#1 Impact Driver
What’s awesome about the impact driver is that there’s a clutch inside so you can’t strip screw heads and it stops automatically. There’s also a light to help shine on dark spots and to figure out where the screw head is. These are great for tightening hinges on doors, putting screws in the decks … anything screw related really. You can pick up a set of larger bits for bigger holes for drilling and you can get a set of smaller bits for smaller holes.

#2 Seven in One
In theory there are seven uses for this tool. This is the tool that you grab when you do painting projects. You can scrape paint off, you can apply putty or wood putty or spackling, you can remove nails with the nail puller, you can gouge out cracks and crevices with the point, and open and close paint lids. The coolest thing you can do is scrape off your roller of paint and that’s how you get back a lot of paint from your roller head.

#3 Wire Cutter
What’s neat about this one is not only are you cutting wire or chopping off nail heads, but let’s say there’s a nail head gone on a nail you need to remove. You simply grab it and then bend it up on its rounded head and you can pull it out. It’s also great for demolition work.

#4 Carpenter Pencil
There’s your normal school grade pencil and then there’s the carpenter pencil. The flat edge helps ensure the pencil will stay on your table or roof if you lay it down. Pretty awesome!  

#5 Hammer
The hammer is kind of a centerpiece of any tool box. What’s great about this one is that it’s steal all the way through and won’t break like your conventional wooden hammer. It might be more expensive but as long as you don’t lose it this will be the only hammer you ever need.

#6 Beveled Edge Paint Brush
What’s great about this is the beveled edge. Most everyone have seen this by now but it’s still awesome. The little point helps you get into tiny little corners to do detail work that may be hard to do with a flat brush.

#7 Tape Measure
I figure everyone knows how to use one of these but did you know that most tape measures are three inches longer than you think. So if you need to measure something like the inside of a door jamb you simply add three inches to whatever number you see. Cool right?! Let’s say you’re not good at math… I might be in that category. Say I need to know what half of 38 is, so I just grab the end of the tape and bring it over to the 38 and then I look at the number that’s showing at the end-19. BAM! Lastly, you’ve probably always wondered why the little metal tab at the end moves. It’s because there’s two different ways you can measure. You can either grab something and that metal tab moves about a sixteenth of inch to compensate for its width. Or, when you measure something a different way, the metal tab retracts.

#8 WD-40
What’s great about this is you can spray it on door hinges just to calm the squeaking or you can spray it into the keyhole if your keys are really sticky and it loosens it up.

#9 Laser Measurer
Back to some more cool technical gadgets. No, it’s  not an iphone but it is another measuring device. These are pricey but we use them a lot for measuring rooms. You turn on the laser, put it against the wall, and then you shoot the laser across the room. When you click the button, it tells you the measurement in inches and feet. It’s pretty neat if you’re doing a lot of measuring

#10 Crescent Wrench
Let’s talk about the crescent wrench. All you have to do is slide the dial back and forth, put it on any hex nut, and you’re good to go. There’s no other tricks with this one.

#11 Vice Grip
I just used this last night. I had to get a screw out of a door jamb that was missing its head. So, I squeezed the vice grip onto the side of the screwdriver, clamped it tight and then spun it around. The grip becomes your new handle and you can back out a screw with ease.

#12 4-in-1 Screwdriver
Lastly, this is one of my more favorite tools. Any carpenter out there or tool guy would probably think this is lame but I like it because it is four screwdrivers in one. I’ve lost many screwdrivers over the years these but whenever I grab one of these, I know I have four in my hand, which is pretty awesome. And they are only $3-4!  

There are many more tools to talk about, trust me. If you have any questions about any other tools- maybe more advanced tools like table saws or nail guns, I’d be happy to talk more about it. Thanks for joining me today and I’ll catch you next time.