by David Frane Laser levels have been around for a good 20 years, but until recently, you rarely saw them on residential construction sites. At $3,000 to $5,000 each, the only companies that could afford lasers were those doing large commercial projects or performing specialized subtrades. On big jobs, lasers are used to set elevations for site work, slabs, and suspended ceilings. Metal-stud framers use them for leveling, or turn them sideways to plumb and align walls. Six or seven years ago, the construction company I work for bought a rotating laser level. It came in a box the size of a suitcase and weighed as much as a wormdrive saw. Last fall, we bought a second laser alignment tool,
