Top Ten Tools Everyone Should Have at Home
As the owner of a home repair company, I own a lot of tools and equipment. One could say that it’s an obsession of mine, like collecting baseball cards or comic books. In my position I do a lot of different jobs that require a varied and extensive use of tools to do a job correctly and quickly. But the average homeowner or renter doesn't necessarily need to own a million different tools to complete the most common tasks around the house. For most small jobs, there are only ten tools you will need, and these are the tools that every home owner or renter should have somewhere around the house.
Hammer (a basic light weight hammer with claw will do)
Screw driver (a phillips and flat head or a two-in-one combo)
Pliers ( basic pliers, medium sized)
Putty knife (can be used a scraper and great for filling in holes in the wall with spackle)
Razor knife (again, any old razor knife will do, but the higher quality ones are worth it)
Channel Locks (for plumbing emergencies)
Tape Measure (at least 12 ft.)
Adjustable Wrench (this combined with channel locks means you can do almost any plumbing or mechanical job)
Torpedo Level (for hanging pictures and art straight)
Stud finder
These ten tools will get you far when doing projects around the house. I purposely left out any power tools as they can get very pricey quickly and unless you’re going to take your DIY to the next level, just generally aren’t needed for what the most basic tasks around the house require. If I may give one other piece of advice: get a decent sized and quality toolbox or tool bag to keep your kit together and put it in a place where you can easily find it and use it. Putting it behind your blankets in the linen closet isn’t going to help you when you need that screwdriver to tighten a drawer handle. And of course you can put as many tools as you want into your kit, but this is where I would start for “must have.” In future posts I will recommend power tools, fasteners and give advice on common projects. My hope is that you won’t always have to call a handyman, but instead can act as your own when needed. Thanks for reading my first Handy Rant, I will see you soon.
