Is using a level really that important for hanging shelves?

I spent last Saturday putting up three shelves in my living room and just eyeballed it with a tape measure. My wife walked in and said they look like theyre sliding downhill, now I gotta redo the whole thing. Does anyone else skip the level because you think you can judge it by eye, or am I the only one who ends up with crooked shelves every time?

2 comments

2 Comments

nora108d ago

My buddy Mike tried to hang a big mirror in his hallway just eyeballing it and spent an hour stepping back to adjust it over and over. By the time he was done, the drywall looked like a sieve from all the extra holes he made trying to get it straight. A cheap level would have saved him a lot of swearing and spackle.

jamesmason8d ago

Picked up a level after the third time my dad laughed at my 'slightly tilted' bookcase. I swear I thought it looked perfect from where I was standing, but then I step back and it looks like the shelf is trying to crawl off the wall. Made the same mistake with a picture frame once. Ended up with four extra holes in the drywall and a level sitting unused in my toolbox for years. Now I just grab the damn thing every time. Saves me the headache of having to explain to my wife why our furniture looks like it belongs in a funhouse.