Tips for required tool equipment

My wife and I are moving into our own home this year. In our previous apartment (top floor with roof terrace) there was little manual work to do and if so, a hammer/nail or screwdriver + drywall plug was usually enough for the numerous drywall walls.

Our new house, on the other hand, has concrete walls (precast concrete elements) and a small garden (terraced house middle garden, approx. 60 sqm). Therefore, we are currently considering what tools for everyday use (assembling furniture, hanging pictures, gardening) we will need. The interior finishing including floor coverings, walls/ceilings and stair coverings will be done by a professional company, so no tools are required on our part for that.

Our current considerations - for which we are asking for tips and additions:

- complete toolkit (so far everything pieced together)
- rotary hammer (because of the concrete walls) with several attachments
- large plug/screw/nail set
- manual lawn mower (cylinder mower, because of the small lawn area no electric/gas mower)
- basic garden equipment such as hose, rake, shovel etc. (partly already available due to roof terrace planting)

Additions or tips?

Just briefly: I also bought a reel mower. Mowed twice with it and then bought an electric lawn mower. The reel mower is really exhausting and the result is so-so. And I don't have much lawn area...

If you want to hang a lot on the walls, maybe also a cable detector.

Also, a leveling laser has done me a good job.

The rule everywhere: Whoever buys cheap buys twice.

Everywhere it applies: Who buys cheap, buys twice.

Ack. Otherwise, buy what is necessary. Preventive tool collections are rarely effective. You will never need some of it, and you will still lack other things.

My wife and I are moving into our own home this year. In our previous apartment (attic with roof terrace), there was little handiwork to do and when there was, usually a hammer/nail or screwdriver + drywall anchors were enough for the dozens of drywall walls.

Our new house, on the other hand, has concrete walls (precast concrete elements) and a small garden (mid-terrace house garden, about 60 sqm). Therefore, we are currently considering what tools for everyday use (assembling furniture, hanging pictures, gardening) we will need. The interior finishing including floor coverings, walls/ceilings and stair coverings will be done by a professional company, so we won’t need tools for that.

Our current considerations – for which we ask for tips and additions:

- complete toolbox (so far everything pieced together)
- rotary hammer (because of the concrete walls) with various attachments
- large set of anchors/screws/nails
- manual lawn mower (cylinder mower, no electric/gas mower due to the small lawn area)
- basic garden equipment like hose, rake, shovel etc. (partly already available from the roof terrace planting)

Additions or tips?

My experience with owning a house: there is always something to do.

Therefore, sooner or later you will acquire (have to acquire) various tools. Possibly less than usual, however, with a terraced house with a small plot.

- Rotary hammer – I do not necessarily consider it absolutely essential – rather a good quality hammer drill and also suitable good quality drill bits. Pay attention to the drill bits – sooner or later you will encounter embedded steel in a concrete ceiling. Accordingly, a masonry drill bit will get worn down by that. So you also need metal drill bits (e.g. steel bits with cadmium alloy).
- Good quality cordless screwdriver – although I had to work a lot with one in the last six months, usually one battery was enough for me.
- Toolbox with a decent assortment. Quality is debatable. Apart from drill bits, bits and worn screwdrivers (after about 10-15 years), I mostly still use the tools from my cheap set from over 20 years ago.
- Jigsaw or pendulum jigsaw – depends on what needs to be done (my pendulum jigsaw is a brand device and the circular saw is from a discount store)
- Angle grinder – depends (mine is from a discount store and will likely only be needed again in the next few years for building a fence)
- A few saw horses
- Spirit level (possibly laser level)
- Anchors/nails/screws – can be useful. I think you should buy according to need. 1. For furniture, the small parts should be included. 2. Because eventually you will have hung all the pictures and 3. because when you need it, you usually don’t have the right small parts at hand.
In this context, it is worth mentioning: I have found it useful to keep older small parts as long as they are not heavily worn. My father always says: a screw or nut (which you have leftover/removed from somewhere) sooner or later always finds a use. Like yesterday – I used about 40 screws which I actually wanted to dispose of.
- I won’t go into lawnmowers – my father used a cylinder mower on his garden for decades.
- Basic garden equipment: Depending on what you want to do. For beds or any earthworks, a spade is indispensable (with hard soil a digging fork might help more). If you have sand, soil or gravel to move, a shovel makes sense.
- Hoe – a large one (long handle) and one for the hand / planting trowel should definitely be included / a "large" broom so you can sweep the terrace (possibly you also have to sweep the footpath or similar) / depending on the amount of leaves or clippings, a leaf broom / for winter a snow shovel (if you have clearing obligations)

So – I could list dozens of other things. However, I don’t know what you need to do and what your handiwork skills are. Mine have significantly improved since building the house (starting at about 20 on a scale from 1-100).

It is also sensible to buy according to need.

Many thanks to all of you in advance!

On your scale - f-pNo - I would start rather at minus 5. But I have two craftsmen in the in-law family, so I can certainly learn quite a bit.

Thanks so much to all of you!

On your scale - f-pNo - I would probably start at minus 5. But I have two craftsmen in my in-law family, so I can certainly learn a lot.

It all comes with time. After all, we both work in the same industry for a reason. Two left hands with ten thumbs used to be my answer when asked about my craft skills. There are four things you should keep in mind: 1. Watch people’s (your relatives’) hands. You learn most when you help out. 2. Hardware stores often have helpful instructions. The internet helps sometimes too. 3. Once you’ve settled in a bit, ask neighbors for advice. Two days ago a neighbor helped me install a door frame in a garden shed. Yesterday another neighbor helped attach roof battens. By the way, some tasks require two people anyway. So watch what others are doing. They might also have the right tools (e.g. yesterday the neighbor had his circular saw with guide rail). I want to buy one of those now too. My wife advises half the neighborhood on when to plant what and what to watch out for. 4. Dare to try. In the worst case, you start over several times (OK - if you cut yourself while sawing, then don’t.) - this advice was given to me by a neighbor, whom I respect greatly because he really did almost all the work on the property himself (work I wouldn’t dare to tackle alone the first time). Craftsmen are expensive. If you have to call a craftsman every time, to put it exaggeratedly, nail a nail into the wall, it gets very costly.