I was trained to figure the height of instrument (H.I.) Then calculate the height difference. Bm at 110.6 Back shot 3.86 HI= 114.46 Basement sub grade 96.25. Fore shot = 18.21. This way you can figure different elevations easier. Elevation of the light pole base just outside the front door no problem.
I'm glad to finally see someone trying to teach old school ways,I've been doing this for 30 years, and it seems every new young operator asking me for a job can only hook up GPS set their blade on the control point and that's it,if they encounter any issues they want to go home,I think anyone who calls themselves a operator should know how to read grade stakes,set grades run string line and grade free hand,The company I work for has GPS good high quality stuff and they realized that the jobs built with GPS were good but when as built they were off normally a tenth that's a lot of over run on asphalt,so they make me do free hand finish work on the rock we get a surveyor to set stakes and and I finish it my stuff is usually within a 1/4" use to be better but I'm getting old and my eyes are messing up
A lot of essential skills are being lost and a pretty rapid rate right now in the trades. Finding a decent finish dozer operator who isn't reliant on GPS is getting harder and harder. As you stated, finding guys who can read grade stakes, calculate fall, or just calculate a simple cut are also getting harder to find. I'm still a firm believer of learning the basics before you step up to getting on the machines. Thanks for the comment Pat!
@@DieselandIron yeah the GPS is my biggest complaint,I think a operator should spend at least 5 years with grade stakes,a string and transit's then learn GPS the company I'm at has 4 crews 3 are GPS I'm old school the other crews have up to 5 guys plus labor's,I have 3 guy's my crew turns out double the work you have to have that natural ability to know when something is wrong,I'm fixing a job right now that was built all GPS the guys built it according to the system,turns out the operators didn't know how to properly program for FILLS OR CUTSso everything was figured at basic grade,so the building was 4 ft higher than the parking lot they turned a Wawa into a loading dock,I asked what happened they said DONT YELL AT ME I CAN ONLY DO WHAT THE MACHINE TELLS ME they didn't have the knowledge to realize something was FUBAR
@@patwatson2454 That's one of the biggest issues I have is that using GPS right off the bat makes you too relient on the machine. You can't turn off your brain when using GPS. You still have to understand the big picture and make sure everything makes sense.
I came up with an elevation of 9.72 feet on the rod when I double check your verbal math. I watched again and realized your HI elevation was set at 3.38 not 3.39 on the rod that resulted in 9.71 (9.38 + 0.33= 9.71) on the rod that you came up with. Either way, close enough for residential work. Enjoyed your video from an old grade checker from the eye level and rag tape days before lasers.
Thanks for the comment Jerry and you are correct. As I look back on these grade rod videos I realize I need to remake them now that I have someone to hold the camera for me.
@@DieselandIron I am a retired grade checker and field supervisor but, I still take the time to train new grade checkers (for free) and I use your videos as training aids. I appreciate your willingness to share your knowledge.
@jerry8986 man any advice for an operator for getting into cutting? Where could I go ? I run a d6 for wildfire, and a 140m for snow removal in the winter. And I would love to get onto a company with year around work and that works the dirt.
Keep up these videos buddy Hopefully one day I can hire someone and save the time to give the “up to go down and down to go up” lesson. Gotta love the constucttttt
Thanks for your videos! I have grade checking class next week and I'm a noob apprentice. Was on a grade crew and learning this until a strike put construction to a stop where I'm at. Thanks for all your info!
Great explanation man I really appreciate it broke it down real easy for me. I would love a break down in the formula from inches into tenths I’ve been a carpenter reading a tape measure most my life but have recently got into operating equipment and moving dirt so I would love it if you could help me with transitioning into to tenths that would definitely be helpful. As my pipe laying friend says “the only people who use inches are carpenters and hors” lol sorry for the bad joke.
Sorry for taking so long to respond but, I have a video for that! Check this out and see if it answers your questions: ruclips.net/video/0D8WBf5DwPQ/видео.html
Great videos guys! Easy explanations and not to technical! So question for myself based on some of the Q & A's down below. Im attempting to put in an above ground pool in my back yard and i need to sub out 8"s of soil in the shape of my pool while making sure I'm levelling the ground inside the pool outline. Based on your video couldn't my hub elevation be set at the lowest point on the outline of my pool? Then add the 8"s to the hub measurement? So say i take the first shot in front of my laser for the hub measurement and its 3'. Add the 8" which is then 3' 8"s. So by setting 3' 8"S on my transit if i take the transit now to any point on my pool outline i would have to dig out the amount of soil that gets the sensor to show grade again. Correct?
You are correct. As long as your laser doesn't move and you are using your same reference number when looking through the transit you will dig a level pad 8" lower than your intended finish grade.
I am leveling an area to build my house. We want to cut into a slope and make a 70’ by 30’ level. If there’s no hub how do you establish the starting point? I am estimating the slope will require about a 5’ cut at the top to get near the lower end of the slope. That’s just a WAG at this point.
You need to work backwards into this. Figure out where you want your finish floor elevation to be relative to grade. You want a foot of fall within the first 10 feet away from the house so you get good drainage. Once you establish your finish floor elevation you can work down to what your dig needs to be.
Thank you so much for your dedication and videos, I have learned so much from them. I have a question, if using a Lenker Rod, would we set that BM 110.65 on the tape before getting the Back sight (BS) reading? If I’m correct, it be BM + BS = Height of the Instrument (HI) From there, HI - proposed or finish grade FG = Reading for the Ground Rod, therefore proceed to move receiver to that value? Then we would go to each of the ForeSight locations to collect those readings and calculate differences (weather cut or fill)? Thank you so much for your time, I am a fairly new operator and trying my best out here to soak in as much as possible to be more proficient all around.
I think I'm understanding your breakdown correctly and if that is the case then yes. Benchmark + Grade Rod Mark = Height of Instrument. Once you have that you can adjust up or down the rod as necessary to achieve your grade.
how about the height of instrument? bench mark plus back sight reading = height of instrument the minus the design elevation is that the actual elevation need to excavate?
Yes, I believe you are right if I'm understanding you correctly. Let's say your hub was at 105' and your basement was set at 100'. I would shoot the hub and for round numbers we will say we land at 3' on our grade rod. I will then go up the grade rod 5' (105-100=5). Your laser eye should now be sitting at 8' on the grade rod which means we have to excavate 5' of material to get a solid tone on the rod to put us at grade.
No, not at all. As long as you are within a half Tenth of your target you will be fine. Our goal was always to get a solid beep with the laser but once you factor in the fact that the rod can be leaving in a little bit one way or another you accept that there is a bit of error in your measurement.
Yes I got a location that reads 5.4 which is high and a low spot that reads 13.4 how much do I have to cut from the high spot to the low spot with a foot fall
13.4 - 5.4 = 8 feet. If you wanted to have a foot of fall then you would leave your high side 6" high and your low spot 6" low which would give you a 7" cut.
On job sites that is determined by the survey company based on a number of factors. If you are building a home and you are looking at your basement grade, it's up to you and how high you want the house to sit.
Can you help me understand how I bring up grade? I'm doing a foundation and the elevation is about 3'-4' lower than the level I need my subgrade at, it slopes from the front of the proposed slab to the back of the slab. The front is at the grade I need it.
No problem! You'll need to use an approved material (21A, 1x3 crushed concrete, etc depending on the application and what your situation calls for). You will start at the low end of the grade and put down 10-12 inches of material and level it. This will need to be wet down and compacted. Then repeat with another 10-12 inches until you reach your finished grade. Is this a personal project? Often times if this is a residential build you will need to have a proctor test done to verify compaction is adequate but it depends on your local code and procedures.
@@DieselandIron I certianly appreciate your very quick response! It's for a home owner, doing a monolithic pour for a detached garage. We are using structural fill for the subgrade. And compacting with a Bomag 8500. As for any compaction testing I believe the local building department will be doing that, although I'm not 100% sure as this is my first foundation. So when I am doing my lifts, I do so until I reach the grade I need that I established with my laser level? Is there no need to adjust the receiver?...you can add another subscriber to your belt brother, I appreciate your work!
@@yaqqirnasi7804 I appreciate you supporting the channel! With your lifts you can just eyeball the height. Most inspectors don't get to technical with it unless it looks like you are throwing down way too much material in each lift. That will allow you to keep your laser set to finish grade. If you want to be more precise you can just bump your laser eye up the grade rod to your first lift and then bump back down your rod with each lift until you get back to your finish grade number. Edit: I just re-read your question and realized I didn't answer all the way. Yes, you will bring the fill material up in one foot lifts to the finish grade that your laser is set to for the rest of the foundation
@@DieselandIron Very well, I had thought that was how it was done but sometimes one needs instruction, I found you just in time! I'm not opposed to sharing my work, but I'm unsure how that can be done. I can appreciate constructive criticism 😁! I'm sure it's nothing you haven't seen, I'd like to learn the things you already forgot haha.
@@yaqqirnasi7804 I'd love to see some pictures of your work! Sir some pictures over to my email at thatdiggerdude@gmail.com. Let me know if you've got any other questions and I'll try to get them answered for you.
A benchmark is simply a known point that is used to measure from. Say I had a hub at the top of my dirt pile that we knew was 783.2 feet above sea level. I could take a grade reading at the bottom of the pile and calculate the difference between my hub height and the shot I took at the bottom of the pile. For this example let's say the height at the bottom of the pile is 1.5 feet lower. I now know the elevation at that point is 781.7 feet above sea level. Subgrade simply refers to the initial dirt layer you excavate down to before constructing a building or road. If we started a road in the middle of a field, we would first bulldoze down to a specified level so we could add in our sand and stone. The level of dirt we excavate down to is your subgrade.
Man, it's been a rough couple of months. I was doing really well, but then we started building the studio and I got pretty sick during the holidays. Just got back from Texas but I plan to set aside some time to catch back up. Thanks for being patient!
A hub is the actual stake in the ground that your grade rod will sit on to take the elevation measurement. The benchmark is a reference term used to describe the object you are using to get your elevation. A benchmark could be a hub, a manhole, a specific point on the curb, etc.
Most of the industry operates this way. Typically the skills shown here are used on a basement dig or some of your smaller jobs where you don't have a full staking of the job done.
Hey guys. I'm having a little difficulty understanding this grad stake. It says.. TOP OF BAR = 125.308m. Can somone tell me what it means please.. I'm digging a foundation for a house. The property is on a crazy down slop and it's a walk out basement on the back side.
That is an elevation grade stake. I don't know what bar it is referring to but the top of the bar will be 125.308 m above sea level. You will need to have a benchmark somewhere on site that you can pull a grade from with a known elevation. Once you have your known elevation you will figure out the difference between the benchmark elevation and the elevation for the top of bar. You will adjust your grade rod by whatever the difference in those two elevations is.
As a homeowner/diy guy who is looking at lasers. I dig ponds and do landscaping stuff would you recommend a cross line laser or something like the inexpensive rotary lasers ... ? Thanks
Unless you plan on taking on some pretty large projects I would stick with a basic laser. Any slope can be calculated and done straight on the grade rod. It would be hard to justify spending for $5,000 on a commercial grade laser setup for what you are talking about doing
What I don't understand is wouldn't it be much easier to calculate if these lasers had a way to fine tune the level they sit at so your your hub grade is say exactly 3 feet and not 3.0125 feet for example.
Even if you were 20 in at exactly 3 ft your other point isn't going to be an exact number so there will always be some math. Once you get used to going up and down the stick you don't really have to focus on the math so much, you are just taking it up in the increments of the elevation change. For example if we were going up the stick 3.14 ft I would start by going up the stick the three feet. From my new spot on the grade rod I would then move up 1 tenth and then I would move up my 4 hundredths. By doing it this way I don't have to be concerned about the math
So not to harp on you or anything but I had some issues with your math lol your rod height was actually 3.38… So if your hub elevation is set at 110.65 when you occupy that hub and set the indicator at level you reached a rod height of 3.38 so what you would do at that point is add 3.38 to the hub elevation of 110.652 now achieve an elevation of 114.03 which is now the elevation height for your laser level… And then what you will do from this point on is take that elevation into consideration over anything else so in order to achieve your grade elevation of 104.32 for your basement you will want to subtract 104.32 from your laser level elevation of 114.03 which will give you 9.71... "9.71" will now be your new staff height needed to reach your elevation of 104.32… That method is a heck of a lot easier than the 17 step process you describe in your video lol so again it's as simple as setting up your laser level turning it on it self levels.. you will then walk over to your hub adjust the indicator up or down the rod until it reaches level then you will take that staff height add it to the elevation of the hub you are occupying that new elevation becomes the elevation of your laser level and like I said it's a simple as subtracting your desired elevation from the elevation of your laser level and the outcome of that equation will become your new rod height needed to acquire grade..... Hub elev=110.65 Rh on hub=3.38 Add 3.38 to 110.65 getting 114.04 Now minus 104.32 from 114.04 getting 9.71 so just move the indicator to 9.71 on your level rod And when you dig down deep enough and that indicator hits the level mark it will then be at your needed elevation of 104.32
There is a good chance you are 100% correct on my math being wrong and your method being more efficient. I've been meaning to come back to these videos and redo them now that the channel has grown a bit. I was very green and still a bit nervous on the camera for these videos! Thanks for catching the error and thanks for watching!
Yes, a benchmark is set by a surveyor. The reason you will hear benchmark and hub used interchangeably is because often the benchmark stake is an actual hub stake (the long 1in by 1in stake). Without getting too far down the road of the surveying side of the business, benchmarks can be a number of things. In some cases they will pound a nail in the ground, sometimes it is a physical monument of some sort, etc. On a lot of dirt jobs your benchmark will be represented by a hub stake with a grade stake right next to it (literally touching it). The grade stake will have "BMK" written on it along with the elevation. That elevation is referencing the top of the hub stake.
So is 6.33ft the total amount in the ground to the bottom of the footing? On a lot would the highest grade be considered a good benchmark to use sense a good rule of thumb is to be higher for drainage? What is your preference on what to leave out of the ground after final grading? Thanks a bunch!
You could make a video more nicer with an example of digging a pond at depth X and set water level at depth Y with reference to the grade the transit is sitting on which is distance Z. Then when you extent the sensor from the ground , mark with a removable marker the point where you get a zero reference as ground or zero. This point the laser is parallel to the sensor. Note the distance. Now I know I have to dig a depth of distance X and set water at distance Y. I will mark the distances accordingly on the ruler so that every-time around the pond I try to know where the max depth or water level will be, I will just move the sensor stick and see if I need to add or remove soil to get the desired depth. Similarly I will do the same for the water level.
I wanted to learn/double check on how to use a laser to read elevation changes... that is a check... but also left convinced of the insanity of the imperial system.
Dude that's 100 per how not to figure grade D.m. + rod shot = i.h. instrument height 110.65+ 3.39=114.04(i.h.) I.h. 114.04- S.b 104.32=9.70 Either way will come to the same conclusion but you leave way less room to error . And for sure if you not a pro why video
This is just another way of doing it. Once you do it a couple times and understand what's going on it leaves less room for error because your doing simple math instead of subtracting 5 digit numbers.
The error reduction is realized in the equation. But for example say it's not a basement but sewer installation. Then you have to do all that math for each shot . By establishing your i.h. or elevation of instrument, you don't have so much work load . Reference your plan elevation and you can determine all of your rod heights. But all that set aside I am a supervisor for 5yr multi million dollar project . With 20+ yrs.exp. in the field. And every engineer offerman worked with or for used i.h. method all that aside. How would u even begin to find slope of pipe line or determine ele.of a ex. Invert . But hay if it works for you
@@joesimmons618 as with most things in this industry, there's more than one way to skin a cat. I don't doubt your experience and I will absolutely say your method sounds much more in line with what an engineering firm would do. That being said, that doesn't make this method 100% incorrect, it's just a different way of going about it.
So I watched this and noticed you were were standing in a kids sand pit area. Does this subversive imagery compound your well presented instruction as 'child's play'. Haha. Appreciate your patient explanation and example, you did a great job. Its helped me understand better how to use the tools. Cheers from Oz🛠🪃🇦🇺
I think it really embodies the fact that we never really grow up and stop playing in the sand pile. Our Tonkas just get bigger! I appreciate you watching Tim!
This video needs more views it’s exactly what i was looking for
Thanks for watching! I appreciate the support!
He is teaching you wrong bro
I was trained to figure the height of instrument (H.I.) Then calculate the height difference. Bm at 110.6 Back shot 3.86 HI= 114.46 Basement sub grade 96.25. Fore shot = 18.21. This way you can figure different elevations easier. Elevation of the light pole base just outside the front door no problem.
That's a great method. If you have to bounce between multiple Elevations that would be a better method to use. Thanks for commenting!
Yup I’m a union carpenter and I’ve always done it like this.
Me too!
Is there a video showing how this is done. ?
just started out as a landscaper. your videos have helped alot, I greatly appreciate it!
Happy to help! Reach out if you have questions!
I'm glad to finally see someone trying to teach old school ways,I've been doing this for 30 years, and it seems every new young operator asking me for a job can only hook up GPS set their blade on the control point and that's it,if they encounter any issues they want to go home,I think anyone who calls themselves a operator should know how to read grade stakes,set grades run string line and grade free hand,The company I work for has GPS good high quality stuff and they realized that the jobs built with GPS were good but when as built they were off normally a tenth that's a lot of over run on asphalt,so they make me do free hand finish work on the rock we get a surveyor to set stakes and and I finish it my stuff is usually within a 1/4" use to be better but I'm getting old and my eyes are messing up
A lot of essential skills are being lost and a pretty rapid rate right now in the trades. Finding a decent finish dozer operator who isn't reliant on GPS is getting harder and harder. As you stated, finding guys who can read grade stakes, calculate fall, or just calculate a simple cut are also getting harder to find. I'm still a firm believer of learning the basics before you step up to getting on the machines. Thanks for the comment Pat!
@@DieselandIron yeah the GPS is my biggest complaint,I think a operator should spend at least 5 years with grade stakes,a string and transit's then learn GPS the company I'm at has 4 crews 3 are GPS I'm old school the other crews have up to 5 guys plus labor's,I have 3 guy's my crew turns out double the work you have to have that natural ability to know when something is wrong,I'm fixing a job right now that was built all GPS the guys built it according to the system,turns out the operators didn't know how to properly program for FILLS OR CUTSso everything was figured at basic grade,so the building was 4 ft higher than the parking lot they turned a Wawa into a loading dock,I asked what happened they said DONT YELL AT ME I CAN ONLY DO WHAT THE MACHINE TELLS ME they didn't have the knowledge to realize something was FUBAR
@@patwatson2454 That's one of the biggest issues I have is that using GPS right off the bat makes you too relient on the machine. You can't turn off your brain when using GPS. You still have to understand the big picture and make sure everything makes sense.
@@DieselandIron 💯
Thank you making these videos they are extremely helpful and you do a very good job explaining things in an easy way
Happy to help! Feel free to reach out if you've got any questions!
Watched this video before ever picking up a grade rod and laser. I'm a pro now 😂👍🏽👍🏽
I'm glad someone is a pro because I'm very much still learning 🤣🤣
I am just starting to dig pools this video helped me a lot,thanks for sharing your ideas.
Glad it was helpful!
Nice job bud , it’s clear how you explain and demonstrate
I appreciate the comment! Thanks for watching my man!
Super this video my friend, I just remember again the survey class
Thank you
Man
Glad it was helpful, thanks for watching brother!
Again great job very clear greatly appreciated can't wait to continue watching more
Thanks Richard! I appreciate the support!
saved me for work tmrw cheers
Happy to help!
I came up with an elevation of 9.72 feet on the rod when I double check your verbal math. I watched again and realized your HI elevation was set at 3.38 not 3.39 on the rod that resulted in 9.71 (9.38 + 0.33= 9.71) on the rod that you came up with. Either way, close enough for residential work. Enjoyed your video from an old grade checker from the eye level and rag tape days before lasers.
Thanks for the comment Jerry and you are correct. As I look back on these grade rod videos I realize I need to remake them now that I have someone to hold the camera for me.
@@DieselandIron I am a retired grade checker and field supervisor but, I still take the time to train new grade checkers (for free) and I use your videos as training aids. I appreciate your willingness to share your knowledge.
@jerry8986 man any advice for an operator for getting into cutting? Where could I go ? I run a d6 for wildfire, and a 140m for snow removal in the winter. And I would love to get onto a company with year around work and that works the dirt.
Keep up these videos buddy
Hopefully one day I can hire someone and save the time to give the “up to go down and down to go up” lesson.
Gotta love the constucttttt
Thank you for the support! I appreciate it!
Thank you for these. My supervisors don't teach well
Glad they're helpful, thanks for watching!
Good videos, thanks for taking the time to educate me.
You got it! Thanks for watching Jim.
Thanks for your videos! I have grade checking class next week and I'm a noob apprentice. Was on a grade crew and learning this until a strike put construction to a stop where I'm at. Thanks for all your info!
Thanks for watching! Don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions!
Morgan smith you from seattle huh? Lol
Very helpful man!!! Thank you
Thanks for watching!
Nice! Simple.. Well worth watching, quick understanding!
Thank you Chris!
Great detailed easy to understand video 👌🏾
Thanks for watching my man!
Great explanation man I really appreciate it broke it down real easy for me. I would love a break down in the formula from inches into tenths I’ve been a carpenter reading a tape measure most my life but have recently got into operating equipment and moving dirt so I would love it if you could help me with transitioning into to tenths that would definitely be helpful. As my pipe laying friend says “the only people who use inches are carpenters and hors” lol sorry for the bad joke.
Sorry for taking so long to respond but, I have a video for that! Check this out and see if it answers your questions: ruclips.net/video/0D8WBf5DwPQ/видео.html
Great videos guys! Easy explanations and not to technical! So question for myself based on some of the Q & A's down below. Im attempting to put in an above ground pool in my back yard and i need to sub out 8"s of soil in the shape of my pool while making sure I'm levelling the ground inside the pool outline. Based on your video couldn't my hub elevation be set at the lowest point on the outline of my pool? Then add the 8"s to the hub measurement? So say i take the first shot in front of my laser for the hub measurement and its 3'. Add the 8" which is then 3' 8"s. So by setting 3' 8"S on my transit if i take the transit now to any point on my pool outline i would have to dig out the amount of soil that gets the sensor to show grade again. Correct?
You are correct. As long as your laser doesn't move and you are using your same reference number when looking through the transit you will dig a level pad 8" lower than your intended finish grade.
I am leveling an area to build my house. We want to cut into a slope and make a 70’ by 30’ level. If there’s no hub how do you establish the starting point? I am estimating the slope will require about a 5’ cut at the top to get near the lower end of the slope. That’s just a WAG at this point.
You need to work backwards into this. Figure out where you want your finish floor elevation to be relative to grade. You want a foot of fall within the first 10 feet away from the house so you get good drainage. Once you establish your finish floor elevation you can work down to what your dig needs to be.
@ I really appreciate the help, thank you!
I wish using grade rod was explained to me this nicely instead of just yelling in frustration like my foreman on my first day lol
haha, we all feel that way about some aspect of our dirt education
Thank you so much for your dedication and videos, I have learned so much from them.
I have a question, if using a Lenker Rod, would we set that BM 110.65 on the tape before getting the Back sight (BS) reading?
If I’m correct, it be BM + BS = Height of the Instrument (HI)
From there, HI - proposed or finish grade FG = Reading for the Ground Rod, therefore proceed to move receiver to that value?
Then we would go to each of the ForeSight locations to collect those readings and calculate differences (weather cut or fill)?
Thank you so much for your time, I am a fairly new operator and trying my best out here to soak in as much as possible to be more proficient all around.
I think I'm understanding your breakdown correctly and if that is the case then yes. Benchmark + Grade Rod Mark = Height of Instrument. Once you have that you can adjust up or down the rod as necessary to achieve your grade.
That was great. Thanks for sharing this.
Glad it was helpful, thanks for watching!
Great info very thorough
Glad it was helpful. Thanks for watching!
Buena explicación hermano
Thank you!
I was just promoted to foreman and the one thing I’m u sure of is where you got that base number from, that you subtracted from the sub grade
That will be on your prints or on a stake depending on the situation you are in.
Thank you
Made sense to me. Thank you.
Please put a drop of oil on the clamp screw. Otherwise, great video. You explain very clearly,, with great pacing.
Thanks for watching!
Gotta go up to get down! Nice
It'll confuse the heck out of you if you think about it too much!😂
how about the height of instrument? bench mark plus back sight reading = height of instrument the minus the design elevation is that the actual elevation need to excavate?
Yes, I believe you are right if I'm understanding you correctly. Let's say your hub was at 105' and your basement was set at 100'. I would shoot the hub and for round numbers we will say we land at 3' on our grade rod. I will then go up the grade rod 5' (105-100=5). Your laser eye should now be sitting at 8' on the grade rod which means we have to excavate 5' of material to get a solid tone on the rod to put us at grade.
If I am digging a leach field do I need to be so precise, like to the thousandth ? Thanks
No, not at all. As long as you are within a half Tenth of your target you will be fine. Our goal was always to get a solid beep with the laser but once you factor in the fact that the rod can be leaving in a little bit one way or another you accept that there is a bit of error in your measurement.
Here to learn what I said I knew at the interview
😂 Glad I could help out, lol! Did you get the job?
Yes I got a location that reads 5.4 which is high and a low spot that reads 13.4 how much do I have to cut from the high spot to the low spot with a foot fall
13.4 - 5.4 = 8 feet. If you wanted to have a foot of fall then you would leave your high side 6" high and your low spot 6" low which would give you a 7" cut.
Great video
Thanks for watching!
Another awesome video. Good info
Thanks Ian!
thank you so much , you are very good person , you are amazing ,thank u again
Thanks for the comment! I appreciate you watching!
Up is down and down is up, i learned the hard way settin a grease trap yrs ago lol
love your videos. ty keep them coming plz ty
Thanks for reaching out! I'm glad you're finding them helpful. Let me know if there's anything specific you'd like to see!
Thank you
No problem. Thanks for watching!
Up to down, down to go up. Easy to remember.
Good advice!
Mucho hispano mirando tus videos ponles subtitulos
Super helpful!
Glad to help!
who determines the hub elevation?
On job sites that is determined by the survey company based on a number of factors. If you are building a home and you are looking at your basement grade, it's up to you and how high you want the house to sit.
Can you help me understand how I bring up grade? I'm doing a foundation and the elevation is about 3'-4' lower than the level I need my subgrade at, it slopes from the front of the proposed slab to the back of the slab. The front is at the grade I need it.
No problem! You'll need to use an approved material (21A, 1x3 crushed concrete, etc depending on the application and what your situation calls for). You will start at the low end of the grade and put down 10-12 inches of material and level it. This will need to be wet down and compacted. Then repeat with another 10-12 inches until you reach your finished grade. Is this a personal project? Often times if this is a residential build you will need to have a proctor test done to verify compaction is adequate but it depends on your local code and procedures.
@@DieselandIron I certianly appreciate your very quick response! It's for a home owner, doing a monolithic pour for a detached garage. We are using structural fill for the subgrade. And compacting with a Bomag 8500. As for any compaction testing I believe the local building department will be doing that, although I'm not 100% sure as this is my first foundation. So when I am doing my lifts, I do so until I reach the grade I need that I established with my laser level? Is there no need to adjust the receiver?...you can add another subscriber to your belt brother, I appreciate your work!
@@yaqqirnasi7804 I appreciate you supporting the channel! With your lifts you can just eyeball the height. Most inspectors don't get to technical with it unless it looks like you are throwing down way too much material in each lift. That will allow you to keep your laser set to finish grade. If you want to be more precise you can just bump your laser eye up the grade rod to your first lift and then bump back down your rod with each lift until you get back to your finish grade number.
Edit: I just re-read your question and realized I didn't answer all the way. Yes, you will bring the fill material up in one foot lifts to the finish grade that your laser is set to for the rest of the foundation
@@DieselandIron Very well, I had thought that was how it was done but sometimes one needs instruction, I found you just in time! I'm not opposed to sharing my work, but I'm unsure how that can be done. I can appreciate constructive criticism 😁! I'm sure it's nothing you haven't seen, I'd like to learn the things you already forgot haha.
@@yaqqirnasi7804 I'd love to see some pictures of your work! Sir some pictures over to my email at thatdiggerdude@gmail.com. Let me know if you've got any other questions and I'll try to get them answered for you.
What is the difference between benchmark and sub grade?
A benchmark is simply a known point that is used to measure from. Say I had a hub at the top of my dirt pile that we knew was 783.2 feet above sea level. I could take a grade reading at the bottom of the pile and calculate the difference between my hub height and the shot I took at the bottom of the pile. For this example let's say the height at the bottom of the pile is 1.5 feet lower. I now know the elevation at that point is 781.7 feet above sea level.
Subgrade simply refers to the initial dirt layer you excavate down to before constructing a building or road. If we started a road in the middle of a field, we would first bulldoze down to a specified level so we could add in our sand and stone. The level of dirt we excavate down to is your subgrade.
Hi do you still respond to comments?
Man, it's been a rough couple of months. I was doing really well, but then we started building the studio and I got pretty sick during the holidays. Just got back from Texas but I plan to set aside some time to catch back up. Thanks for being patient!
Another great video.
Thanks Ronnie!
Can you explain the difference between a hub and a benchmark ?
A hub is the actual stake in the ground that your grade rod will sit on to take the elevation measurement. The benchmark is a reference term used to describe the object you are using to get your elevation. A benchmark could be a hub, a manhole, a specific point on the curb, etc.
A benchmark is a known elevation
@@marthawest2802 much better way of putting it. Thank you
I do underground pipeline and they give us cuts and fill on the stakes.
Most of the industry operates this way. Typically the skills shown here are used on a basement dig or some of your smaller jobs where you don't have a full staking of the job done.
Hey guys.
I'm having a little difficulty understanding this grad stake. It says.. TOP OF BAR = 125.308m. Can somone tell me what it means please..
I'm digging a foundation for a house. The property is on a crazy down slop and it's a walk out basement on the back side.
That is an elevation grade stake. I don't know what bar it is referring to but the top of the bar will be 125.308 m above sea level. You will need to have a benchmark somewhere on site that you can pull a grade from with a known elevation. Once you have your known elevation you will figure out the difference between the benchmark elevation and the elevation for the top of bar. You will adjust your grade rod by whatever the difference in those two elevations is.
Ziplevels are just so much faster and easier to use.
Excellent video. Thank you. Only thing that'd make it better is to delete the background music.
I'm ultimately going to redo these videos at some point. I'll kill the music and do a better job of getting shots of the grade rod.
Great video!
Thanks for the feedback!
As a homeowner/diy guy who is looking at lasers. I dig ponds and do landscaping stuff would you recommend a cross line laser or something like the inexpensive rotary lasers ... ? Thanks
Unless you plan on taking on some pretty large projects I would stick with a basic laser. Any slope can be calculated and done straight on the grade rod. It would be hard to justify spending for $5,000 on a commercial grade laser setup for what you are talking about doing
I was looking at the Bosch revolve 900 it’s 533 bucks or the Johnson level kit for 400 bucks
What I don't understand is wouldn't it be much easier to calculate if these lasers had a way to fine tune the level they sit at so your your hub grade is say exactly 3 feet and not 3.0125 feet for example.
Even if you were 20 in at exactly 3 ft your other point isn't going to be an exact number so there will always be some math. Once you get used to going up and down the stick you don't really have to focus on the math so much, you are just taking it up in the increments of the elevation change. For example if we were going up the stick 3.14 ft I would start by going up the stick the three feet. From my new spot on the grade rod I would then move up 1 tenth and then I would move up my 4 hundredths. By doing it this way I don't have to be concerned about the math
So not to harp on you or anything but I had some issues with your math lol your rod height was actually 3.38…
So if your hub elevation is set at 110.65 when you occupy that hub and set the indicator at level you reached a rod height of 3.38 so what you would do at that point is add 3.38 to the hub elevation of 110.652 now achieve an elevation of 114.03 which is now the elevation height for your laser level… And then what you will do from this point on is take that elevation into consideration over anything else so in order to achieve your grade elevation of 104.32 for your basement you will want to subtract 104.32 from your laser level elevation of 114.03 which will give you 9.71... "9.71" will now be your new staff height needed to reach your elevation of 104.32… That method is a heck of a lot easier than the 17 step process you describe in your video lol so again it's as simple as setting up your laser level turning it on it self levels.. you will then walk over to your hub adjust the indicator up or down the rod until it reaches level then you will take that staff height add it to the elevation of the hub you are occupying that new elevation becomes the elevation of your laser level and like I said it's a simple as subtracting your desired elevation from the elevation of your laser level and the outcome of that equation will become your new rod height needed to acquire grade.....
Hub elev=110.65
Rh on hub=3.38
Add 3.38 to 110.65 getting 114.04
Now minus 104.32 from 114.04 getting 9.71 so just move the indicator to 9.71 on your level rod And when you dig down deep enough and that indicator hits the level mark it will then be at your needed elevation of 104.32
There is a good chance you are 100% correct on my math being wrong and your method being more efficient. I've been meaning to come back to these videos and redo them now that the channel has grown a bit. I was very green and still a bit nervous on the camera for these videos! Thanks for catching the error and thanks for watching!
So a bench mark is made by a surveyor? Now will this location be your hub? if not how do you decide the hub location?
Yes, a benchmark is set by a surveyor. The reason you will hear benchmark and hub used interchangeably is because often the benchmark stake is an actual hub stake (the long 1in by 1in stake). Without getting too far down the road of the surveying side of the business, benchmarks can be a number of things. In some cases they will pound a nail in the ground, sometimes it is a physical monument of some sort, etc. On a lot of dirt jobs your benchmark will be represented by a hub stake with a grade stake right next to it (literally touching it). The grade stake will have "BMK" written on it along with the elevation. That elevation is referencing the top of the hub stake.
@@DieselandIron
Exactly. You can then straddle the hub, drop your dong until the tip touchs the nail to get your H.I.
So is 6.33ft the total amount in the ground to the bottom of the footing? On a lot would the highest grade be considered a good benchmark to use sense a good rule of thumb is to be higher for drainage? What is your preference on what to leave out of the ground after final grading? Thanks a bunch!
You could make a video more nicer with an example of digging a pond at depth X and set water level at depth Y with reference to the grade the transit is sitting on which is distance Z.
Then when you extent the sensor from the ground , mark with a removable marker the point where you get a zero reference as ground or zero. This point the laser is parallel to the sensor. Note the distance.
Now I know I have to dig a depth of distance X and set water at distance Y. I will mark the distances accordingly on the ruler so that every-time around the pond I try to know where the max depth or water level will be, I will just move the sensor stick and see if I need to add or remove soil to get the desired depth. Similarly I will do the same for the water level.
I have a possible pond project coming up in about a month. Let me see what I can do
@@DieselandIron thanks
I wanted to learn/double check on how to use a laser to read elevation changes... that is a check... but also left convinced of the insanity of the imperial system.
The imperial system sucks so much we have bastardized it to be like metric for dirt work...
At 4:38- Anyone who has ever shot grade is ROFL because we've all done this with the screw as the rod gets narrower going up. :-D
It makes you feel really special when you're trying to record a video and the damn thing won't get tight! 😂 Thanks for the comment brother!
I was told you read a grade rod from top and bottom of the black lines not black line/white line
The black lines are the actual tick marks but the white between also represents 1/100th.
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Im about to look like a pro in front of these noobs hahaha
Rock it Eddie!
3.38
Seriously the longest screws on those fking things
When you decide to create a RUclips video, they actually lengthen by a half inch 😆
No way I am creating a RUclips channel now. That half inch would take 5 more minutes to unscrew.
Specific elevation in the universe? No it’s just on earth my man.
You are right. On planet earth, specifically referencing the level of the ocean. Thank you for clarifying for our alien overloads
Dude that's 100 per how not to figure grade
D.m. + rod shot = i.h. instrument height
110.65+ 3.39=114.04(i.h.)
I.h. 114.04- S.b 104.32=9.70
Either way will come to the same conclusion but you leave way less room to error . And for sure if you not a pro why video
This is just another way of doing it. Once you do it a couple times and understand what's going on it leaves less room for error because your doing simple math instead of subtracting 5 digit numbers.
The error reduction is realized in the equation. But for example say it's not a basement but sewer installation. Then you have to do all that math for each shot . By establishing your i.h. or elevation of instrument, you don't have so much work load . Reference your plan elevation and you can determine all of your rod heights. But all that set aside I am a supervisor for 5yr multi million dollar project . With 20+ yrs.exp. in the field. And every engineer offerman worked with or for used i.h. method all that aside. How would u even begin to find slope of pipe line or determine ele.of a ex. Invert . But hay if it works for you
And you could just drop the 1 from the front of elevation to get your digit count down .
@@joesimmons618 as with most things in this industry, there's more than one way to skin a cat. I don't doubt your experience and I will absolutely say your method sounds much more in line with what an engineering firm would do. That being said, that doesn't make this method 100% incorrect, it's just a different way of going about it.
You lost me bruh, can’t you paint a picture lol
That’s 3.8 though
As I go back and watch these I see some errors I made. At some point I'll remake these videos.
The Math is, 6.33 + 3.39 = 9.7 2 ...not 9.71...
Don't tell me what I know Travis...
Dood
Bro
So I watched this and noticed you were were standing in a kids sand pit area. Does this subversive imagery compound your well presented instruction as 'child's play'. Haha. Appreciate your patient explanation and example, you did a great job. Its helped me understand better how to use the tools. Cheers from Oz🛠🪃🇦🇺
I think it really embodies the fact that we never really grow up and stop playing in the sand pile. Our Tonkas just get bigger! I appreciate you watching Tim!
Your sticks backwards dude
Threw me all off
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