square by a little too much, you are catawampus, according to my dad.
I forgot about catawampus! Definitely heard that on job sites 😂
Love watching your videos! I always learn something new.
Thanks for watching, Mike!
Facts
remodeling an 1890's farm house and nothing is plumb, level, or square after all these years
plumbum is the original word for lead, thats why on the periodic table lead is Pb, everything in the periodic table used letters from its original name likely from latin. not necessarily named after the tool
I was just wondering where the term "plumbing" originated. Could that be from using lead, then?
@@charlespatt yeah it was lead pipes after concrete, great idea at the time.
I love this channel. Sometimes when people become experts, they forget about what they once didn't know. You do not make that mistake.
Great video. If you're a DIYer or amateur carpenter watching this, I can't stress enough how important it is to keep your work as square as possible. Even just one degree out here or there caused a domino affect and problems down the line.
I built an 8’x12’ floor structure for a shed years and years ago, Liam. It was an inch out of square, but I thought, “that’s not too bad.” After building the rest of the shed, I realized that square means square-even an inch turns into a nightmare real quick. Thanks for watching the show!
what if my spatial capability is out of whack?
Nothing really to add here, think ya hit the nail on the head there. I know what the differences were before I watched this video but I always like to hear what a professional has to say..good job sir
Excellent explanation! Thank you!!
These videos are awesome. Love your approach, tone, content, and respect you have for your audience -- i.e. the person you think you're talking to. One of my favorite channels now.
I like that you defined all these terms. And also that you went into the Latin origin of the word "plumb", including its meaning of "lead weight" and relation to "plummet". Not many of these DIY sites go into neat details like this.
I taught carpentry for years and you are absolutely correct! I happy say before the students would ask me for help they knew to check for those key words! They would often find the problem themselves!
I've been doing woodworking for a couple years making furniture but just a few months back bought my first house and through home improvement projects realized I really enjoy carpentry work as well. I've learned so much valuable information through your videos, even on topics such as this that I already had a decent grasp of concept. Keep up the great work!!
I honestly DO NOT understand why your channel doesn’t have millions of followers. Literally every single video is perfect and informative. I am a super DIY’er and still learn something new each and every day - your channel has helped so much! Even with things I thought I already knew. Keep up the AMAZING work. Truly an amazing teacher ✊️
Thanks so much, Joshua! It’s feedback like yours that keeps me going and trying to make better and better videos. Glad to have you watching. Thanks for writing in! 😄
@@TheHonestCarpenter Yeah, I agree with this and was wondering the same thing. Your videos are excellent!
Agreed! Always on point!
True is a term Ive most often heard in relation to bike wheels. You true the wheel by adjusting the spoke tensions to ensure the wheels spins without any wobble or dish.
Using math terms, something is square when a straight line is orthogonal or perpendicular to another.
I get the feeling every trade might use that word in some way, Comrade. It's just the best way of saying, "Yeah, that's how it's supposed to be." :)
Just for clarity. In terms of bike wheels I have built quite a few. True refers to wobble( left to right) or hops (up and down). Dishing refers to offsetting the hub where the spokes attach from the centerline of the rim. Front wheels are not dished ( spokes on both sides are of equal length). Rear wheels are always dished to make room for the gear or gear cluster. The spokes on the gear side are always shorter.
This video made it so easy to understand basic tool fundamentals. thankyou for making it.
Sometimes, tools themselves may be out of tolerance making your whole project out of tolerance.
Yeah, I blame my tools too! :) Just kidding. It is true and a big problem that needs to be taken into account. Don't assume that ANYTHING is straight, level, plumb, square. It ain't! Or, if it is, it was made that way with a lot of intention and effort.
Only if they're made in CHINA
@@loginregionalit appears that things made in China are bad for humanity 🤔
Always look forward to watching your videos. Can you make a video about affordable tool belts or tools?
Great question and my favorite tool belt is a military pistol belt with modified 20 & 30 round magazine carriers for screwdrivers , pliers , screws , nails etc.
All the best .
Hey do you have a video or any directions on how to build a set of shelves like you have on the wall in your background? Thanks
Thanks. Many times I see videos where presenter says to measure to make sure you are square. I have yet to find one on fixing if you are not. Is starting over the only option?
Simple stuff, but can really screw things up. Good refresher course.
Thanks
Bob
Hi, I had to laugh when you said square was when two walls meet in a building, I have lived in many houses as my job took me all around the UK but there is one fact that I have never found in any of the houses, not one corner has been 90 degrees. I have been in new and old houses, but it is so bad that I bought and used to great advantage an angle finder that you put into the corner and then put it into a jig and you could then cut inner and outer angles and shirting boards etc. fit perfectly.
You’re lucky, my house has nothing even close to plumb, square or level.
It's true, John. For precise angles, you often cut closer to 44 and 46. I used to just carry around test pieces in my belt for inside corners and outside corners, with sharpie marks saying what they test angles were. But an angle finder is even better!
I’m in the trades so i am familiar with all of this. You do a very good job of explaining all these terms and their uses. I’m really glad I found your channel. I will be checking out more of your videos. Keep up the good work.
Every DIYer should sub to your channel. Thanks.
Thank you, Steve! They’re all welcome here 🙂
Thanks for the explanation. It was very helpful.
Plumber probably comes from plumb too because they used lead in plumbing work. Lead in french is called plomb.Plumber in french is called plombier.
Amusing: in Chile they call him a 'gasfiter', although there may not be any kind of gas involved and the fittings are PVC. Also disturbing is they call these people 'maestro', but there is no mastery. When there is no mastery involved, he is a 'maestro chasquilla' - hack. Considering that "chasquilla" is the word for bangs (hair), he probably has his hair in his eyes. Ahh, twenty-five years in South America pays off again. Just don't try to live in a house made of adobe. The curious angles and decisions may drive you to drink. Thank god for chilean wine.
@@loginregional I think French wives call them Mon Cheri too. (Joke)
@@roddyoccultis4266 You mean, mon cheri aussi, or mon cheri deuxieme?
@@loginregional Usually for French women it is sixième or dixième
@@roddyoccultis4266 ça c'est parfait, avec accent grave! For chilean men, it's usually the mothers of his children, or his present girlfriend, or the one he's doing at the moment, or the one he _wants_ to do next, or his current wife, or his dead wife, or the one he got an anullment from... (Chilean law, go figure) Thank god I came back before the Koof hit. Keep your kerf straight. And you didn't think que je pourrais parler en français aussi. Voilà! I'm a regular polyglot. A bientôt
I learned so much watching this video thank you so much for your knowledge
And DON'T go putting a ball on the ground thinking the earth is flat. Earth is not PLUMB, LEVEL OR SQUARE. It's a SPHERE. Roughly. Because of Mountains, hills, valleys and canyons.
Thanx Ethan, this was helpful. I have a quick question, would i be correct if I said, TRUE PLUMB + TRUE LEVEL = TRUE SQUARE?
Super informative videos, Sir. Please make one discussing combination, fixed and quick squares. Thanks and more power.
THANKS !!!Honest Carpenter. I'm learning !!! Yaaaay
ROFL.. Confuse a level for a square.. Isnt that like confusing a Freight Train for a Cotton ball?!?
Thanks so much for taking the time to explain the difference!!!!!
NOBODY WILL GET CONFUSED.
Well if you came over to my place ?
I could confuse you !
The pure evils of our education system. We ALL (including girls!) should be learning this in school; and not only learning it, but applying it.
Can you imagine if we all learned skills and practical things in school!? We'd all be able to take care of ourselves and be free - instead of exploited slaves.
I can't do anything. Right now I'm trying to hire someone just to hang a small interior door and you would NOT believe the predators that are after me. Drugged-out "handyman" everywhere that don't really know what they're doing, but are lying that they are competent, and do shoddy work and try to grab my money.
Out of desperation, I turned to the Amish. Now, the Amish are predators - because they know the "English" (that's what they call us) are desperate and incompetent
An Amish guy tried to charge me $300 just to hang a door. No, that doesn't include buying the door! That's just labor...for ONE door!
And in my opinion, if we were actually taught practical skills in school, so many people wouldn't resort to drugs, having s*x, breeding, working crap jobs .... we'd all might be out there right now building our off-grid tiny homes instead of living this nightmare.
Thank you for this video.
If its majorly off true in the UK it's known as 'F****d' 😂 Just joking, didnt know about the term Plumb 👍👍
I did not know that "plummet" was derived from plumbum. I checked. And everyone else learned a new latin word. Sick Transit Gloria Monday and all that.
Thank god I learned something new today, it's getting harder as time passes.
Wish they would bring back shop class in college preparatory and STEAM high schools and even junior high schools/ elementary/ grade schools. Sure there Might still be art class or drafting class, but the 3 elements you just explained should be taught and would make for better educated adults who don't understand that the house or building that they're looking to buy is going to require an initial investment of a structural engineer before they bring in subcontractors or handymen. They act like their own GCs and when things aren't working out on schedule/ budget, or years later when something happens, they call a carpenter/ contractor and are amazed at the cost of fixing the tilting wall, bowed/slanted floor, ceiling height dropping 4" from 1 side to the other...
Sorry for rant. Summary: hope they play your videos in schools!
Thank you. Been watching a bunch of diy videos and plumb and square always confused me.
I build large pipe organs. The trade involves many disciplines, but we deal mostly with wood, lead, leather and glue😊. The organs are often quite large, and we set them up in our erecting area. When I was an assembly foreman, we used to say “bring your square, but leave your level at the door!” When you’re assembling something that will be shipped and reassembled, it’s imperative to square things off the shippable reference surface. It will be set plumb, and leveled later on site. Great video as always. Clear and well explained.
Ethan, the best explanation I've heard. This was something I knew, and I enjoyed trying to be one step ahead of you as you were talking. But like Jeff, I still learned something. Thank you for your clear explanations
Thank you, Dianne!
It’s only recently I discovered your videos I find them so interesting and helpful
Thank you
Tony ☘️
Many good carpenters / framers have succumb to complacency witch alters their tolerance's.
Is there any classes I can take in person in Central
AL? I attended medical
school, flew for decades with the US Air Force. My late father said woodworking and carpentry skills were things a woman would ever use!
2x4 square edges? Down under framing timber comes with rounded edges... true story
Just to clarify square must be in the same plane as the drawing is, this will 99.9999% of the time be in the level plane.
When setting square, it must be done in the level plane (e.g. setting out a building)
When using a tool to set a square (such as a builder's square) so long as one of the 90-degree arms of the square is in the level plane a "True" square corner will be formed
Gotta say that if some doesn’t know the correct use of these three simple words they shouldn’t be allowed tools!!! Is it the education system in the US? I am sure all school leavers (not college/university) in England will know!
Nice job. You should explain pitch to the diy fans. I can always tell a novice helper by how many times he turns the speed square incorrectly before they find the right side and the right angle.
If a square is set at level can we assume that it is also plumb without checking it and visa versa?
Trim carpenter blames the framer and the framer blames the foundation and the foundation blames the excavation. And so on and so on
In my house nothing is square, plum or level.
It all just constructed by eye sight 😳
Just changed the door to the kitchen and when the door frame is plum the wall is sticking out 1 inch in the bottom and os flush at the top..
Don't forget your measurement in feet Square like for instance 3-ft 4-ft 5ft equal a square. Where lines are drawn on the floor. Or 6 ft 8 ft and 10 feet where are you need a larger Square of all 90°
If you haven't been paid yet, someone has to make you square. Just be the on the level. Unless they're plumb crazy.
Sometimes you have to set your work slightly out of true plumb/Level because your working around older stuff which throws your eye out to make it look true! Part of the job sometimes it's got to look right with the surrounding lines!
Thank you! This is great. Can you now explain to the carpenters and craftsmen and women that there is no such word as “accrost”?
I hear it way too much out there …. 😁
I had everything wrong. I was using the square for straight lines and level for everything.
Ooh! A video about the three principal officers of a Masonic lodge! 🙂
The "woke" would prefer you say plumb 'person'.
square, straight, plumb, level = good job
Very good video, I learned alot from this, many thanks for time 👍👍
most of the guys I work with just use the word square for everything (kinda like you described the use of the word true) and it drives me mental some days
Excellent! Thank you sir...cheers!
But some plywood from home depot. It ain't square
I love the shelving in the background! Show us how you built them.
I about to retire in a couple of years but I've always wanted to get into the trades. Heard the trades are in dire need of good people that want to learn and get their hands dirty. I'm in my 50s. Don't mind starting a new career learning from Ethan.
Great explanation! Thanks for the knowledge!
This video is plumb, level and square at the same time. Explain that!!
I can understand someone getting a speed square confused with a square but to confuse a level of any size with a square that just doesn't make any sense hope this is just a title
Your right...true..i still use a plumbob..morecaccurate..cool
Thank you for this brief overview of these concepts. It aids me in learning as a dyslexic and dyscalculic learner.
Straight to the point effective presentation this is the kind of video to memorialize for future generations.
If 2x4 are so square, why are they always rounded off their sides?
Good stuff. Keep the basics straight (lol), and other things fall into place and make sense as you go.
If my house is not level and I am putting up a shelf, should I make it square or level?
in England is something is well off, we just say that's pissed !
The Las Vegas stratosphere is not plumb. Shhh! It's a secrete
Thanks this is great info . but how do i check if my wall is straight along the floor ( in straight line)
Interesting glad you make these videos!
You make really engaging videos!! I’ve subbed!
Thank you Dave! 🙂
Very helpful even for me a dyi person. Thank you.
My son said the speed square is a triangle,so i said,ok,pass me the triangle.
Great show! Nothing quite like it on youtube
You remind me of the (adult version) character "Brick Heck" (Atticus Shaffer) from the TV series The Middle.
That's a first for me, Bart 😂
One dislike, the one person who is neither plumb, level or square and needs to be a little more true.
I LOVE LEVELS THEY HAVE SAVED MY LIFE MY DAD GOT ME STARTED ON THE LEVEL LIFELINE TO HELP ME TO CONTROL MY PTSD AND KEEP IT QUIET
I use plumb and level the same because we always use a 4 ft bubble level to find plumb anyway
When is the best time of day to use a level?
.
.
.
In the evening.
People who say level when the mean plumb ...pffft
Thank you for educating me
3 4 5 ratio and you can square any size house with a tape measure.