What are the Most Important Tools for Home Maintenance?

Owning a home has several benefits, but also means accepting responsibility for home maintenance. While maintaining a home often requires tasks the average homeowner can’t complete on their own, there are several routine home maintenance tasks that can be performed by any homeowner equipped with the right tools. There are a few important tools that every homeowner should have on hand for completing basic maintenance tasks.

One of the easiest home maintenance tasks to perform is tightening or replacing loose or damaged hardware on doors, shutters, cabinets, and other similar objects. To tackle these easy fixes, screwdrivers are amongst the most useful and important tools a homeowner should have. Ideally, a well-equipped toolbox should have both a Phillips (cross-head) and a slotted, (flat-head) screwdriver in different sizes. While many screws are standard size, such as the screws used in light switch and electrical outlet covers, you could easily run across larger or smaller screws in other objects. Three sizes of each type of screwdriver will complete the average homeowner’s toolbox.

Hammers are also important tools for home maintenance. Most tasks, such as securing loose nails or pulling bent ones, can be accomplished with a standard claw hammer, but a rubber mallet may also come in handy. In addition to a hammer, a crescent wrench will also prove a valuable tool for tightening loose plumbing fixtures.

For simple maintenance and repairs to walls and other painted surfaces, a five-in-one tool, spackling compound, and a paintbrush are important tools to have. A five-in-one tool acts as a scraper and putty knife, will pull loose nails and remove flat-head screws. Keeping a paintbrush on hand allows you to touch up any chipping paint and paint over repairs to small holes in drywall.

In addition to these important tools, other items such as a wet/dry shop-vac, lubricating compound such as WD-40, a flashlight, and replacement items like light bulbs, fuses if applicable, and filters, are all objects that are good to have on hand for basic home maintenance. Obviously every home is different and may require specific tools to access furnace filters, refrigerator filters, fuse or circuit boxes, and so forth. However, the aforementioned tools are probably the most used and important tools for the average homeowner to own.