Post Level by Johnson Level and Tool

I give this gear 10 out of 10 acorns.  I don't know why I didn't get one sooner.  It was only $4 at Menards.  I installed a bunch of 5x5 posts for a building and this made it much easier to get the post plumb.  No level to keep dropping or having to slap on each side to see if it's still plumb.  Normally I'd think about dropping the acorn score due to being made of plastic.  But it works so well that I forgave that.

I've installed about 12 milled posts with it and 30 cedar posts.  With a tapered cedar post it isn't any more accurate than a normal level but it still makes the process easier.  In my case I was attaching a fence to one side of the posts so I just arranged the post level so that one of the dials would ensure that side of the post was plumb and ignored the other side.  Hopefully this makes sense.

I found that the full size 5x5 posts were the max the rubber band could handle.  I'm sure it could handle 4x6 dimensional milled posts.  Anything larger than that could be handled with some string to extend the reach of the rubber band.

Here's a pic of it hooked onto a 2x4 under my workbench:

They are fabulous, mine has magnetic bits which allows it to hold on to steel posts.
Certainly a must for any builder who likes order in their work.

I give this product 10 out of 10 acorns.

It is all fun and games until you realize your posts aren't true. This inexpensive yet invaluable product is insurance against headaches and rework. I have three of them. Why do I have three of them? Mind your business. Maybe I just support this product a ton? I don't misplace them and then find them all roughly in the same place. That would be embarrassing to say.

I like the flexibility of usage on these as well. You have a big post you want to attach this too? Acquire yourself a rubber band or two and extend that bad boy. The only wear item I have on these has been the strap. I call that a fair price. I keep mine in a shed without temp control so I think the winter freeze is what kills the rubber.

I would recommend this product to everyone dealing with posts.

Easy 10 out of 10 acorns.  Can I give it extra credit?  Maybe give it 5 more acorns?


This tool might be the highest function-to-cost ratio.

I remember helping my parents build a deck in my childhood.  My father did not have one of those tools.  Did they even exist?  I don't know.  At any rate, my parents would carefully hold two levels on different sides of the 4x4 while my father then juggled operating other hand tools, drilling a bolt hole, filling in the post with soil or cement.  It was very tedious and just getting the posts up and in place in a perfectly vertical position took all day--literally nothing else got finished.

a couple of decades later and I was building my first deck off of my first house.  I thought that the posts would be a monumental challenge until I saw this nifty little tool at Lowes.  Amazing!  Just put it in place and attach the rubber band and then step back!  That's it.

And what did this cost?  I think mine was under $5!



I can say that absolutely no other tool has ever given me so much utility for such a puny investment.




Eric