A home tool kit is essential for every home, because somewhere a long the way you will want to “fix” something yourself.

Home repairs and maintenance are not difficult for the average person – it’s just knowing “how” to carry out a particular repair, but of course you need the tools needed to do such repairs. This is where a home tool kit will come in handy.

The home tool kit shown above is a good example of what a  home owner  can  start out with.  Simply add the tools not included. H ere are items I recommend you start with.

Hand Saw

Hand saws also come in a range of shapes and sizes and many have been designed for a specific purpose .  Most homeowners will find a “general purpose” or  “cross cut” saw  will be sufficient for the majority of jobs.  It is a convenient part of having a home tool kit, because somewhere along the way you will want to cut a piece of wood.

A “cross cut” saw  gets its name as it is designed to cut across the grain of timber and this type of saw is more than adequate for the home handy woman’s home tool kit..

A “ripping” saw on the other hand is designed to cut along the grain of the  timber.

A “general purpose” saw will usually cut across the grain and with the grain.  The traditional “cross cut” and “ripping” saws look the same to look at, so make sure you purchase a “cross cut” or “general purpose” saw.

One other thing to keep in mind is to check  the “number of teeth per inch” the saw has.  All you need to remember is this.  The more teeth per inch, the finer the cut. The average cross cut saw will have  8-12 teeth per inch.  If you want a much finer cut then find a saw that has more “teeth per inch”.

Multi-grips

A must for your home tool kit as they are adjustable and therefore useful for a multitude of jobs around your home including:

• Gripping onto pipes
• Nuts under the vanity sink, laundry or kitchen sinks
• Removing and tightening gardening or irrigation fittings
• Removing the spindle from a tap.

Buy a small set for your home tool kit that comprises a mix of sizes and lengths.  At some time or other you will find a use for all of them.  There should be a mix of Phillips heads and flat head screw drivers in your set.

Buy your home tool kit items here

Measuring Tape

An 8 metre (26 foot) retractable tape.  You will be surprised how often you use this and I regard a measuring tape as essential for every home tool kit.   If you need an exact measurement then a measuring tape will not be sufficient.  However, I find endless uses for my measuring tape.  For example:

• Measuring up an area for tiles
• Measuring walls for a paint job.
• Measuring for new kitchen cupboards
• Measuring up retaining walls

Pliers Set

The most economical method is to purchase a set with 3-4 different pliers in the set as you will find a use for in your home tool kit.   Don’t get them too small otherwise they will be useless.  You can get small sets that include a bullnose, needle point, multi grips and snipping pliers.   You will find each one useful for doing the following:

• Bull nose and needle pliers are handing for holding on to short screws or nails when starting to drive them in, as it keeps your fingers out of the way, or any other tight spaces.
  Multi-grips for pipe work and any other thing that the standard pliers won’t open up wide enough to take an object.
• Snipping wire or cutting off a nail head to use as a drill bit.

Safety glasses

A must when working with any type of tools

• There are a wide range of safety glasses available and are an essential part of every home tool kit.
• Protecting your eyes is of the utmost importance when working with any type of tools around the home.
• When it comes to choice of safety glasses look at what sits comfortably on your face and provides adequate protection.
• Glasses that wrap right around the side of your face provide the best protection.
• However, if you wear spectacles they may fog up your glasses.  You can buy safety glasses that minimize fogging but you will pay more for these.

Level 

To begin with a 600 – 90o mm (2ft – 3ft) level should form part of your home tool kit as it will cover most jobs around the home.  However, a small level around 300mm long will be handy for checking picture frames but not for jobs where you need to level over a longer length.  I recommend a minimum 300mm length for your home tool kit

• hanging picture frames
• wall tiling, wall papering, hanging doors, e

Rulers

A straight edge steel ruler is essential.  A steel ruler around 600 mm (3ft) ruler will cover most jobs.  A shorter 300mm (12inch) ruler is a must for the home tool kit and you will also find many other uses for it around  the home

Steel  Square

A steel square is an essential part of any home tool kit, particularly when it comes to cutting timber of any size or shape.  By placing a square across the timber and marking with a sharp pointed pencil and then marking down each side, will help you cut your timber straight and square – absolutely essential when joining two pieces of timber together – if you don’t want a gap showing.

Cordless Drill

A drill also should be part of your home tool kit.  I suggest you buy a cordless drill with a battery voltage of at least 14.4 volt cordless drill such as Makita, Bosch, Dewalt, Black and Decker as they have proven to be reliable over the years.  A drill is a handy tool to have in your home tool kit.  Also include a basic set of drill pieces.  Around 9 – 17 drill bits in a pre-pack  will meet most of your needs. I personally have found a 12 volt cordless drills don’t have enough “grunt” for most purposes.

Tool Box

The last component to finish off your home tool kit is, of course a tool box in which to store all the tools you have just bought.

Buy your home tool kit items here

However as you expand your home tool kit you may need to look at alternative means of storing your tools.  In the meantime if you are just starting out buy yourself a small tool box that will comfortably store the Hammer, Multi-grips, Cordless drill and drill set, Steel square, Measuring Tape, 300mm ruler and safety glasses.

You may find the following articles helpful too.

Tool Safety
Buying a Hammer

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