Summer is well and truly here, and with the school holidays come a bit more time spent at home for all the family. With the warmer weather, you may be feeling more inspired than ever to spruce up your home through the medium of DIY. Whether you have been inspired to upcycle your furniture, put up some shelves or re-plot your home’s layout entirely, there are some simple and essential tools you’ll need to get started.
Measuring Equipment
Measuring tools are the unsung hero of any toolbox, and nothing short of essential for any form of building or repair work. A basic tape measure will allow you to cut and drill with confidence, ensuring items like shelves are perfectly spaced on your wall.
Other forms of measuring tool are no less, essential, though. Indeed, when it comes to putting up shelves there is an item you cannot go without: the spirit level. Spirit levels enable you to measure whether fixtures and fittings are flush and level, meaning you’ll never have a wonky shelf or worktop ever again.
There are also more precise forms of measuring tool, that enable the effective measurement of materials for flush fitting. There are some bespoke tools in this regard, which can pay for themselves after even one use; for example, there is a set of calipers that can follow topology – enabling you to cut timber and coving to fit wall moulding with ease.
Hand Tools
Now, onto hand tools. When it comes to DIY, hand tools are less important to have than power tools – more on which later – but nonetheless an important addition to your toolbox. The hand tools with which the uninitiated might be most familiar are screwdrivers, which are simply indispensable for assembling furniture and domestic appliances. Spanners and sockets are also useful for assembly and disassembly, especially of electronics items.
There are also destructive hand tools, in the form of saws and chisels. If you are looking to build your own stud walls or furniture, you will need a saw to cut your timber to shape. Chisels are perfect for precision-removing shims of wood, and for creating niches for joints and fixtures.
Power Tools
Power tools are the handyman’s best friend, allowing for the undertaking of fast and precise interventions. Milwaukee drill drivers are high in quality, and come in a number of different shapes and sizes. Smaller drivers can be used to access hard-to-reach places in stud walls or awkwardly shaped rooms, while larger hammer drill drivers can drill into brickwork and masonry for easy install of fixtures and fittings both outside and in.
Owning a good circular saw can mean the difference between a day’s work and an hour’s work. Circular saws are peerless in the swift cutting of timber, and can be used to great effect when cutting your own studs or coving. Jigsaws are portable, and can allow you to carry out your own repairs with ease – whether cutting out pipes for replacement or removing parts of your plasterboard for electrics to be installed.
