COMMUNITY : FORUMS : HOME

May I suggest you get a shed or dedicate the basement or garage to hold all of the tools and construction materials you will be getting.

Tool chests are never sized right and all of those blow molded cases that come with the tools are useless once you get the tool out and attach all the accessories.

You will be constantly adding tools and getting giant stackable tubs or a whole bunch of 5 gallon bucket/used paint-drywall mud containers will serve you well to organize stuff.

Get a nice LED or fluorescent work light. Get a miter/chop saw with a stand, working close to the floor is no fun. Heavy duty extention cord with multitap at end.
Get a set of folding sawhorses.

I have a nice "gorilla type" extention ladder, they are really stable and collapse into a small frame, a nice work platform ladder.

Get a good shop vac.

Get a kreg pocket hole jig. You will find pocket hole screws are the perfect solution for building a lot of stuff and securing new studs or supports in places you ordinarily can go in with other methods. A good cordless drill and impact driver 12v lithium ion. You gotta check out how much better an impact driver does screws. Of course, a corded power drill is still necessary for those drill in masonary tasks.

I have electric versions of carpet staplers, brad nailers but I think air compressor tools is a better way to go.

Of course you need all the appropriate specialized tools for laminate floor work, tile work, carpet, and a whole bunch of stuff that you will need for plumbing and electrical work.

The list is endless and just gets bigger as you learn more. Good luck.

oh, I forgot

have bought a new home that will require some renovations (I have some experience)

hahahhahhaha or muwahhhahahahhahaha

(featuring a comment locks out the replies and keeps it stuck to the top)

to answer your questions:
Usually when drilling pilot holes and then screwing in the screw, you need to change bits out of the drill/driver. The flip drill/driver bit things and other contraptions don't work as well as having a dedicated drill chucked up with the right bit and a driver, especially if you need to do multiple screws/screwholes. The impact driver uses a rapid hammering technology to provide tremendous torque, so screws sink in like butter in hardwoods like oak.I find you have better control on the driving too.

Although Li-ion battery powered stuff is more expensive, it pays for itself with tool size/weight reduction, keeps a charge longer and provides more power. I like the Milwaukee 12v line of cordless tools since they have a metal chuck on the drill and the compact size is handy for the usual fixer up tasks that pop up. 18v is nice but gets more cumbersome to use for extended periods because of the increase weight. I prefer my 12v Milwaukee over my older 18v Ni-Cd set of Craftsman cordless tools. I never really used that small circular saw. May be handy for laminates or quick tasks, which I use my bigger jigsaw. I have a dremel multi-tool for those odd cutting tasks - crack a nut under the sink or trim off a piece of wood that you can't get to with a regular saw.

The size of the compressor depends on if you need it "portable" and what you are going to hook up to it. Note that spray guns and garage type tools (impact wrenches/sanders)need a bigger capacity to drive them. Contractors usually go with the 6-10 gallon pancake or double long tank versions for your nailers.

And if you are doing a lot of trim work, having a tablesaw and a collection of routers makes life a lot easier and fancier. Good luck.

An orbital sander would come in handy for your projects as well as a pneumatic nail-gun, tape measure, T-Square, a level, chalk-liner, putty-knives, safety glasses, gloves, drop cloths...