When you start working on your home projects, you may only start with a solid set of hand tools. It can be tempting to borrow, rent, or work around the need for power tools, custom lifting tools, or specialty hauling tools. However, working around the limits can take a lot longer and may put you at risk, especially if you need to work high. To stay as safe as possible, make sure you practice on scrap with any new hand tools and always wear eye protection.
Heavy Duty Wagon
A heavy-duty wagon, preferably with plastic wheels, can be incredibly useful both inside and outside the house. For example, you may have an older home that requires a plaster tear-out. Plaster is extremely durable, but when it fails, it has to go.
Your plaster will likely have a lathe backing. When it is time to tear this out, you will be contending with dust, old wood, and a million little pieces of hard as rock plaster. With a heavy-duty wagon with wide plastic tires, you can sweep up, load the wagon, and haul the plaster out of the house to get it closer to your construction dumper.
As the lathe comes off the walls, you will also be dealing with many little nails, some of them rusty. Again, your plastic wagon with plastic wheels will manage these little nails easily. Even better, when your plaster project is over, you can clean off the wagon and haul garden dirt.
Mechanized Lift
Depending on your setup and your to-do list, you may want to look for a material lift for sale. If you are planning to paint or replace the siding on a two-story home, scaffolding will get you to the right height and the material lift will hold your supplies so you do not have to haul supplies up the scaffolding or the ladder.
If you plan to store items in your attic, particularly in a garage, barn, or outbuilding, having a material lift means you can
install a heavy-duty deck on top of the rafters
load the rafter sections with larger pieces
move things on a pallet instead of hauling them up there one at a time
Outside, a mechanized lift can be put to good use from windows and siding to building a killer treehouse. No matter what, make sure you put down the exterior supports if you are moving items on bare ground.
Cordless Tool Set
If you are thinking about getting a drill, invest and get a full cordless toolset. The Ryobi cordless tools offer a lot of useful options in their bagged sets. Additionally, these tools have a lot of power and offer a large handgrip so you can use them while wearing safety gloves.
No matter the set you buy, make sure that you get tools that have interchangeable batteries. Be aware that when batteries stop charging, they can fail quickly due to age. For those who buy the kit with two batteries, you may find that both batteries die at the same time. If you notice that your new batteries are failing, you may need to invest in a new charger. However, charger failure is rare.
Your cordless tool kit will give you plenty of chances to practice. If you have never used a circular saw, you will need to practice working with the shield. If you have never used a jigsaw, you will need to practice following a line and monitoring the kerf.
Best of all, with the right set of cordless tools, the interchangeable batteries will work with other tools in the same product line. Renovators should be aware that this can get addictive. Once you have the right batteries and a quality charger, you will need a good reason to buy an orbital sander or a nail gun!
Start with safety gear. Get gloves that fit well. Get goggles that fit over your glasses. Never rely on your ordinary glasses to protect your eyes. Yes, kneepads are uncomfortable. Knee surgery is much more uncomfortable. Watch instructional videos on your new tools and be ready to practice until you know how the tool will behave and how your grip changes when your hands and arms are tired.
