In my house, there also is nothing level or plumb, or even square. walls are parallel and ceiling & floor are parallel to each other. A few years ago, THE Boss decided she wanted new kitchen cabinets. I designed, but let a shop build while I installed. when the cabinet maker measured for installeation, I told him to take into account that there was 1-1/4" difference in level from one corner to the diagonal corner. This in a space measureing about 8x10. The walls were out of plumb by 3/4 inch. He said it made no difference. I figured I would be in for trouble, but did not argue. sure enough, when the cabs came, I had a problem. It was quite a trick to get everything looking level and plumb, countertop exactly level, while everything else looks level and plumb. Today, nobody can see the difference.
When i was a mason contractor, i often had to build fireplaces that looked square & plumb that fit within rooms that were nowhere near those characteristics. One time (on a brandnew house nevertheless), I had to construct a 10 foot hearth with a 4ft wide brick facing to the fireplace. The floor was 1-1/2 inch out of level while the ceiling was level. how they ever accomplished that, i will never know. I asked the foreman about it and he did not want to know anything about it. I went ahead and built. As a mason, i had what we called "coursing rules" which had markings for various heights to each course with a number for each thickness per course. Using the methodology. and using a different reference number for each side of the brickwork, I was able to get everything level by the top of the fireplace opening. when the builder (a realtor) came and started measuring for the woodwork that would surrond the fireplace, he discovered the discrepancy and told me i would have to tear down the brickwork and make it level and square. When i pointed out his own error in level and parallel and that to correct that, he might have to tear down the house, he turnedsort of blue, but decided everything was alright.
It just makes a difference whose shoes are pinching. Oh yeah. i got paid. He and i parted company on another house when i was called to estimate for a huge fireplace and chimney that had to go over and already constructed concrete floor. I had noticed that one foundation wall of the cellar seemed to be out of line. It seems he had laid out the formwork wrong and one wall had to be moved four feet to make it parallel to a far wall. I had to figure for a four foot wide by 20 foot long chimney base and insisted he had to break out the concrete floor where the footing had to be so I could put in a proper footing for my work. He insisted that would not be necessary, that he had not made a mistook. Needless to say, the proof was already there that a mistook had been made, so i left with the reply that if he could not prove exactly where the footing was, i was not going to do his work.
Parallel is sort of important, whether hobby, or real hard world.
Tinker
