7 Essentials And Tools You Need To Start DIY Home Renovation
Even experts agree that the decision to appoint a contractor for a home renovation or DIY can be a tricky one. DIY home renovations not only save your money and keep it in good shape but also involve having loads of fun, trying out different ideas and adding a personal touch to every corner. For any renovation to be successful, its best to chalk out a comprehensive plan before you touch anything. Decide on the theme, your color palette, what things to modify or build and the things you need to buy. Whether the renovation is seemingly minor or quite extensive, without the right choice of tools, it can go very wrong and waste a lot of time and effort.
Here are 7 essential tools for any DIY home renovation!
- Saw
Saws are the most reliable and irreplaceable tools to have if your plan involves any sort of cutting or building with wood, which is usually one of the biggest parts of any renovation. They can often be used to make accurate and speedy angled and crosscuts in various projects. Depending on the extent of your requirement and materials to cut, saws are of various types including table saws, hacksaws, circular saws, coping saws, reciprocating saws, rip saws, jigsaws etc. While a hand saw is the most simplistic and helpful for smaller projects, a power or cordless saw is useful for more extensive projects.
- Level
Renovations often include mounting racks or shelves and painting in straight lines, which can be extremely tricky to get right by eye estimation and can spoil the entire look after going wrong. Not only does it multiply the effort required manifold but at times, can even end up damaging your walls or products with holes drilled in wrong alignments and wastage of paints. The simple solution to this seemingly simple but tedious problem is a level. The most simple and common one is the carpenter’s level, which is a metal, plastic or wood vial, available in different lengths, with 3 bubbles and can be used to check vertical and horizontal surfaces. For more extensive or complicated projects, many different types of levels are available, including Laser Levels, Torpedo Levels, Bull’s-Eye Levels, Plumb Bobs, Line Levels, Laser Plumb Lines, Rotary Laser Levels, Angle Levels, Post Levels etc.
- Claw Hammer
Hammering in and prying out nails are a big part of any remodeling or renovation. Without a quality claw hammer, you might struggle with both. Claw hammers are of many types including straight claw hammers, curved claw hammers, and even sledgehammers and can also have steel, rubber or wood handles for better grip and control. Hammers should always be chosen with care depending on your personal requirements and convenience. Make sure you buy a powerful hammer which is still lightweight enough to suit your strength and does not tire you out too quickly while using it.
- Drill
Drills are essentially an indispensable part of any home renovator’s toolbox. From bathrooms to kitchens or cabinets to pictures, drills come handy for every small or big project. While drills are of various types – with cord or cordless options and various bit sizes and textures, when choosing a drill, you must prefer a fast charging lithium-ion battery operated cordless drill with good speed and trigger control, a properly situated reverse switch and a built-in light for better visibility in darker places.
- Pliers
A good set of pliers are absolutely essential to any household due to their extremely versatile and huge range of uses. This trusted tool, usually electric company workers’ best friend while cutting wires and electric cables and working on power poles, can be just as big of a domestic help during any remodeling or renovation project. There are quite a few types of pliers depending on their usage, including the channel-lock pliers, slip joint pliers, needle nose and snub nose pliers, pincer pliers, basic utility pliers, crimping pliers and lineman’s side-cutting pliers. Good heavy-duty pliers are quite the multi-taskers and can be depended upon for cutting small pipes, wires, or rusty old nails or screws, peeling off the cable sheath, holding onto thin materials with the excellent grip of its teeth and jaws, and even for use as a temporary lightweight hammer.
- Driver
Another extremely basic tool, drivers are used for driving screws in and out. While its hand used type is the simpler and inexpensive version, it is extremely time consuming and outdated. Modern lithium-ion battery operated cordless and compact drivers are durable, lightweight, can be used with one hand, hold the charge for a long time, are easily rechargeable, drive approximately hundred screws in a single charge and even have a built-in light for better visibility in darker corners.
- Oscillating tool
Last but perhaps the most important of the lot, this power tool can do it all. This obscure multitool, which was originally invented for medical professionals to use as a vibrating tool to quickly and safely remove plasters, has evolved over the last century into a versatile woodworking tool. Having interchangeable accessories, this tool can be used for cutting different materials including concrete walls, wood, plastic, and metal, scraping paint, sanding, polishing, grinding etc. Its modern cordless options come with a lot of power, speed adjustment, a wide range of accessories of different sizes to fit into tiny corners.
Pro tip: If you’re expecting to get involved in a major demolition, renovation or remodeling project in the foreseeable future, it is wiser and more economical to buy a bundled set from a major power tool manufacturer. Almost all major power tool manufacturers offer different bundled sets of power tools with varying prices depending on the number of tools. $99 will probably get you a standard two-tool combo, while $200 to $300 will probably buy you a set of 4-5 tools and $800 will get you an impressive and versatile 9-tool kit. Choosing such a bundled set depending on your personal requirements usually gets you a very good deal compared to buying the tools individually. If you are a motorcycle lover, you should also consider keeping relevant tools along with your bike accessories as well. No matter what the situation is, a good set of tools can bail you out even of the worst of situations.
While DIYing, we often try to make do with what tools we already possess in our tool backpacks, rather than investing in more. But the above tools are pretty irreplaceable and play an absolutely indispensable role in the very basic of renovations. Having these basic tools will keep you covered on all bases and allow you to get the desired results in your home, while still saving you a lot of money and effort.
Author Bio:
Harold Camaya
She is a blogger who loves to write in different verticals. She co-authored Supercharge Organic Traffic: A popular course focusing on Organic Traffic for Ecommerce. Her hobbies are traveling and reading.