Nice to see someone who actually trains their employees

Great video. Thanks for posting. I have a tip: Once you have first set up the laser, mark the laser beam with a pencil on e.g. the white shed - if you need to move the laser, or reposition it the following day, raise/lower the laser to hit the pencil mark and you'll be at the same height. Best wishes.

Oh my, need more of these type of video's. Truly enjoy them and very informative. Looking forward to seeing part 2. Never used a transit or a laser level before and now, learning something new. Thank you. Cheers :)

Stan you are AWSOME!!!! Not only taking time to teach your employees how to do a job CORRECTLY but sharing it with all of us. Id pack up my family and come out your way to work for you anytime. PLEASE keep hese videos comming. I have learned so much from you

Man! This guy you got is a gem! You know how long it took for me to understand the concept of reading grade with a laser?! He picked it up so fast! Sheesh man, he's super lucky to have such a good teacher. Since I work for a decent sized company, It took me about 5 years till I finally got the opportunity to learn. I fortunately ran into a foreman that took the time to teach me this. Great video!

I was completely lost on how to use a laser to set grade but after your video I think I could figure it out. We have to be patient & teach these young guys because most of the time they want to learn. I always hated when old timers didn't want to take time to show me things thinking it somehow made them more important on the job if only they knew how to do something.

Thank you. I understood the concept of the lazer and grade pole but that made a lot of sense one step a time. And like you said there can be a lot more to it but to start understanding basics this was a great help. Have seen your stuff randomly over past few years and always liked your content. Recently subscribed because I really like your attitude towards projects and more importantly your coworkers and friends. Keep up the great work.

Very helpful and clear. You're one of my favorite guys to learn from and I appreciate all the time and preparation you put into these great lessons. I'm just a homeowner with similar equipment and many projects to complete. Thank you Stanley and great job! Kudos to Alex as he is picking it up quickly as well.

He may have covered this in the vid after I stopped but an easy way to get consistent measurements from day to day, or even having to move the laser during the day is to set a benchmark. We usually use a nail hammered into to a tree or telephone pole. That is your zero mark and everything can be adjusted from there. Have to oversee this waaaay to much as a construction superintendent. You never know if you will get the same guy back from day to day so a benchmark makes it consistent.

Glad somebody takes time to do this work while trying to actually get a job done. Thank you brother

Always wanted to know how to set grade. This explains it well!!! I never understood it long straight edge and level. Thanks and I get notified every time you post a new video. It will help allot to see part 2!!!

This is great! I'm prepping a dirt area pitching towards my house to be flat for a concrete pad (pitched away) being professionally poured. Thank you so much for this!

When you put the stick down at the benchmark to measure off the next spot, put the top of the stick at the benchmark point so that the bottom is already right on the spot where the stick then has to be raised to vertical.

Great educator... I see you exude confidence in what you are teaching while ensuring he is comfortable with answering and possibly be wrong... THAT is education with minimal anxiety

Appreciate the refresher!! doing a dirt job at my farm , got me one of this bad boys it just been 3 years since I used one this!!! video definitely knocked off the rust off

Love it! I live off of a salt marsh and I'm grading my yard, I finally got it solid enough for equipment and this will help me a ton for the finish grade!

Great video! I just bought a rotary level for a DIY patio project and this was a great intro! Thanks!

This will be a huge help for an upcoming patio project.

Hi Stan, Such a good idea to make a video for this. I am going to be showing this to some of my new guys before I run them before I then get them on the tool with hands on approach. it will help so much. Thank you, and take care.

I’m actually doing this to my yard right now, and this video is priceless!!! Thank you so much!

This is pure gold. You just tought me how to use my new equipment. I took all the measurements down and didn’t move my laser but had no clue what to do with all these notes! Thank you!

Hey Stan. I love your passion for teaching. Great video. One comment to expand on what you have said is to consider frost. If you dropped the grade 1 inch every 8 feet and get run off away from the garage pad that is great in the summer. However, if winter comes along and you get frost that raises the elevation of the soil away from the house, the elevation will change to run toward the garage pad for the first few feet away from the pad. Depending upon roof orientation causing water to be deposited or not in front of the garage, you may end up with the same problem again. My advice is to make the grade steeper for the first 6 feet away from a building and then go to the 1 inch every 8 feet (or 2 inches/10' according to my father) after 6' away. That will mitigate any frost risk.

Great Video. With regards to part 1, I do one thing differently. You basically set your first benchmark on the bldg pad relative to the initial arbitrary laser height and not a true backsite relative to a known existing elevation. This is fine if you know you are going to be complete in one day, or thier is no chance anyone is going to disturb the laser. If you set your benchmark using a backsite off a known elevation, you can take the laser down and reset it over and over and pick up where you left off without starting from the beginning. If a known benchmark is not close by, you can fabricate one by setting a solid pole in the ground such as a 4x4 that will not move that can serve as a relative benchmark. I suppose the concrete pad could have been your known benchmark, but you never marked the exact spot.

I'm subscribed but haven't clicked the bell but still seeing your videos in my feed. This is a good one. I'm currently using mason line on stakes in my back yard while I build a retaining wall and fix the grade on a slope.

I'm only at two thirds of the video and I'm already feeling very thankful. Thank you so much.

This helped me a ton! I’m just starting out and have watched a couple of your videos now. I am learning a ton! Thank you for your time in putting these videos together.

Stan, great video. I have used a Lenker (direct reading ) rod for 40 plus years. I had an engineer working with me who showed me how to use it The Lenker rod does the math for you. To some more experienced guys who started off as you are showing your guy. It seems to simple. But, to teach them this method is good , then advance to the Lenker. Also I work in tenths and hundreds of a foot. Again it's easier. Stay safe out there.

At 18:00, the spot he measures is 1/2” lower, not 1/2” higher, so you’d only have to cut 1.5” rather than 2.5” to get the 2” drop. I don’t say that to pick on you (or him), but to point out again how easy it is to get it backwards, especially when the grade is so close to level. Biggest thing I learned early on is never to trust your eye, as you mentioned. It is easy to get arrogant and think you can wing it, but *always* trust the tool. My laser proves me wrong all the time. 😁👍

Great video, I’m an ecologist, so I do consultation work on construction sites from time to time, so It’s nice to get an understanding on what takes place during the design stage.

Thankyou for sharing your knowledge Stan! Your video was extremely helpful ! God bless

Great video content. I learned the basics by watching this. Well done keeping it simple. Thank you.

Definitely helpful, I’d like to see more of these. I think the best training in any of these types of KZfaq videos is just explaining in a bit of detail what the job requires and the steps to you need to take (and why that particular step is done and why in the order it is being done) to accomplish the task with commentary along the way. Very helpful…👍

Thank you for taking the time to create and share this video.

I’m LOVING this! Thank you sooooooo much!! I’m a woman and full time mom now for the most part, but I’m really driven and determined to figure out how to do stuff myself …in fact I MUST, IF I want to make my visions and dreams realized because otherwise the costs to have someone else do the work makes is cost prohibitive (and we make pretty decent money too after having been in the professional work over 20 years). So we are lucky 🍀 enough to be able to buy some of the good tools and supplies necessary- and with KZfaq’s and people like you, your help, I am able to learn, explore, and build the projects I feel our home or family either needs or even, eventually, projects just to enhance the quality and usability of our home and property. 🙌🏻👍🏼❤️ Ps I really appreciate all you put into these great educational construction videos. And this way I also don’t have to bug my husband as much and there is a lot about all of this he doesn’t know either so it’s great to have these great video’s available to teach us. I’m a daughter of a professional builder (and John Deere store owner lol) but he died of cancer when I was 10 - he was 45. I was extremely close to him and miss him a lot. I so often wish he was next to me and could he advising me on all these projects I’m either dreaming about or trying to actually build. So your videos are the next best thing. 😊 👍🏼 I thank you so much for this, and I’m pretty sure my dad, hopefully looking down to see us from Heaven’s view, thanks you as well!💛💚🤎💙

That is excellent tutorial thankyou, I've watched around 5 or 6 and yours answered all the questions the others failed to mention, I am so grateful the way you explained and mentioned things like not moving the laser and how to incorporate a drop. The best out there dimound geezer.

Yes I’d love to see more videos, can we get a start to finish series on Brick paver patios and walk ways...

You're awesome brother thanks for all the tips over the years man.

Great video with good explanation. Great refresher for me on my end. Great job..!

Thank you for taking the time to post your videos… They are very helpful and entertaining 👍

Excellent real world training. You didn't bury him in the minutia of the process. Thank you for sharing your video on this topic.

Really like the video. Been in construction many decades but never did grades. Thanks for the easy to understand info Keep it up.

Thank you for a great video, and thank you for taking the time to train your new guy! I worked for a construiction company where i was the noob, the first guy i was sent to work with told me straight away "don't ask me questions, don't ask me why or how, just do as i tell you - nothing more, nothing less." This seemed to be some what the general behaviour in the company wich in the end made me quit because i couldn't grow or be good at something, i was only the idiot who didn't know. So again, thank you! :)

If the laser is set to a whole number for the bench, the math gets a lot easier. Adjusting the tripod makes this easy. Nice video. Thanks for sharing.

Have always wanted to know how to read a grade stick, even though I am not in construction for a living. Thanks for the tutorial and the information for us noobs.

HELLO from las Vegas Nevada, is a good reminder, thank you, GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.

Really good explanation of the basics of using a laser for measuring grade something I’m learning but have never had anyone explain mechanical functions. Very helpful thanks

Thanks for the nice refresher. Appreciate it

I'm planning to regrade my backyard. Eventually putting in a pool. My grade slopes towards my back doors until the last 4 feet, then it slopes away for water run off. It works and it was engineered, but I get nervous when it rains real hard in the spring. I bought an old case backhoe a few months ago and picked up a laser level kit today and figured I better learn to use it before I go screw up my engineered watershed. This was the first video that popped up. Very good introduction to a noob that wears a tie and sits behind a desk for a living. Off to find the second part to see how you move the dirt now. Thanks for the great work.

Just started it and I already know i will LOVE it! I need all this info! Please more vids like this!

You nailed it. This def gave a good and basic lesson for shooting grade. Thanks!

So glad you did this video I'm the noob guy wanting to start my own thing. I'm all for these training videos!

Loved this video! I'm subscribed so I always see your videos. I'm new at being self employed and really appreciate all of your videos, your insight, tips, and explanation is very useful to me. I literally started my business by "winging it" and I can use every bit of knowledge I can find!!

Great video, I will be trying this out with my property. Keep up the great work.

Love it super thanks just got done helping my neighbor on grading walk in to his pond alot for retaining walls level road way with drain run off.

Great Video! Teaching videos are a great idea. I have alot of respect for you and your company. Thank you for all of your help.

I'm a noob to this and it was really easy for me to understand. Watch this video 3/4 times and you got this. Great video!!

I have a very sloped property. I need this training BIG TIME!!! THANK YOU!!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🌺🌿👍🏻

Starting landscaping tmr, watched your videos before but I'm here to take everything in.

Great start to teaching videos. Look forward to more to come.

Was just thinking about looking this up for a job have coming up. You always covering what we might need. Thanks for your insight

Well done. Good description of the work.

Fantastic video! Do you do forms for foundations? Other suggestions: plan reading/brick laying for exterior walls/home building process/etc.

yes it did, fixing to put in a french drain system in a two acre yard-have the laser lol didn't know how but now i know, between you and french drain man i have it under my belt ,thanks again.

I’ve always wondered how these worked and I needed to learn and now I know thanks man!

Great brush up! Just bought land and haven't done grading in 20 years, lol Love to see routine maintenance on your equipment! Im gonna be buying a Skid Loader here in FL .... Gonna look back at your vids and see what you got. Appreciate you! 🙏👏🤌💪

Is it bad I’ve learnt more from Stan then my own bosses over the past 4/5 years 😂😂lots of love Stan I appreciate you and your videos

Stan your videos are great. Keep up the good work. Very valuable visual stimulous

This is awesome! I love videos that help me learn new things. Keep them coming

This video was very simple and you make it very easy to understand excellent job 👍

Thanks for all the tips. Was looking at getting a 360 laser for my own home and business. It's nice to get a visual to train me in.

Hi Stan, I'm not a surveyor but always wanted to know this, very good video, and understandable, thank you for sharing.

great video and very useful knowledge to know on a jobsite,. it only makes you more valuable

got a rotary today and that really helped me get my head around it. thanks

What a "jerk" 🤣 Good job at teaching Stan! I've only done it with a transit and jerk pole. Been a long time. This will help me out.

I have been setting up and pouring concrete for almost 10 years this is a great video! And yeah they need to play your vids more that’s true where they been at

Thanks Dirt Monkey! I'm taking this knowledge and my 9 years landscape knowledge to Home Depot and getting a Rotary Laser level. Off to the job to crunch numbers and figure out what needs to happen to fix a customer's grade issues! Blessings.

Man... This is great stuff. Real world skill training he is getting!!

currently learning how to read grade to keep the mini ex on grade as we ex out new sidewalk dirt. the city guy that watches us had to school me on it. your video is perfect, been subbed your channel for a few years before i got into construction

23 years old running my company and this video helped my guys large you guys are awesome

Loving these videos,for me learning to read the "lay of the land" is something thats critical,understanding how water travels,also looking for problems when designing gardens,for example down pipes that sit lower than curbs or foot paths.We like to think that when houses are built that these things are considered,but often become an issue because a cheaper option is used.I hope this makes sense

This popped up on my KZfaq feed, and what a great video!!! And thanks for the shout out the other day!👍

Hey Mr. Genadek. Great video. I'm getting into grading myself. Fortunately I also do commercial glazing so have an understanding of level. Imagine being 40 stories in the air and trying to get benchmark but the wind gusts are laughing at you. Sometimes knock level right over even with weights.

Enjoyed the video I now know the basics. Keep up the good work.

Well done. You are a patient man.

I have a primative Lazer I set it at an angle ad fastened to receiver to blade of the dozer and did a crude job. Drains well. Think outside the box

Thanks for this video! I'm doing a patio paver around my entire house, its a 4 foot walk with drainage in the middle. I am going to put in a swale so I plan to do a 2': 1/2 grade from each outer edge towards the middle. This is my first time doing paver work or any grading work. DIY!

This is very good. Great refresher for a guy who only does this a couple times a year.

I really enjoy your videos. I can't stop watching them.

That was very informative. thank you.

Thank you for these videos!

This is exellent I am a frontend loader operator with no experience with laser levels in Australia. Looking at getting into civil works, sub divisions, road works, house pads and drive ways. Favorite new channel. Thankyou

Much gratitude an knowledge 👍great Master splinter

Great video. I learned a ton and now I’m confident I can grade my pad. Thanks.

Thank you so much i have learned something today i needed to learn

Stanley, thanks for doing this kinda video, you are teaching men to fish buddy. My constructive comment would be to set your new guys up to succeed by giving him a small note pad and pencil and let him know a good(yours) format for note taking.

Thank you for this video. I’m going to look for more videos like this to see more examples of checking grade.

Great video sir! I’m a Pipe Layer, laying storm, water, sanitary, etc. The laser is a must have on a daily. Only thing I would add is the importance of making sure your legs for the laser are secure. Don’t just stand them up and ride out. Sink them in the ground( if possible). If outside, wind could actually blow over your laser or (believe it or not, this has happened) a bird land on your laser and knock it off line and then, like you said, you’re starting all over. Other than that, you covered it all! Love your content! Keep gettin after it! 🤙🏼

What an excellent employer. Great video. Headed out to get one for myself

You are Right! I had time without seen your videos!!All Excellente this one is a real training Gift vídeo!!! Basics in How to operate the Bobcat could be a good training video! Thanks!

I'm sure it's been said but a "write in the rain" notebook helps alot. Helps to make sketches too.