Layout For Beginners: Easy Step by Step

I wanted to go back to the basics with easy steps to follow for an accurate layout. It doesn’t matter if you a building a post frame, laying out a concrete pad, framing a new deck, or making a garden! If you want it to be accurate and find square, this video is for you! Let me know in the comments if this video helped or if you need clarification on something. Also, consider subscribing for more construction content!

RR Building Plans

36” long jet stakes

Stabila open reel steel tape

[pferguson]

Surveyed for about 10 years (Civl design / CAD for 20 years…now CAD manager). Staked a LOT of houses. You hit all the important points and mentioned some of the pitfalls. Very well done. Thank you for emphasizing elevation when laying out. Remember…slope in the site creates another triangle. If you hold a tape close to the ground, on a slope, and don’t use a plumb bob (or some other manner of “leveling” the tape), you’re measuring along the hypotenuse.

[horstszibulski]

It's all about time that Greg gets his own mic, would like to listen to him!
👍👍👍

[TheBeerbelly]

I have to say this again, who ever is filming this is doing a really good job.

[harithabdulrasoul]

Great job guys
As an Engineer its always a joy to watch accurate measurements and the dedication to achieve that.
And I couldn't agree more with what you said about starting accurately because it will definitely be a compound effect.
Keep up the good work

[jeffbalog]

Awesome video very helpful, I’m a greenhorn and understood every thing you taught. Communicated well and what helped I think for me is you went to the field and actually laid out a building site, hands on is a great teacher thanks.

[psidvicious]

I’m glad you guys did it the right way, by simply doing the calculation. So many other “layout” videos try to tell you, just measure your diagonals and make adjustments until you get like-diagonals. No, a thousand times NO! You can have like diagonals and not have a single square corner in the whole thing. (Do a search for isosceles trapezoid and you’ll see what I mean.) Plus, this is just faster and eliminates all that back and forth nonsense.

[MrSergebb]

Starting the day with sprinkled donuts is literally the key to accurate layout.

[alexanderbrozel]

2:48 I looked it up and the typical expansion for a steel tape at 90F would be 21/32” per 100’. Didn’t think it would be that much, but there you go.

[firemanj]

Great tip on using steel tapes. Solid tips, Kyle.

[Christian.]

Perfect explanation. Especially the parallelogram adjustment. Brilliant.

[georgeking]

Thanks for the tutorial. I understand batter boards a bit more, and setting them up. Also helped me understand the laser level and its use a bit more.

[Shanks]

Thank you for diving into the small details! I love learning from pros like you and especially Greg! even the time to do that small diagram really helped clear up what was happening in my head.

[antsbantsb]

as a Carpenter in New Zealand this is another awesome vid- and yes this is exactly how we do a setout also- yep the 1/8th over that distance is not important, well done you two!

[KrazyKajun]

As usual great job and the 1/8" can be made up exactly when placing the brackets in the wet set on the pier.

[hammertime]

I think this is the best video for how to get things square on YouTube. Very simple to understand for the guys who don’t do this type of work for a living.

[larryb]

just had to say this video was awesome. I've watched about a dozen videos on this, and this by far was the best I've seen. Clear, thorough, and even explained in detail how to fix issues. Bravo!

[markmillers]

Why at 7:24 did you add 2" to your hypotenuse of 87 4 1/2?

[thegarbagegladiators]

I wish I could find a video that could start from the VERY beginning. All the videos I watch are guys talking about it assuming you have some sort of experience. I need to learn from day one!!! 😩 assume I've never laid one brick or nailed one board and start with that.

[smsfffi]

Cheer~~~the way in which the parts of something are arranged or laid out.😊

[brendoncox]

I appreciate your time and explanation of this process… Thank you and well done 👍