Last year our son bought his first house and Richard, the ever-practical dad, thought it would be a good idea to get him a proper toolbox with some essential tools inside. It turns out it was such a good idea that his sisters, who currently live in rented accomodation, both wanted one too.
Here are Richard’s top toolbox tips:
Start with a sturdy toolbox that you can keep everything in and always know where to find it when you need.
Items that are useful for so many things include:
Stanley knife and replacement blades
Measuring tape and pencil.
Regular claw hammer.
Rubber mallet (for that flat-packed furniture construction).
A decent range of screwdrivers or a screwdriver with interchangeable heads set.
Adjustable spanner.
Pliers.
Small set of different-sized screws and some wallplugs.
Set of allen keys.
Small spirit level. A longer one of minimum length 600mm is our recommendation for putting up shelves straight. For getting wallpaper straight without a spirit level, a string line and bob (a weight) does the job.
Roll of Gaffer tape puts a lot of things right.
Small assortment of household fuses – 3 amp, 13 amp and 5 amp.
Radiator key for bleeding the air out.
For those confident with electrics, electrical tape is a must for labelling – yellow & green for Earth (the unsheathed wire), brown for Live and blue for Neutral.
Small hacksaw for cutting plastic pipes etc.
Sandpaper – a small roll.
Cable ties.
The list could go on depending on your budget and the homeowner’s enthusiasm for DIY. It is good to learn the essentials of taking care of your own home, and it can save you a lot of money. When we built our home over twenty years ago it was the first complete build Richard had ever done. For extra guidance and current regulations, we bought the up-to-date copy of Readers Digest Complete Essential DIY, which proved invaluable. Nowadays there are some excellent tradesmen giving great advice on Youtube and elsewhere, so no need to be clueless.
For electrical tools, Richard recommends good quality ones with a generous guarantee over cheap ones. The rechargeable batteries will last much longer for a start.
And finally, keep a notebook and pencil in that toolbox – for when you forget what it was you needed by the time you get to the top of the stairs. And it can double as a swear book for when things don’t go quite as intended!