DIY: Cool Tools

When it comes to the DIY tutorial page it seems like there is always a list of tools needed to complete the job. Sometimes I notice that these "Free" DIY projects or "Low Cost" room make-overs actually involve a couple thousand in tool requirements. Sure, a gallon of paint costs under 50 bones but you are also looking at paint rollers, razors (for scraping windows) sanding paper, sanding blocks, filler (I like my DAP), tape, screw drivers, drills, cleaning supplies and a whole host of other little items that can impact your budget. Especially if you buy into a gimmick like the ladder handy paint buckets or the no-drip extension handles. I used to use plastic but now I have a good canvas drop cloth. It was 50 bucks alone! So let's talk about it, let's just put it out there. You need more than just a bucket of paint to transform a room. Some of these tools are stuff you will have on hand already but there are lots of things you will need to run out and buy. How do you really know what you need though? How can you justify spending 300 bucks on a saw for this one time project? Do you really need all these tools?
Can I use the plastic doohicky or do I need the metal one that costs 10x as much. I think the big reason that a lot of these tutorials fail to mention the cost of tools is because they are on-hand (and really a 500 bathroom make-over takes a real hit when you include 200 in painting supplies you already had in the garage right?). I know we have a huge room filled with stuff we either use all the time or bought for that one project and never touched it again. So I'd like to take the time to give some cool tools the props they deserve and shed some light on when/where they come in handy. Let's call this a behind the scenes look into the DIY universe.

Dont' get me wrong, a lot of real cool DIY projects can be done with minimal tools and others can be done at a minimal cost by renting or borrowing some tools. Eventually though, when you get super serious about this whole adventure known as DIY, you start to really desire the tools. You start looking at the drill and think about trading up for a lithium battery or a right angle multi-tool. You start understanding a bit of the terminology, like mitre saw vs table saw vs compound mitre saw vs skill saw. After a while you need to start building up your arsenal of tools and you need a place to put them. You start to gather an inventory that ends up being used over and over again and it can make things a lot cheaper when you have your own tools ready to go for whatever job you need to do. We are constantly picking up tools (still!) and we've been at this for years. You'd be surprised. 

For example I have a dresser in my entry way that is full of tools that I have randomly picked up from around the house and put away. It is a hodgepodge of hand tools, random hinges and scews. Lots and lots of screws. I pick them up from all sorts of places and put them in the dresser so we always know where to go to look for that tool you were using to hang the light in the bathroom, or a measuring tape. Always go to the dresser when you need a measuring tape there are probably 4-5 in there at any given time. 

It might be helpful to bring some focus on the tools that are really helpful. The ones that always end up in the dresser because they are always in play somewhere.

I want to talk about some of the really and truly cool tools that I've come to depend on. 

First up will be the Red Bar. 

This my dear sweet friends is one of those tools thats costs about 10 dollars and can not be replaced. We use if for demo, painting, finicky buisiness of all sorts and random jobs. As you can see from the pictutures the tool is double sided. There is a keyhole shape on one end and a thin wedge shape on the opposite end. One 1/2 of the bar is coloured red, hence the name Red Bar. We now have 2 and still manage to lose them constantly because we use them all the time. 

Here is a pictorial of my current good time. Picking 35 year old staples out of equally old subfloor. Some with rusty hues of water damage and others with bits of disgusting carpet underlay still attached. 

Enter the red bar, useful for getting under things that are tight to other things and bending them up. In this case if the staple is loose she will fly right out (eye protection people, no seriously you are going to need it). 

In other cases you are doing the scrape. You take the strong arm of the red bar and pull or push (I prefer pull) along a surface to find sticker uppers and to loosen jammed up nails or staples. This comes in handy if you can't see what you are trying to pull up or if what you are trying to pull up becomes bent over. It's also great for getting off medium loose gross carpet underlay so you don't have to touch it. 

Then comes the wedge/pry function. Wrecking bars are a big step up from these little guys and traditionally used for demo and other big jobs. However! We do a lot of pulling-off-the-old-70s-trim work and this little baby gets in quick and gives us just the right amount of leverage. It's light, it gets in there and it's a lot harder to wreck things you don't really want to wreck (like the jam). 

All this and more! There is more! The little keyhole thing is designed for pulling nails, staples, wires and whatever else you might get in there. The shape of the bar means it can get into a lot of places a claw hammer can not go. It also means you can pull nails without gauging the whatever it is you are pulling nails out of. I suppose you could if you tried but it is a lot harder to do some serious damage. This is a carpet nail on the floor in the corner. Yoink! No sweat. 

Oh more trim pulling! This time it's the strong arm side of the red bar going to work in the tight corner of some of that old-70s-trim we seem to find everywhere we go. This is perfect for a little leverage in tight corners. A hammer is not the tool for this job. Actually this is not the way to pull it either. The goal here is to pull it just enough to get the wedge in on the other side. You don't want to be repairing a drywall anything, nevermind a corner. 

Last shot for today is a random thing on a wall that needs scraping off. You can also use this fine wedge end for putting putty into small holes, scraping goop off of hard surfaces (it will scratch wood if you are not careful). 

Other uses include opening a paint can, closing a paint can, smashing on something that needs to be bent over a little, shimming something while you are shimming something else and a good number of various whatevers that will come your way during every DIY project ever. 

My husband, who is a journeyman carpenter and all around tool junkie, has passed this little gem on to me and I am now passing it on to you. 

Get this tool. This tool is a cool tool.