Anybody using one of those laser measuring thingies?

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

Matt,

I am not suggesting that the Disto itself is not accurate. I am suggesting it is not the greatest thing since sliced bread. You will run into the same problems with the laser as you will with a tape measure. I have noticed that placing the Disto directly against the brick is not always going to give you a straight shot. If you are in cramped quarters it is not easy to aim either. Plus, When you have to reach up above your head a full arms length to put it above schrubbery, aiming is tricky, finidng the button is tricky and keeping your balance can be tricky. Never mind seeing what you are aiming at. Now, I am not uncoordinated. I have always found a way with a tape measure to get behind the bushes and string the tape down the wall. I am fast, fast, fast with a tape measure and I am slow, slow, slow using this Disto right now. I have steady hands. At least I thought I did until I started aiming the Disto. With a tape measure you don't have to worry if you stopped on a window ledge or a gutter. I check and triple check on difficult measures and when two out three measurements match I am just not reaasured it was right. I guess I must be measuring in a jungle here in Texas. Plus, nobody will ever convince me it is quicker to measure a 40 straight wall with nothing to aim at with the Disto than it is to run a tape measure down the wall. I could see how it could be quicker if two people were measuring, but not one.

I am going to check out the sites your recommended. I have not given up yet. However, I just wanted others interested in this device to know that the very things I feared about it are true. People should hear "real world" applications of this device and the learning curve needed to use it. I am no dummy, I operate all kinds of devices and have never been as frustrated with a device as much as this one.


Yesterday,

I thought I was using my tape measure as a crutch, so I left it at home to measure a 1965 brick home. I took double the time to measure the home that I normally would have measured in less than 15 minutes. The reason, bushes against the wall over my head all the way around the home. The straight line walls with nothing to aim at or to see what I could aim at were impossible. If I had my tape measure I would have hooked it as high as possible and worked it down the wall, but I did not. Then there were the branches in the way when I had target walls and non-straight walls that required holding it freely to aim. The bottom line is I would have been confident about every measurement with my tape measure. I was not with the Disto. I will keep trying though, because i want it to work.

 

[Anonymous]

“ You will run into the same problems with the laser as you will with a tape measure.”

You are absolutely correct. There are times when you have to get creative with a Disto. When I used the gas grill as a target today, I was being creative. When I used the “behind” of a sleeping dog as a target once, I was being really creative. My point is that your options with a Disto outnumber your options with a tape. Not many people realize that I still appraise houses. Most think that I own Appraiser Depot and that’s it. Believe me, I have put my Disto through every creative scenario imaginable. Each time I have to get creative, it is faster than getting creative with a tape. I don’t know how many times I used to have to break up a long measurement with a tape into 2 or 3 shorter ones because something like a fence was in the way. Using the Disto is no different. However, breaking up a measurement with a Disto is much faster. The reason is that you should: aim, measure, and then walk to the next measurement. You don’t have to stop and reel in the tape. It gets worse when you had to stake the tape in the ground and you have to walk all the way back to pull the stake.

“When you have to reach up above your head a full arms length to put it above schrubbery, aiming is tricky, finidng the button is tricky and keeping your balance can be tricky.”

For those that are not familiar with the Disto, here is how you take a measurement: 1) Turn on the Disto by pressing the top button on the keypad. 2) The laser is firing. All you have to do is aim the laser at your target. 3) Press that same button to take the measurement.

I guess my only tip for finding the button is to have your finger on it before you hold it over your head. You might also turn the Disto on its side when you hold it over your head.

“I have noticed that placing the Disto directly against the brick is not always going to give you a straight shot.”

The laser shoots straight. Your wall might not be straight. I have measured a lot of houses where the walls were a little “wavy”. If this is the case, the laser will appear to not shoot straight.

“Plus, nobody will ever convince me it is quicker to measure a 40 straight wall with nothing to aim at with the Disto than it is to run a tape measure down the wall.”

Have you tried using the Pythagorean function with your Disto Classic? It is not as fast as the regular “point and shoot” measuring but it allows you to measure those types of walls.

I thought I was using my tape measure as a crutch, so I left it at home to measure a 1965 brick home. I took double the time to measure the home that I normally would have measured in less than 15 minutes.

I measured a house last week that had 1912 square feet. The house (including garage, porch, and patio) required 21 individual measurements. I completed all of my measurements and sketched the property in 6 minutes. I am guessing that it would have taken me at least 15 minutes with a tape. There were also several areas, other than the patio, where I couldn’t have hooked my tape to a corner. I would have had to stake my tape in the ground and then walk back and pull the stake. I always time myself when I am measuring now. I don’t rush but I like to see how long it takes me.

The learning curve with a Disto should be no more than measuring 2 houses. After a person measures 1 or 2 houses, they should be saving time. It sounds like you have had to measure some pretty tough houses without being familiar with the Disto. I understand why you are frustrated. Like I said, I am here to help if you need it.

 

[slacker]

I am no dummy, I operate all kinds of devices and have never been as frustrated with a device as much as this one.

<span style='color:blue'>I don't have a Disto, yet that is. I don't understand how it can be so frustrating to point this thing and press a button????

What kind of "devices" have you been operating that are any easier than that? Do you have trouble with your garage door opener too? Sorry, just seemed liked the same process.

I think a tape will always have it's place. For example, if I didn't have anything to shoot at, I could put my tape on the ground adjacent to a corner and use it as a target. Right?

Later

www.appraiseillinois.com</span>

 

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

Buy one and try it. Make sure you go out in bright daylight. Aim it a wall 40 foot away and when you don't see the dot, take it for granted it is there. Then find a way to aim it behind bushes that are directly against the wall. It is still quicker to run tape down in front of a 20 foot garage, especially when you have nothing to aim at. I quit posting to this subject because Matt was dismissing my comments as operator error. That is not always the case. Sometimes it is property error. Sometimes it is schrubbery error. Sometimes it is operator error. I guess I must be the only appraiser in the world that appraises homes with heavy schrubbery. I can work the Disto just fine when sitting at my desk or mesuring a new home with no landscape. But measuring from one gutter to another, the back of a dog's behind, electric meters,etc puts too many margins for error in the process. Is the gutter .8 inches away form the edge or .5 inches, only the tape will tell. Is that meter .5 inches wide or .9 inches wide. Te fact that brick walls aren't very straight does not help either. Believe me, if you think you have steady hands try this device and find out different. Maybe I expected too much. Maybe I put too much emphasis on exact distances, since I do not round. Maybe I should have bought the telescopic viewer. Maybe I need to buy a handle or desk tripod to help hold it steady. Maybe, nobody wants to hear that it is not the greatest thing since sliced bread.

If you have a bay windows and measure with it flat against the wall, it will still aim a couple of inches away from the corner and give you a reading of 3.0 instead of 2.8. If this is a big deal to me, it may be a big deal to you.

Matt. don't bother to answer this post. I am fully aware of how you say the Disto is supposed to work. I am posting this info just for other appraisers to see my problems with it. Oh, the pyth. function is great if you have it mounted on a tripod. But, if you swivel it on you finger as instructed and the wall is over 20 feetlong in bright daylight, then where did that red dot go?

Slacker,

All I can say is if you don't worry about exact measurements and you round all your walls, and you guesstimate distances quite often with a stake in the ground. Then the Disto will seem better. All I am trying to explain is that it you want to be sure about every measurement, a tape measure is still the best route. I may change my mind after a couple of weeks, but we will see.

 

[slacker]

Slacker,

All I can say is if you don't worry about exact measurements and you round all your walls, and you guesstimate distances quite often with a stake in the ground. Then the Disto will seem better. All I am trying to explain is that it you want to be sure about every measurement, a tape measure is still the best route. I may change my ind after a couple of weeks, but we will see.

Tim,

From what I’ve read, this thing is accurate down to approximately 2mm. If your tolerances are smaller than that using your tape, then you’re right. I don’t worry about exact measurements. But you seem to be having issues with a half-inch here and there.

There is no way you can tell us that you can pull a steel tape tight enough, over 40 feet, suspended above a bunch of Texas size shrubs, and believe you will be accurate to a half inch. I bet you have 6 inches of droop in that thing.

It's Friday, Ready..............................Drink!!!!

 

[Anonymous]

Tim,

Sorry to respond when you told me not to do so. However, I am going to make you a deal. It sounds like you are having trouble seeing the laser. I will send you a telescopic viewer to try. If you like it, you can keep it and pay for it. If not, you can return it and it won't cost you a dime because I will pay for the shipping. You can also return the Disto and I will give you a refund. There is no fine print in this offer.

I have offered to help you in any way I can. I can't help you if you don't let me. If you would prefer to bash the Disto on the forum, you certainly can do it.

I see that you joined the Laser Appraiser email group last night. I am sure that you can see that there are a lot of appraisers in there that use the Disto tools every day and love them. They aren't number hitters who could care less if their measurements are off by 1'. They demand and expect their measuring tools to deliver accurate measurements 100% of the time. You should ask them questions about how they use their Distos and how they handle tough situations. I bet they could help.

If you want to take advantage of my telescopic viewer offer, let me know.

 

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

Slacker,

Yes the Disto is accurate especially on an obstructed wall with a target wall. I have no problem with those type measurements. It is the ones where you ahve to be creative that bothers me. And no, there is no slack in that fiberglass tape. I tie it to the bumper of my truck and pull it tight. In all seriousness, I may just be too busy to be trying this new device. Plus, I can be very creative with a tape measure to get it against the wall. I can count on both hands how many times I have put a stake in the ground in 11 years. Maybe, therein lies my problem. Maybe since I could get throught those obstructed areas with a tape, I am so stubborn that I demand the Disto do it too.

 

[slacker]

Tim,

You can also return the Disto and I will give you a refund. There is no fine print in this offer.

Matt,

I'll give you $250.00 for Tim's used Disto once he returns it. I'm sure it has a few dents in it from being chucked into those Texas Shrubs in a fit of frustrastion. Kind of like my five iron.

 

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

Matt,

I am not bashing the Disto. Although to others it probably appears so. I don't need any special offers. If I want the telescopic viewer I will buy it. I am sorry if you feel I am whining about the Disto. I have no problems with it except when I have to be creative. The trouble I have is I seem to have to be creative on every house. I inspected four houses today and I used the Disto and the tape on all four. As I stated before, I am not technologically challenged. I did not need someone to hold my hand to send a report edi or to program a vcr or to setup a wireless network in my home. I would like to see a video of appraisers using this device in the field and see how they handle the creative measuring in real life appraising. That would probably anser some questions, but probably bring up others. I am going to check out the laser appraiser site, too.

 

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

Slacker,

You aren't going to get it that cheaply. Plus, I am a stubborn Texan and I will make this Disto work if I have to attach a tape measure to it. My wife already can't stand that I don't return things either. So, pay full price, live and learn.


Is any of this entertaining at all? I need somebody to come ride with me one day, just to see I am not laser challenged. I tried aiming the Disto at the horns of longhorn, but he kept turning to look at me when I circled around him to shoot from the other side. and he would not let me measure between his horns for some reason.