Hey, everyone, I’m out here in the garage today…and I thought I’d do a different video today…and what I’m gonna talk about in this video is the 8 tools that I use the most for home improvement projects…so stay tuned. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egY0wzW4o3o

Alright, so let’s jump right into it…in no particular order, let’s start with tool number one…

Alright, so let’s talk about levels. I have a lot of different leveling devices…these are the four that I use of most, though. So, I’m gonna start first of all with the torpedo level…and this one you’ve probably seen quite a bit in the videos that I’ve done…it’s a very versatile tool…and what I’ll point out it’s got a leveling device right here on the top, it’s got one on the side…so I’ve used it to plumb up blocking…it’s also got this dial right here with some degree markings on it…so if you want to do some sort of plumbing work where you want to check the slope, this will work great for that, also. And on the bottom, it’s got a couple magnets, also, you can use.

Next, we move on to my two-foot level…so, this one has magnets on the bottom, also. It doesn’t get quite as much use as I would say the four-foot level, but I still use it in instances. For example, I used it recently in the cast iron tub video where I was leveling out the tub from front to back. So, it’s got a leveling device there, one over here, and then one over here so you can level out and plumb up material.

Then I would say probably the most heavily used level that I have would be my four-foot level. It’s kind of an intermediate size, so you can do a lot of different things with it. You can use it in a pinch to plumb up wall studs…it’s got a leveling device here, one over here, and one over here, also. That’s the four-foot level…

Now, when I really want to check floor joists and wall studs if I want to do a really accurate check of them, I’ll use the six-foot level.

Alright, so probably one of the more underrated tools to have in your arsenal, or what I use a lot, would be tape measures. So, I carry a tape measure on my belt pretty much all the time that I’m working…and then everyone once in awhile, I’ll put it down and I can’t find it…and that kind of stalls everything…so tape measures are a must for me.

This one is a 25-foot Dewalt…this is a 25-foot Milwaukee. I bought this one after I pretty much just destroyed this Dewalt. I used this one quite a bit before…the locking mechanism stopped working on it…I think I probably dropped it like a million times, so this Milwaukee’s held up very well so far…and but yeah definitely tape measures, without a doubt, is one of the tools that I use the most.

So, over the years as I’ve done more and more home improvement projects, I’ve accumulated a lot of nailers. I have probably somewhere around six to seven different nailers that I use…but the one that’s used the most would be the palm nailer. You can tell by the size that it’s very compact…this one happens to be a Porter Cable that does up to about a 12-penny or three-inch nail.

The thing I like about this tool is you can hold it in the palm of your hand very easily and you can do this use this pretty much all day long. That’s the one thing I like about it as opposed a lot of the other nailers that are a little bit heavy and they can be a little bit uncomfortable to use after a little bit of time…but the palm nailer for sure is one of the tools that I use a lot when I want to drive nails. I use this probably more than anything else…so there’s the palm nailer.

Alright, so probably one of the most heavily used tools, if not the most heavily used tools, is impact drivers. So, I’ve got a 12-volt Craftsman Nextec here…you see the profile, and this one is very small in comparison to this other one. This is the PCC647 impact driver that’s 20-volt…and I actually did a review of this tool, so I’ll put a link in the description below or somewhere in this video to that review and you can check it out!

PCC647 Impact Driver Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqLYu8juK34

These are both quarter inch shank tools, so you can use things like this here. These are drill bits and then also I’ve got a bunch of screw driving bits there. So, I’ve got some Phillips in here, someTorx, some square drive and then also I’ve got this attachment or a bit for 3/8-inch sockets, so these are very handy tools to have around you can do a lot with these both these tools…so that’s impact drivers.

Alright, so probably the tool that I would say is my secret weapon would be the oscillating or multifunction tool…and as you saw in some of my earlier videos, I did not have one of these tools and I don’t know how I ever got any work done without this tool…it is one of the most heavily used tools that I have, if not the heaviest…I compare that probably with the impact driver in terms of the amount of use that I get out of each of those tools. So, very high on the list one tool that I would not do without.

The thing I like about this tool is that you can use all sorts of different attachments like, for example, this is a sanding attachment…this is a 3/4-inch or half-moon kind of attachment and then we’ve got a blade for scraping. Then we’ve got these three bi-metal blades there and these are all varying sizes. So, basically, with the bi-metal blade, you can use that to cut metal or cut wood…and I’ve used it a lot to cut nails and wall studs…that kind of thing. I actually have a blade that I dedicate to that because I don’t want to burn up all these other blades…so I have one blade that I keep around strictly for cutting nails and walls…but excellent, excellent tool to have around…definitely, I think in my opinion, an essential tool for the DIY’er to have on hand.

So, one of the more underrated tools that I use on home improvement projects would be pry bars. So, I’ve got several here…a couple small ones then I’ve got this medium-sized one that I use an awful lot…as you can tell and then I’ve got a large one that I bought recently for a job I was doing around the house and how I typically use pry bars as you can tell you can use it for leverage I use it for pulling nails out of wall studs for pulling materials apart doing demolition so definitely a tool that I would say is it must for the DIY’er is a pry bar.

So, one of the more heavily used tools that I have would be my miter saw this is the DeWalt DW705. This one has a 12-inch blade on it very large blade and I use it primarily for cutting to buy material the thing I like about this saw is that it actually slides it also tilts and then of course and use it to cut miters this one comes with a ton of attachments that I have not used I do use this one a lot this is for holding down the material as you’re cutting it so this tool like I said gets a lot of use I’ve used it a lot in the videos that I’ve done so that’s my miter saw.

Alright, so when it comes to cutting plywood it’s always good to have a circular saw around I don’t typically use a conventional circular saws all that often I typically will use the versa cut here if I’m going to cut plywood if I’m going to cut two by fours I don’t use a circular saw for that either I typically will use my miter saw so I don’t really have much of a use for a typical or conventional circular saw and that’s why I have this tool here because it’s pretty compact and will get the job done in a lot of cases pretty cleanly.

So, this is the Versacut by Rockwell. It has a 3-3/8 inch blade that you use with it. It’s got a 4-amp motor, so it’s not the most powerful thing in the world…but like I said, it will get the job done for you for cutting plywood, especially. It comes with three blades…there’s a wood blade on here right now and we’ve got this diamond blade, and then we’ve got also a sheet metal blade. You get a couple of other accessories…one of those would be this shoe cover…so if you’re cutting delicate materials that you don’t want to have scarred up, you can use that. and then this here is an edge guide.

It also has a laser on the top…the one thing I do like about this tool that circular saws typically have issues with and that’s doing plunge cuts…so, this will see right there the shoe moves so you can plunge it to material you can also set the depth of cut right here on the side this goes up to 1-1/16 of an inch. I don’t think it will cut anywhere close to 1-1/16 of an inch…I think 3/4″ is probably a really good stopping point for this tool…but nonetheless, very good tool to have around…I use it quite a bit…that’s the Versacut by Rockwell.

Alright, so those are the eight tools I use the most for home improvement projects and of course an honorable mention on that list would have to be just a regular old everyday hammer…and so hopefully that information was helpful and thanks for watching.