Well, Skil’s iLevel has just made my life a whole lot easier — can’t imagine why I didn’t think to try this out before now. However, Skil’s HomeFixated sponsorship status, and their offering to send us an iLevel to check-out definitely helped me broaden my approach to leveling! As a professional picture framer who loves the framing aspect of the job, but cringes at the thought of installs, the iLevel removes at least 50% of the “hanging stuff up” headache. And, whether you need to hang a series of pictures, shelves or cabinets, or install chair rail, wainscoting, tile or a slew of other things…Skil’s iLevel will make the job go that much smoother. Â
The flexible mounting clamp attaches to any stationary object — the back of a chair, edge of a table or countertop, step- ladder, your very steady significant other — whatever. The tripod swivels easily so you can adjust direction and height of the beam. Once the unit is clamped in place, all you have to do is lift the level’s face cover and a simultaneous horizontal/vertical laser line is projected onto the wall surface.
The laser lines can be used directly as your guide, as long as you take the extra time to make sure they’re projected at just the right height. The lines can also act as a very quick and easy bearing point to measure off of, allowing you to make tiny marks exactly where you want them. For quicker jobs, I’d probably use it in the latter capacity. The iLevel eliminates the need for messy chalk lines and unsightly pencil marks on walls, and also happens to be a flat-out, cool, techno, James Bond-y kind of gadget.
Skil’s iLevel is available at select retail and hardware stores for around $ 79.00, which is a bargain when compared to most cross beam laser levels. To find out where the iLevel is available near you, visit Skil’s website, or better yet use the retailer locator (and soon online locator) found on the actual Skil iLevel description page.
