Home Improvement : TOOLS : The ‘Essentials’ for Home Repair

If you were starting a home workshop--and you had accomplished very little in the way of doing it yourself--which basic tools should you purchase, assuming you had to watch your budget?

We recently tried this question on some of our friends who are fairly handy at fixing and making things. Everybody agreed on two of the tools that would be required. You could not get by, it was said emphatically, without a hammer and a screwdriver. No argument there.

Even if you never contemplated a home workshop or planned to repair anything, a hammer and a screwdriver are needed whether you own a house or rent an apartment. There always are times when something must be hammered or a screw must be tightened or loosened.

After those two choices, there was a considerable difference of opinion. Some suggested a pair of pliers as essential, some selected a handsaw, some thought a portable electric drill was a key tool.

When power tools began to get into the picture, some complications existed, so we added the proviso that, for the sake of discussion, the selections should be confined to hand tools. Nearly all of us get acquainted with hand tools before we begin to use electric machines.

To get a professional viewpoint, we talked to Peter Costello, vice president of Stanley Tools. In his opinion, neither a hammer nor a screwdriver is the most essential tool for a beginner. Nothing is more important, he said, than a measuring device. Therefore, he felt a power return tape rule belongs at the top of the list.

After that, he named the hammer and screwdriver, followed by a utility knife and a pair of pliers. As he explained it, you can’t hang a picture or do any repair or remodeling job inside or outside the house without having a way to measure distances. The steel tape that rolls up into a compact case was seen as the supreme “first” tool for any homeowner who wants to do more than change a light bulb.

A 16-pound hammer was listed by Costello as the best choice for all-purpose hammering. In the screwdriver line, a four-way ratchet screwdriver or a set of screwdrivers with different lengths and sizes were recommended.

Do-it-yourselfers soon learn that “you won’t cut it if you can’t cut it.” The simple utility knife has the most utility when it comes to hobbies, handiwork or even heavy-duty jobs. It’s ideal, from scoring laminate to cutting carpet, and from snapping string to slicing veneer, shingles or moldings.

What about the more advanced home handyman? Costello believes a combination square is ideal because it does so many different jobs. It can be used as a level, square, marking gauge, protractor, depth gauge and screw gauge.

The basic handsaw comes next, simply because most do-it-yourselfer projects involve the cutting of wood. Newer “high-tech” handsaws have been developed with a more aggressive tooth configuration and up to 10% faster cutting ability over conventional models.

If measuring it right is the basis of doing it right, then getting things straight, square, level, plumb and true is the very foundation for more advanced projects. Costello points to the 24-inch level as the most appropriate solution.

After measuring, cutting and fastening, what is needed is a forming tool to “finish” the job--from roughing down to smoothing and polishing. The last basic, therefore, should be a tool or set of tools that can shave, file or plane wood.