Everyone needs a few key hand tools around the house. This includes things to cut, write, measure, and drive with.

Must have for every single person who lives in a dwelling of some sort — this includes apartments and houses and everything in between. You will always need to measure something, trust. Personally, I probably have 5 measuring taps, ranging in length from 6’ to 25’. Plus two stick rules (underrated), and then, because I’m also crafty, a variety of rulers, yard sticks, and flexible sewing tape measures.

And if you do a lot of home reno, I highly recommend getting a laser measure. These come pretty small if you want — Bosch makes a pocket-sized one that I have and I love it. It’s easy to use, and roughly 3” long. It was pricey for it’s size (about $60), but worth it. Once you get to a place where you’re measuring more distances across a room, having one of these is totally clutch.

I feel like I don’t need to go into a lot of detail here. But a basic hammer is needed for everyone.

Highly underrated. In fact, I would venture to say a lot of people who live in dwellings could probably make as much, maybe even more, use of a rubber mallet as a regular hammer.

Personally, I like a multitool. It has a variety of flat and Philipps heads, plus a flashlight, and is collapsible. Good as a multipurpose tool. But it can be handy to have some real screwdrivers as well (especially for tight or awkward spaces — like when screwing in a door handle — having the longer bit is helpful.

I buy this as fast as I lose them — and then I find them again. So I basically am collecting them. But a construction knife with a brand new blade is your best friend. Buy the big pack of replacement blades and change them often. There’s really no need to keep using a dull blade.

These are great for all kinds of scraping needs. Need to get hot glue off the counter? Straight razor. Need to remove your registration sticker on your car windscreen and put the new one? Straight razor. And you can get the kind that comes with a handle and the blade is retractable.

Okay so this probably should have been in the hand tools section. But a few years back, I got gifted a set of these for Christmas after reading about them and WOW. My favorite part about these is that they’re easy to transport, cut better than a standard handsaw or hacksaw, and I keep them inside for quick projects. Well worth the money, imho.

Circ saws are needed for making longer cuts, especially rip cuts. And especially when you can’t or don’t want to use a table saw. Now, there is a lot of debate in terms of which saw is best — direct drive, hypoid, or worm drive. I have an old (heavyyyyyy) worm drive Skilsaw I inherited from my Dad. It’s heavy duty so it does a good job. And it’s wired, so it doesn’t die, and it rarely binds. It’s also a lot narrower (because the motor is behind the blade) so you don’t run into the issue of the motor housing getting in the way of cuts or clamps. But did I mention it was heavy? Also, for smaller cuts, the foot plate is just too large. These days, though, lots of people just use a direct drive because they’re lighter and easier to use. I actually don’t really know what a hypoid drive saw is like, but…it exists lol.

If you do a lot more delicate work, these are amazing. Smaller than a framing saw, though, so you’ll most likely need to order the blades for this (about a 3” diameter to a framing saw’s 4”). But they’re light and very very easy to use. They’re low on power, but I find them to be perfect for cutting things like 1/8” ply or hardboard when I don’t want to get out the table saw.

Everyone should have one of these. And if you’re new to home reno and fixing things, spend your money here. This is an absolute must-have tool, and you’ll always need it. So makes no sense to cheap-out on it.

BUY THIS. I’m not kidding. You may not think you need it. But the impact wrench is great for driving into harder surfaces (think mahogany decking). You can often get them in a set with a regular drill/driver and an impact driver together.