ᐅ Request for advice on essential 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 handyman work to do, and when there was, usually a hammer/nail or screwdriver plus drywall anchors were enough for the numerous drywall partitions.

Our new house, however, has concrete walls (precast concrete) and a small garden (middle unit townhouse garden, about 60cm (650 square feet)). Therefore, we are currently considering what tools we will need for everyday tasks such as assembling furniture, hanging pictures, and garden maintenance. Interior finishing, including flooring, walls/ceilings, and stair coverings, will be done by professionals, so we don’t need tools for that.

Our current considerations — for which we would appreciate tips and suggestions — are:

- a complete toolbox (so far we have gathered tools piecemeal)
- a rotary hammer drill (due to the concrete walls) with various attachments
- a large set of anchors/screws/nails
- a manual lawn mower (cylinder mower, since the lawn area is small, no electric or gasoline mower)
- basic garden equipment like hose, rake, shovel, etc. (some of which we already have from roof terrace planting)

Any additions or recommendations?

Just a quick note: I also bought a reel lawn mower. I used it twice and then switched to an electric lawn mower. The reel mower is really exhausting to use, and the results are so-so. Plus, I don’t have a large lawn area...

If you plan to hang a lot on the walls, maybe consider a stud finder.

Also, a leveling laser was very helpful for me.

It applies everywhere: if you buy cheap, you buy twice.

lastdrop schrieb:


The saying goes: If you buy cheap, you buy twice.

Agreed. Otherwise, just buy what’s necessary. Preventive tool collections are rarely effective. You’ll never need some of the tools, while you’ll still be missing others.

jtm80 schrieb:
My wife and I are moving into our own home this year. In our previous apartment (top floor with rooftop terrace), there was little need for DIY work, and when there was, usually just a hammer/nails or screwdriver plus drywall anchors were enough for the many drywall partitions.

Our new house, however, has concrete walls (precast concrete elements) and a small garden (mid-terrace house garden, about 60 sq m (645 sq ft)). So we are currently considering what tools we will need for everyday use (assembling furniture, hanging pictures, gardening). The interior finishing, including flooring, walls/ceilings, and stair coverings, will be done by professionals, so we won’t need tools for those tasks.

Our current thoughts – we would appreciate tips and suggestions:

- complete toolbox (so far we have a mix of tools)
- rotary hammer (because of the concrete walls) with various attachments
- a large set of plugs/screws/nails
- manual lawn mower (cylinder mower; since the lawn area is small, no electric or petrol mower)
- basic gardening tools like hose, rake, shovel, etc. (some already owned from rooftop gardening)

Any additions or advice?

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

Therefore, sooner or later you will need to buy various tools. Although with a terraced house and a small garden, possibly less than usual.

- Rotary hammer – I wouldn’t say this is absolutely necessary. A good-quality hammer drill and matching quality drill bits may be enough. Regarding drill bits, keep in mind that when drilling into a concrete ceiling, you will eventually hit embedded steel reinforcement. Therefore, masonry drill bits will wear out. You will also need metal drill bits (e.g., steel drill bits with a cadmium coating).
- High-quality cordless screwdriver – although I have used mine a lot over the past six months, usually one battery was sufficient.
- Toolbox with a reasonable selection of tools. Quality is debatable. Apart from drill bits, bits, and worn-out screwdrivers (after around 10-15 years), I mostly still use the tools from a cheap set I bought more than 20 years ago.
- Jigsaw or pendulum jigsaw – depends on the kind of work you need to do (my pendulum jigsaw is a brand-name tool, whereas my circular saw comes from a discount store).
- Angle grinder – depends on your needs (mine was a discount store purchase and will probably only be used again in the next few years for building a fence).
- Some saw horses
- Level (possibly a laser level)
- Plugs/nails/screws – can be useful, but I recommend buying these as needed. 1. Small parts should usually be included with furniture. 2. You will eventually have hung all your pictures. 3. And when you actually need the right small parts, you rarely have them on hand.
As a side note: I find it useful to keep small leftover parts as long as they aren’t too worn. My father always says: a screw or nut you have leftover or removed will eventually come in handy. Just yesterday I used about 40 screws that I was about to throw away.
- Lawn mower – I won’t comment much on this; my father maintained his garden for decades with a cylinder mower.
- Basic gardening tools: depending on what you want to do. For beds or any digging, a spade is essential (for hard soil, a digging fork might be more practical). If you need to move sand, soil, or gravel, a shovel is helpful.
- Hoe – a large one (long handle) and a hand hoe / planting trowel should definitely be included / a large broom to sweep the terrace (you may need to sweep paths or similar) / depending on the amount of leaves or clippings, a leaf broom / for winter, a snow shovel (if you are responsible for snow removal)

I could list many more items. However, I don’t know exactly what you will be doing or your DIY skills. Mine have improved significantly since building the house (starting from around 20 on a scale from 1 to 100).

It is also sensible to buy tools as needed.

Many thanks to all of you!

On your scale - f-pNo - I would probably start at minus 5. But I have two tradespeople in my in-laws' family, so I’m sure I can learn a lot.

jtm80 schrieb:
Many thanks to all of you!

On your scale – f-pNo – I’d probably start at minus 5. But I have two tradespeople in my in-law family, so I’m sure I can learn a lot from them.

It all comes with time. After all, we both work in the same industry . In the past, my answer to questions about my DIY skills was that I had two left hands and ten thumbs.

There are four things you should keep in mind:
1. Watch people (your relatives) carefully. You learn the most by helping out.
2. Home improvement stores often have useful guides. The internet also helps now and then.
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 me attach battens to the roof. By the way, some tasks need two people anyway. So watch what others do. They might also have the right tools (for example, the neighbor’s circular saw with a guide rail that he used yesterday). I want to buy one now too.
My wife advises half the neighborhood on when to plant what and what to watch out for.
4. Dare to try. At worst, you’ll have to start over several times (okay – if you cut yourself while sawing, that’s a different story). This advice came from a neighbor I really respect because he did almost all the work on his property himself (which I wouldn’t dare to try alone the first time).

Tradespeople are expensive. If you have to call a tradesperson every time, to exaggerate, just to hammer a nail into the wall, it will get very costly.