12 Tools That Will Level Up Your Home Remodel

when buying your first house it's really hard not to get excited about all the potential projects you're got along your way to turn the house into your dream home well before you start lifting a finger here are 12 tools that you might not even thought about they should have in your toolbox when it comes to renovating your house number one tool that should be in your toolbox that you might not know about is the voltage detector now a voltage detector like this simply has to be placed on a power cord in an outlet or along the side of it and it will detect you through electrostatic induction whether or not there is current running through that cable this tool comes very handy when your maybe breaker box is not labeled accordingly which they never are it will save you a good zap I don't start any electrical work unless I have this with me so whether you're relocating an outlet or you're adding an extra Outlet or maybe even an extra light I don't start a single job without a voltage detector in my pocket number two on the list is get yourself a Pex tool pixels are incredibly important to tackle any Plumbing work you kind of really have two choices a Pex crimping tool or a Pex clamping tool choice is yours Scar and the differences in the applique station one is a ring and one is kind of like a clamp there are a vital Source when connecting a water line to a shutoff valve or any other connection while retaining a watertight connection now which one you use is a personal preference although the plumbers have instructed me that when you use a clamp when you squeeze it together it only brings pressure along maybe three quarters of the sidewall versus when you use a ring in a crimp it squeezes the entirety together creating a nice even connection around the entire water line and there's definitely price difference one's usually around 20 bucks and the other one's around sixty dollars I highly recommend to get the 60 one I started originally with this tool and I definitely buy this one instead and this one's just collecting dust in my toolbox number three on the list is get yourself a drywall saw if you have any experience cutting drywall it's very messy it's labor intensive you dull a lot of saw blades you break a lot of utility knives but with a drywall saw you're able to have controlled effortless cuts into your drywall to actually do exactly the cut that you wanted to accomplish but by inserting this pointy end into the drywall rocking it up and down and then following through with long strokes you're able to have far quicker and cleaner Cuts with a saw like this this is a huge win when it comes to adding maybe another electrical box or adding a recessed can light or on the ceiling a tool that's roughly around 15 is an absolute must in the toolbox speaking of drywall coming at number four is the drywall t-square in earlier stages in order for me to cut drywall which could be big and bulky 4x8 sheets I would have to use my tape measure make a marking up front make a marking way in the back then go get my level lay down scribe it and then try to cut it well that's a lot of things you got to do when it comes to hanging a piece of drywall ain't nobody got time for that when it comes to a drywall t-square it's a One-Stop shop simply lay the base of it at the narrowest part of your drywall make your marking wherever it falls and then scribe it on top and snapping the drywall in half creating a perfect precise quick cut though it's not something that will fit in your toolbox considering its size it's definitely something that's very important to have handy around when tackling any kind of home renovation project one of the best money you'll spend under 20 bucks number five on the list is get yourself some wire strippers wire strippers are a lifesaver when it comes to doing any kind of electrical work when I first started renovating my first houses I didn't have wire strippers and I had to use a knife and having to whittle away any of this excess plastic covering to expose where my wire is to connect it into an outlet or any kind of energy source that I need to well this makes for a very long and annoying day don't disturb my friend he's dead tired with the help of wire strippers you're able to find the gauge that you're working with like over here we're working with a 12-2 wire you place it right into the 12-2 wire and there you go pull that apart a nice clean wire strip we didn't damage any wire and we didn't damage any knife another great tool under 20 to keep very close in Your Arsenal now before we move on to the next tool I'm going to show a little behind the scenes Seeker that a lot of you don't know about that you have to know about guys ever since I found out about this I swear my life has never been the same it's Cuts I promise you I've been a fan a huge fan of cuts way before they even sponsor this video so when they reached out I lost my mind and here's why I'm six foot two about 210 pounds all of my t-shirts come out okay maybe I'll find a decent fit but then but two or three washes that sucker shrinks and I got a belly shirt not with cuts it's tailored in a way that's more of this athletic feel athletic fit the the sleeve sits above your tricep it's fitted down below their Pica Pro fabric is where the money is at it doesn't stretch out it sits fitted it's a custom tailored on you there's no obnoxious logs or anything just a nice subtle little clean X right over there and this is my shirt they didn't send me this I paid my own money for this before I even got in contact with them but they did send me some cool stuff that I've wanted for a very long time these joggers have been in my shopping cart for the longest time like they're called the AO why Always on you don't want to take them off they're Versa material is perfect it's stretchy it's fitted it's got extra rubber bands on the side here I'm a little too excited about Cuts right now in the Henley it's the exact same Pika Pro material it's fitted it's perfect I mean it does not get better than this I check out another new t-shirt that I'm so glad they finally sent because I'm gonna need a lot of these white ones I mean come on next on my list I want to get the polos because I golf like every single week and a nice Polo will be perfect for them so here's what they're gonna do for you guys today viewers of my YouTube channel are gonna get 15 off by going to cuts.team forward slash Mr build it and be sure to use my promo code Mr buildit thank you cut you guys are the best now let's get back into these tools number six on the list is get yourself a quality stud finder now it's important when I say quality because there's a lot of different ones are on the market there's cheap ones like this that's around 20 that's simply an edge finder and nothing else and then there's quality ones that have a Centerline finder what does it mean is that when you're using an inexpensive cheap one you'll have to detect roughly The Edge on one side flip it over detect the other Edge and then find your Center Line and if you're hanging a bunch of floating shelves or anything larger than that maybe like a TV amount it makes for a very tedious day with a quality stop finder you're able to find the center Mark right away there's a laser line that shoots up and down and the most important thing when you find a quality stub finder is they have a couple of features that are so useful number one voltage detection you don't want to be driving nails and screws through a stud that might have power source running through it or maybe even a gas line this will help you detect that keeping you out of trouble and making for a smooth day with less things you have to fix with the price difference between roughly around 20 on the inexpensive one and a roughly around 55 on a premium one the decisions really whether or not it's in the budget [Applause] number seven on the list is a pairing that goes together as perfect as steak and wine or beer in a burger get yourself a stiff scraper and a pry bar any room makeover a home renovation project usually starts with me having to demo something because I don't want to be doing any more damage to my drywall diving to repair it later by me inserting a pry bar first between the baseboard and the drywall or between a cabinet top and the cabinet itself this is the best way to prevent the most damage by hammering in the scraper bar between the areas you're trying to separate you're creating a little bit of Wiggler [Music] and then by sliding the bar beneath the scraper bar we're able to start wiggling the whatever we're trying to detach from each other without causing a huge hole in the drywall or a breakage in the cabinet very inexpensive pairing that I highly recommend and they're like my two best friends number eight on the list that should be on the toolbox is pipe cutters these come in super handy when it comes to installing new water lines maybe you're moving a sink or a faucet maybe you're adding one maybe you're even working on your sprinklers there's many different variations of pipe cutters this is the most simple version of a pipe cutter once it's inside you gently just squeeze the front and it will use a blade to create a perfect clean cut now I say perfectly cut that's very important because if you use a knife and start cutting into it and you create unevenness or maybe even kind of Burr that might prevent that to be a clean water Tight Seal and of course depending on which one you're going to get kind of has to depend on the kind of Plumbing that's in your house there are the PEX cutting lines and then they are the copper water lines usually traditionally in older homes I do however recommend for you to get both Styles they're very inexpensive the reason why even if you don't have copper lines in your house when it comes to running your water lines and running and connecting a water shutoff valve here you are still dealing with a little bit of copper so that's where the copper cutter comes into place number nine on the list of something that should definitely be in your toolbox is both a laser level and a four foot level we'll start with the level first the reason why I think four feet is a great number because the good in between to have the most amount of uses at it it's large enough for you to check whether or not a stud maybe a wall That's putting up is nice and straight it's also large enough to make sure countertop is nice and straight while being small enough to be utilized and hanging picture frames so you don't have to get a bunch of them you can have one go-to one that's doing a lot of the jobs for you now the laser levels sharks with freaking laser beams attached to their heads there's really different ones on the market but really they range between something inexpensive like this like it's 30 and something expensive like this which is in the 180 range now which one you get kind of really depends on what you need the most important part I believe they should have is both the horizontal and the vertical axis and as long as they're respectful trusted Brands it really doesn't matter what you get a good laser level is a critical life-saving tool when it comes to tackling backsplash laying floor tile continuing any kind of pattern maybe it's a shiplap on a wall maybe it's making sure the wall is nice and straight maybe you need to have three points of connection with an over ceiling thing that you're hanging up this saved my butt when I was installing the glass enclosure in the shower that we built speaking of which the video will be right here go check it out it's such a great video and we learned a lot and tools like this was used hey you guys having fun oh fun is so fun I hope this is helpful let's keep going number 10 on the list for for a tool that definitely needs to be in your toolbox when tackling any homeowner Nation project is a quality carbide demo reciprocating saw blade just Quality quality all the way now there's a lot of different reciprocating saw blades ranging from just traditional wood blades two metal blades and then there's in between and the reason why you want in between because even though you're cutting down studs that's possibly even connected to drywall and all the other stuff it's still connected with framing nails and screws something like this is going to dull and not do the job starting to burn up the wood and the motors in your reciprocating saw causing you to have to go buy a new reciprocates off something like this will easily cause just a big burning Mark in the wood it won't get you far but having something like this that's in between with carbide tip that are very hardened steel that'll allow for you to cut through the framing nails or the screws and efficiently cutting through the two by four studs is a huge huge advantage in demoing any wall or room this is another thing that's under 20 that will last you a very long time and make any kind of Home Project go a lot smoother I'm not kidding you I've brewed reciprocating saws because I've used poor blade I am never gonna financially recover from this let's move on coming in at number 11 a tool that should definitely be in your toolbox is a 22 ounce Hammer now I cannot stress this enough 22 ounces is the perfect weight when it comes to demoing any wall I can't tell you how many walls I was able to efficiently knock down from the base detach them from their framing nails and efficiently break down that wall this is the classic story of the Goldilocks this porridge is too cold this pores is too hot and this one is just right 22 ounces is a perfect amount of hammer it's a perfect amount of weight for you to keep your hand far back enough and allow for the hammer to do the work for you half a time but I promise you you're not gonna regret this get yourself a good hammer coming in at number 12 the tool that should definitely be in your toolbox that you probably didn't know when it comes to renovating your house is an extra long 12 inch drill bit now I know this sounds kind of silly but I can't tell you how many times this thing has saved my life if you're running power from one room to the other if you're trying to run power from your attic into your room if you're trying to run power from a kingsta jack stud or any amount of stacked Lumber together using a regular drill bit that's a half an inch won't cut it it will stop too soon a spade bit is a fantastic tool that will cut efficiently though being a little bit longer it's still not enough now a 12 incher like this and a 14 if you can get your hands on one don't be gross bro that's nasty it's super helpful and you'll make your life so much easier keep in mind half the time when you're running cable through studs maybe from a top plate in the ceiling because it's coming from your attic you're coming at an angles you're losing a lot of the drill bit so by having an extra one like this specifically happens because most of your 14 2 or 12-2 cable is roughly around half inch this is super helpful and it's definitely life-saving and it's probably going to be the best 13 15 bucks you'll spend invest in your tools invest in yourself and don't be afraid to try and fail and if you like videos like this or any kind of Home Improvement project make sure to hit the Subscribe button and tap the notification Bell so you'll be alerted every time a video comes out tune out this week we'll see you guys on the next one see ya bye [Music]