The Homestead Tool Kit - Part I

25 necessary Items for basic repair and maintenance - Part I

Are you forever missing ‘The’ necessary tool for what should have been a simple repair job on the cabinet doors that won’t shut, or the screen door that won’t close properly, or the bathroom fixtures that leak? Or are your tools scattered in so many different places across the homestead that you just can’t find the right one when you need it?

We used to have both those problems on a constant basis around my place, until a thoughtful friend gifted us one Christmas with the most useful tool accessory I’d ever seen, which has since become so indispensable that I got another one just for the outdoor and gardening tasks. It’s your basic 5-gallon white plastic bucket such as for wallboard mud, roofing tar or paint, plus a leather “tool-belt” with pockets and loops that fits onto the bucket like a collar. Both of these items can be purchased at hardware and home supplies stores, or you could create your own from old, emptied buckets and well worn tool-belts.

We have all 25 of the items on the “must have” list, plus several others we’ve found ourselves often needing for various and sundry repair and maintenance tasks. Not all of them fit in or on the bucket, so we keep the rest hanging just inside the door of the shed. If you need to dig holes or split wood, you know to get the bigger tools before you start, just as you know to get the lawn mower when you’re planning to mow the lawn.

We keep our tool bucket in the kitchen corner right behind the front door so it’s in a central location and can be picked up and taken to wherever in the house or on the property the work needs doing. So long as you remember to put it back in the convenient location when you’re done with the job, everyone knows just where to find it and the necessaries it contains, whenever the need arises.

Into the pockets, hung on the loops, and simply stashed in the bucket are all the right hand and power tools for most any basic job. Below is the first part of the list, to which each homeowner will no doubt add a few just as we have so they’re always well equipped to do what needs doing without wasting time and energy looking for what’s missing.

1. Hammer
For general purposes a 16-20 ounce rip-claw hammer with a smooth face is best. Purchase one with a fiberglass handle that will stand up to serious nail-pulling and won’t disintegrate with age and moisture. In our tool-bucket we keep three hammers hanging in the loops - a small magnetic tack-hammer, a basic ball-peen, and the 20-ounce claw. This covers pretty much any hammering job a homeowner’s likely to do for him/herself, including repairing chair and stool cushions, ripped-out couch coverings, door screens and trim brads.

2. Screwdrivers
You’ll have a basic need for two sizes (large and small) of each Phillips and flat-head screwdrivers. These should also not be the cheapest you can find in the hardware store. It’s true that a cheap tool becomes useless if you use it, and the saving of frustration is more than worth the extra dollar or two for quality tools in the first place. We keep more than these four in our bucket. We also have a collection of mini-drivers in a plastic case, as well as a whole set of hex-drivers in a similar small box. These little plastic boxes are good to keep your small tools together so they don’t get lost at the bottom of the bucket, and since we also keep our drill and driver bits for the drills in the bucket (in their own little boxes), there’s no reason not to include tools you’ll need for more precise, smaller scale projects. A 5-gallon bucket has lots of room!

3. Locking Pliers
Often referred to as “Vise-Grip,” locking pliers have a dozen uses around the homestead. Get a 10″ pair with curved jaws. These can remove bolts, nuts and even screws that have been stripped and don’t respond to the usual means. They can also pull nails that have lost their heads, they can lock shafts to facilitate removing nuts, it makes a fine pipe wrench, can be used as a clamp, a crimper, a bottle opener and can even serve as an emergency replacement for broken control levers until new parts can be obtained.

4. Needle-Nose Pliers
An 8″ pair of needle-nose pliers with wire cutter and stripper in the axis will do yeoman’s work around the homestead. These can remove and install small nuts and bolts, cut, strip, form and twist small to medium gage wires, insert small parts into hard-to-reach places, remove cotter pins, locking tabs and inside snap rings. They’re also handy for removing splinters from flesh (if you’re as accident prone as we are).

5. Pump Pliers
Also called “Channel-Lock” pliers, this tool is most useful when it’s big. Go ahead and spring for the 16″ size as these are invaluable for working with plumbing and as a pipe wrench. A home handy-man will use these a lot, so buy quality.

6. Linesman’s Pliers
These were originally used for electrical and phone line work, but are handy for crimping, cutting, twisting or stripping medium to heavy gage wire, removing bolts and nuts, flattening or bending metal, pulling nails and pulling or flattening cotter pins. They have square jaws and ample grip for leverage.

7. Utility Knife
Your basic “box-cutter” handle with double-sided blades, plus a box of extra blades. These fit nicely into a pocket on the bucket belt. We have at least 5 of these, but only because we could never find one when we needed it before we got the bucket. This handy-dandy tool can cut drywall for repairing holes in the wall or ceiling, can cut paneling as you’re fitting it, cuts fiberglass and foam insulation easily, and will also cut roofing felt and shingles, wallpaper and veneers, carpeting, etc. Ours has also come in handy to cut poster board and foam-core for school projects.

8. Four-in-hand File
Sometimes called a “horse rasp,” get the 8-10″ version, about 1.5″ wide. One side should be half-round, the other flat. This tool reshapes, can save door removal for minor planing needs, reduces sharp edges on metal and plastic fittings, and sharpens larger tool blades.

9. Adjustable Wrench
Get the 10″ version, which will serve the same purpose as an entire set of open-end wrenches both regular and metric. Also useful for bending copper or steel tubing.

10. Chisels
Unless you’re doing fine wordwork, all you’ll need are two - a 1/2 inch and 1 inch butt chisells with beveled blades. Stout handles that can tolerate pounding with your hammer are important, so again spring for the good quality tools. Keep these sharp and oiled so as to diminish rust, and don’t ever use them as screwdrivers.

11. Crowbar
A good curved-bottom heavy crowbar does a fine job of pulling even the largest nails without marring the surface. It can also be used to lift heavy surfaces for alignment, prying up the edges of molding and paneling, etc. Don’t just count on borrowing the one from your car when a need presents itself. Get a new one for the tool bucket.

12. Combination Square
A 12″ sliding square offering 45º and 90º angles with a built-in bubble level is standard for most basic carpentry needs. A homesteader will use this tool a lot when cutting wood, installing and repairing cabinets, setting circular saw depths, and leveling everything from picture frames to countertops.

Next time we’ll get to the rest of our necessary tools, including the large ones that won’t be kept in the bucket. From there we will take a look at the many types of homestead maintenance and repair that will be using these tools.

Links:

Bucket Organizers

Coastal Tool: Bucket Boss Tool Organizers

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