Five essential DIY tools you should own
We’ve all had that embarrassing moment when a friend comes round to help you assemble some furniture, asks where your tools are and you hand over a Christmas cracker set of mini screwdrivers. Owning a set of basic tools feels like the height of adulting and over the years our tool collection has grown from one tool box, to a whole garage and two full vans filled with every tool under the sun.
As a London based building company, we’ve had extensive experience using thousands of different tools. It’s safe to say we’re tool obsessed. We’ve put the whole lot of them to the test in multiple different ways and we’re here to suggest the five tools everyone should own. We’ve whittled down the essentials so you can have a small, manageable but very useful set of tools for all your DIY needs.
1. A Flat Headed Screwdriver
A medium sized flat headed screwdriver is essential for every toolkit whether basic or extreme like ours. We’ve used them for everything from constructing bespoke furniture and fixing doors into doorways to tightening up handles on frying pans and opening tins of paint. Now there will be lots of people that say you should only use the tools for their intended use but in the interest of keeping your toolbox small and nimble you can experiment with the screwdriver to find other way that it could work for you. Got a cross-head screw but only a flat head screwdriver No problem. As long as the flat headed screw driver can fit into a cross-head screw than you can still use it. No chisel Have a go at using the flat headed screwdriver please use with caution. You’ll find that there are an infinite amount of ways that you could put the flat headed screwdriver to use.
Some of our favourite screwdrivers are
2. Paint Roller
Ok, we admit that a paint roller is not what most people would call essential but hear us out for a moment. Paint rollers are one very easy way to quickly change the look of a room. Now we’re not suggesting that you need to pull on the overalls, grab a full length ladder and start redecorating from top to bottom but, with a paint roller and some paint you can make a feature wall in any room of your house. It can quickly change the look and feel of a room with very little effort.
Here are a couple of our favourites
3. Tape Measure
Everyone knows the old adage ‘measure twice, cut once’ and nowhere is this more important than home DIY. A simple tape measure is an invaluable tool for any toolbox. If you’re measuring up rooms, putting up some prints or trying your hand at a little shelf building you’re going to need a tape measure. Do not risk it, you will make a mistake. Measure often and measure accurately.
Here are some of our recommendations:
4. Power Drill
A power drill is one of the more expensive tools but if you’re considering doing any complex home DIY then we would argue that it’s pretty much essential. It is not only useful for drilling holes in walls but it can also be used to as a chisel away at a variety of materials, and to tighten or loosen stubborn screws.
Here are some of the power drills that we would recommend:
5. Hammer
Well we wouldn’t have a complete list without speaking about the humble hammer would we? Hammers come in handy for all manner of things from building furniture and hanging paintings to removing nails and even opening wine bottles (yes, we’re serious). Whatever the uses are, you’ll look like an amateur if you don’t have a hammer in your toolkit.
Here are the ones we recommend:
Well that’s it folks. A small but basic set of tools that you can use in all of your home DIY efforts. Remember that if you’re thinking of doing anything complex and need a little (a lot) of extra help, we’d be happy to come and assist.
Give us a call 020 7427 6089 or email us on info@finethorp.co.uk
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