Hi all, I am new to the Forum and planning a 15x20 workshop. The question I have concerns building a pier foundation. I will use sonotubes on a gently sloping site. How do I set the elevations of the top of each pier, so that they are all at the same elevation? I'm not a builder, so I'm looking for simple how-to advice. Thanks in advance!

The best would be a transit, however, they are expensive. You could also see what it costs to rent one for the day.

Another option is a "water level," check youtube for an explanation.

A third option is a less expensive laser level. You could wait until dusk, or even at night, to mark all your tubes. Laser levels are solo worker's best friend, you will buy one at some point anyway.

I should also say,  I would establish the perimeter of the building with stakes, then mark the stakes for level and pull string lines from stake to stake.

That way you can hold your sonotubes to the line when you backfill, and also be certain they stay in the correct location.

Good advice above.

It was easier for me   I used 4x4 posts to rest my 4x8 beams on and then braced them.  What I did, if I remember correctly is I made the first and the last and set the beam on them and if my measurement was off I just adjusted the last post until it was correct (I used cradles with the bolt type adjustment on them stuck in the concrete block I used so I could just turn the bolt to adjust the height.  Next I made the rest of them (once the beam was level) then started on the other side adusting it off the first.

This way I was level end to end and side to side and had the ability to adjust later by using a jack (or so I thought though I can't say it worked overly well lol - I do have to fix one post I saw last trip (rabbits I think) and a jack will help with that).

After almost 14 years it's still pretty good   Sure there is a little settling but just a little and it's a cabin