Essentials For Every Home Toolbox

Essentials For Every Home Toolbox

The following contribution is from another author.

Forget a sofa, every home needs to have one very important thing: a home toolbox! With a home toolbox, you can fix anything that may go wrong, so long as you are at least a little savvy with DIY, or have access to YouTube! 

If you are just moving out or you don’t already have a home toolbox, then you may find it hard to assemble your home toolbox. What sort of things do you need? Where can you look for more information on saw types for your toolbox? What nails should you use, what about screws? Fear not. We are going to help you to assemble your home toolbox by covering some of the most important items that you should have.

Screwdrivers

You can’t have a good toolbox without a few screwdrivers! These are basically metal pipes with a bulbous handle shape on the end. You can use them to tighten your screws, remove your screws, and more. They’re versatile little things that you can use for pretty much any household task.

Screwdrivers can come in a few different forms, such as the philips head, the slot head, and the allen head screwdriver. It’s best to buy a couple of different kinds of a screwdriver. It’s a bad idea to try to use the wrong kind of screwdriver for a task since it can damage the screwhead. If you have any doubt, you can always check online for the screw in question to see which screwdriver you need, for example, solid bronze screws might need a different screwdriver to the one you’re currently using. At the very least you should be ensuring that you get a high-quality flat head screwdriver, in addition to a medium-size Phillips head screwdriver. You can also get really small screwdrivers that you can use for fixing things like your glasses or your computer.

Tape Measure

A tape measure may seem like a bit of a pointless thing to have in your home toolbox, but we assure you that it’s one of the most important things that you will ever own. Try to find a 25-foot measuring tape and it will work wonders for a wide range of household projects. Having a tape measure will save you all sorts of trouble later down the line. Instead of estimating the size of your new couch, you can measure it out in the lounge to see if it will fit before committing to it.

Make sure that you get a tape measure that will be big enough to measure all of the main locations in your home. You can also get a slightly smaller tape measure for those more intricate jobs.

Hammer

When you think of a toolbox, you probably think of a hammer, right? Hammers are staples of the home toolbox and are needed for a wide range of tasks from putting up shelves to hanging pictures. Get a medium-weight hammer for all of your basic jobs, and consider buying a few more sizes for different jobs around the house.

The most common types of hammer include the mallet hammer which consists of wood and is used specifically to tap joints in wood. You can also get V claw hammers, which are very common and used for things like removing nails. You can get other hammers too, including the club and the ball pein hammer. Put the hammer in the bottom of the box to ensure that it doesn’t cause too much trouble in the box! Don’t go cheap on it either – a high-quality hammer is worth its weight in gold.

Utility Knife

You may think that the knives in your kitchen drawers are fine, but utility knives truly are a lifesaver. You can use them for a number of tasks, including opening your latest Amazon impulse buy, cutting through bindings and so much more. Make sure that you get a retractable utility knife for safety.

Oh, and one more thing – be careful when using a utility knife! They can be really sharp, so you need to be vigilant and keep them away from children. Always check to ensure that the knife is in good working order before you try to use it, and don’t use it for stabbing objects. It’s designed specifically for cutting, not stabbing.

Pliers

Pliers are like the often forgotten middle child of the toolbox. They’re still important, but people often leave them out of their toolboxes. They’re definitely essential though and can be used for things like loosening fasteners that are particularly tough, pulling nails out, or cutting wire.

Try to get one or two of these bad boys – one for cutting or locking, one that’s adjustable for large fasteners. It’s worth looking for spring-loaded pliers too since you won’t need to return the handles back to open every time after you use them. It’s a great anti-frustration feature that can save you a lot of time. 

Screws and Nails

You never know when you’ll need to assemble something at home, or when you will need to replace a nail or a screw that’s fallen out of an object. For this reason, it’s a good idea to get a pack of assorted nails and screws for your toolbox. Try to get a wide variety so you’ll have something that will work for pretty much any task. These are easy enough to find in your local DIY store too, so you can replace them without much trouble when you run short.

Pencils

Pencils? In a toolbox? You bet! These are useful if you need to mark out a drill hole or you need to write a measurement. Just stick one in your toolbox for when you need it on a rainy day. If you don’t want to write on the wall then you can use painter’s tape or post-it notes instead.

A Cordless Drill

You may not be a DIY enthusiast, but having a cordless drill can really come in handy! You can drill holes for nails and screws with this, and so much more! It’s a little expensive, but it’s definitely worth it.

An Assortment of Glues

Make sure that you have some glue in your toolbox that you can use for various tasks. Specifically, invest in a bottle of carpenter’s glue, white glue, and superglue. This should be suitable for the vast majority of projects around the house. Make sure you don’t stick your fingers together though! 

A Torch

A torch is a vital item to have not only in your toolbox but just in your house in general. Who knows if there’s going to be a power outage and you can’t see anything that you’re doing? Make sure that you get along and a thick torch that you can hold in one hand. Get a high-quality torch that shines brightly so you can see even when it’s super dark.

Safety Gear

It’s always important to keep safe when you’re doing any kind of DIY. This means that you should wear safety gear while working. Sure, these technically aren’t tools, but you could seriously harm yourself if you try to do DIY without wearing safety gear.

At the minimum, you should have a decent pair of work gloves that you can use to protect your hands. You should also invest in some eyewear and some protection for your ears.

Conclusion

When you invest in these tools, you’re equipped to handle any DIY project that your home throws at you! Just make sure that you know what you’re doing, and your home will be fixed as soon as a problem crops up! 

Author

Eric is the creator of At Home in the Future and has been a passionate fan of the future since he was seven. He's a web developer by trade, and serves as the Director of Communication and Technology for a large church in Nashville, TN (where he and his family are building a high tech home in the woods).

1 comment

Comments are closed.