Must-Have Construction Gizmos

There was a time when all you needed to build something were a few nails and a hammer (hmmm, that reminds us of a song). Well, our ever-developing society has long since left behind the simple pleasures of pounding in a few nails, and nowadays both the construction industry and home improvement field are as gadget-crazy as they come. The thing is, some of their gadgets are so handy it's hard to see how people got along without them. Most involve some type of advanced technology, but some, like the Little Giant ladder system, use existing technology in exciting new ways that no one had thought of before. In this article, we'll look at three items you ought to be itching to own, if you don't already: the laser level, the stud finder, and the Little Giant ladder.

Light and dense

When you need to make a surface perfectly level, nothing beats a laser level, whether you're building an outdoor patio or installing a kitchen countertop. Laser levels use razor-sharp beams of aligned light to measure a surface's alignment, and can do it to within a bare fraction of an inch -- as little as 0.00015 inches per foot. Given their prices -- less than $1,000 to more than $10,000 -- a good laser level isn't necessarily for the hobbyist, but it's a must have for a busy contractor or builder. As the technology advances, you can expect the prices to drop.

Stud finders are a bit more affordable, since they rarely cost more than $20. If you're fooling around with a wall and you want to make sure you either a) want to insert something into a stud for added stability or b) want to make sure you miss a stud altogether, then you need a stud finder. Even something as prosaic as hanging a picture can benefit from the use of a stud finder, if you want to avoid frustration. A stud finder is generally a compact rectangular object that you slide along a sheetrock wall, looking for the studs between the drywall sheets. The stud finder measures the density of the wall; when it finds a denser spot than the drywall, i.e. a stud, it beeps. While pipes and wires can throw it off, and it doesn't work with metal studs, a stud finder is an invaluable tool that no builder or do-it-yourselfer should do without.

Getting above it all

Then there's the Little Giant. The Little Giant Ladder company, Wing Enterprises, manufactures these modern wonders, which can be reworked with a minimum of effort into 24 different configurations. That's 24, as in two dozen. Not only can a standard Little Giant be converted into a variety of A-frame and extendable ladders, it can be made to fit uneven ground and stairs, providing a perfectly stable platform to work from. It can even be broken down into two separate scaffolding trestles. With the use of the occasional Little Giant ladder accessory, one can also extend the legs as necessary, add a work platform, and attach a wing span extender to help you avoid such obstacles as windows. While the price may seem a bit scary at $400+, consider the fact that buying 24 individual ladders to do all that the Little Giant does would cost you in excess of $800. Now that's scary.

Published with permission (FCDMInc)