Hitting the Nail on the Head: Important Home Improvement Tools

We all know the proverbial sayings “Home is where the heart is!” and “There’s no place like home”, but keeping your own personal castle up to snuff is no easy task. The walls don’t paint themselves, the floor doesn’t nail itself. Regular home renovation and maintenance is a serious responsibility you have towards your house. But even though it’s not meant to be easy, you can approach this with planning and the right tools to make the tasks at hand a little less hard. 

Planning and Preparing for the Work Ahead

Before you start tearing down the walls, it’s important to first survey the property and see what needs fixing where and how much. Building inspections are important before renovating – the professional will use his trained eye to give you all the details and might even notice a problem that you yourself can easily overlook.

Once you know what needs fixing, you need to figure out how to approach doing it without making a bigger mess than when you started. If you’re not well versed in home maintenance, take some advice from people who are. This is not the time for you to be prideful. Once that’s done, it’s time to equip yourself with the right tools.

Tools That Will Save You Hours of Work

Same as with all technology, so do tools evolve and get better over time. You’re no longer bound to sawing every board by hand with bone saw, you can use the wonders of the modern age to make the whole renovation process faster, easier and more precise than ever. With that being said, here are some tools that can aid you in a variety of home repairs and renovation tasks. 

Secret Nailers

Flooring staplers, also known as secret nailers are air-powered nail guns that avoid the issue of exposed nails by literally stapling the floor. It’s called “secret” due to the fact that the nail head is no longer visible once stapled into the floorboards. So, if you have a luxurious hardwood floor, you’d want to get yourself one of the many practical and powerful secret nailers on the market.

Powered by compressed air, the secret nail gun usually operates at 60-100PSI, delivering over 1800N of force to the bent nail staple, propelling it through the floor into the subfloor. Secret nailers are excellent tools that provide a two-sided fastening for hardwood flooring. They actually provide a stronger initial grip than with regular cleats. 

Ammunition for this secret nail gun comes in the form of metal staples, ranging in size. Use the following list to find the correct length of nails and staples so that they just grab into the subfloor and not puncture the vapour barrier. This is all to avoid moisture seeping into your floorboards, which will cause swelling and floor deformation.

• 18 GA 38mm long staples are used for thinner 12.7mm thick solid wood floors;
• 15 GA 45mm long staples are used for 19mm solid wood flooring, or for 19mm over a concrete slab;
• 15 GA 50mm long staples are used for 199mm solid wood flooring over a wood subfloor with floor joists, or for 19mm flooring installed over two layers of 12.7mm plywood over concrete;
• Smaller staples do exist, though they require a special type of stapler and are made for engineered and thinner solid wood flooring.

The secret nailer should be placed snuggly up against the floorboard before pushing the activation button, but not pressed upon to hardly to avoid damaging the floor, but not so light that the staple won’t go fully through.

Nail Guns

A nail gun is a versatile tool for DIY projects. Operating on compressed air, nail guns can deliver over 1700N of force at 70-90 PSI pressure. Same as with the secret nail guns, they have a wide selection of nail gauges, which are used for their own specific purposes. But the only thing that sets them apart is the fact that they can be applied to a variety of tasks other than nailing floorboards. 

Cordless Drills

Electric drills in general are an excellent addition to your home tool arsenal. Drilling for holes manually can be a daunting task, so having the process automated, saves you hours of time and inevitable hand cramps. Compared to corded, cordless drills are more practical and can be used anywhere around your property without the need for a power outlet nearby. 

Electric Saws

Electric saws continue following the aforementioned trend of “regular tool, but electric”. They do come in various designs. We have the table saw that’s secured in place, the circular saw that spins, the jigsaw that cuts, and the reciprocating saw that has literal knifing options. Long story short, there are a lot of saws and to go into them would be a whole blog post on its own.

Garden Tools

Gardening tools are a whole subcategory, spanning from chainsaws, to line trimmers, to the highly important hedge trimmers. You want the outside of your house to be as well taken care of as the inside, so these tools absolutely count as maintenance equipment.

Measuring Tools

Measuring tools should also be taken into consideration. Laser and spirit levelers make sure that everything you’re working on is at level and measuring tapes make sure that everything is the proper size and dimension for further work.

Cleaning Up After Yourself

Now that the drilling, nailing, and the making-a-huge-mess is done, it’s time to clean up after one’s self. Sawdust and concrete residue can get everywhere and are not the best thing for your lungs to breathe in, so make sure you’re wearing proper protection during the renovation and that you’ll clean up diligently afterward. Sweep the floors, vacuum the rugs and leave the doors and windows open for some much-needed ventilation.

A Fresh Coat of Paint

With all that done, time for some finishing touches. Any type of home renovation can leave its impact on the walls, so while you’re fixing up the house, you might as well repaint it while you’re at it. Just lay down a roll of masking tape, mix a few cans of paint and add a final dash of colour to your now freshly renovated house.