Customer Reviews

Rousseau 4008 Reusable Batter Board System (8 pack)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this product for the simple reason of it's versatility. Squaring a foundation always takes a bit of time and know how. With a site-made wooden batter board system I'm always moving nails to square the lot etc. This adjustable batter board system ends all that. It's a snap to use, simple to level by tightening the thumbscrews, oh, and did I say it was reusable. That's another plus. I think its a very good bargain. (you will need 8- 3/4" X 3' or 4' rods to use the system, which are not supplied)

The reuseable batter board system is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I just finished using this system on a Habitat for Humanity house foundation and the retired contractor working with us was very impressed. He immediately wanted know were we got them and recommended them to his son who now runs the business. The versatility to easily set for inside/outside of footings and inside/outside of forms as well as elevation with quick changes saves time and ensures accuracy. This is a must have for any builder.

I bought the 8 unit set of these because they use 3/4" round concrete form stakes for holding the cross member. My thought was that I could drive the stake into the rocky soil better than wood and that would make these more useful. the problem is that unless the stakes are driven in exactly straight, exactly parallel, and exactly at the correct distance, you can't get the cross member on the stakes. You can start with the stakes in the holes for the cross members but as the stakes twist around rocks, etc., the cross member will twist until you can't move it up or down or straighten or level it at all. Solution: in rocky soil, use the concrete form stakes and nail through them into a 1x4. Since the stakes don't come with these batter boards, these batter boards are not part of the solution.

Most batter boards end up with multiple strings. One for outside corner of foundation wall, one for outside of footing, one for inside of footing, one for inside of trench, one for outside of trench. You may use more or less than these, but will almost always have a few strings. The almost cool sliding yellow things that hold the string are, if I remember correctly from my call to Rousseau, about 6 or 8 dollars each. (I called over a year ago). So, with shipping from Rousseau since they're not available from Amazon, figure another 16 to 20 dollars per batter board before they're useful. For traditional wood boards, figure about 3 cents for 2 nails to add two more strings. Or a saw cut and don't spend a penny. Oh, add another 12 dollars to that for the concrete form stakes that you need: 6.00 each and you need 2 for each batter board. I bought 36" stakes to use with my Rousseau batter boards because I have such rocky soil. If you have soil soft enough to actually use these, you'll need at least 48" stakes or they'll just pull with the tension of the strings (remember that the stakes have to stick out of the ground for one to two feet). So, in total, plan on spending another 30 dollars per batter board to use them.

In my set of 8 Rousseau batter boards, one cross member had melted metal from welding that was stuck in the vertical opening that slides onto the concrete form stake so I couldn't get the stake through it. I tried pounding inside the opening with a chisel and hammer and spent almost an hour trying to save that one piece with no luck. I called Rousseau and they promised to send another one. When I didn't have a replacement over a week later, I called back and they said they had forgotten to send it to me. They sent a replacement this time and I got it in 2 days.

If you have soft soil and measuring/installing for batter boards is a full time job for you (perhaps you're laying out sites for subdivisions rather than one house at a time), then these are very likely to be worth using. If you do batter boards once every 6 months to a year as you build a single house then I wouldn't bother with these. If you work in rocky soil, then don't bother with these at all.

When I recently purchased the batter boards from Rosseau, I had no idea how much easier and more accurate my lay-outs would become. Thanks to them, I am always on the money and other contractors and subs are raving about them and always want to borrow mine, NOO WAY!

I like it, it works and saves time. havnt gotten to use it much but it looks like it will hold up. Looks like you might loose some of the parts but they can be replaced by wing head screw so its all good.

Biggest advantage to me is that I can easily move my lines throughout the building process. Starting from center of footing, to post placement and lineup to finished outside if needed.

The Batter Board system, Rousseau 4008 is the best investment I made.It's a system that makes the job go so much faster to lay out a house or an addition.