2mo ago

What are some useful general maintenance tips can you give to people living on their own in apartments or housing?

So you buy a nice two shelf bookcase but it's wobbly and you know it won't hold much. I've recently gotten one and my solution was to put L-brackets on it. After installing about 8 of these brackets at the cojoining parts of the shelving, it is now completely stable and ready for use.

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Get a small tool box and start collecting tools inside it.
Basics to start with are:
hammer
screwdrivers (get the three major ones - flat, Philips (cross) and Robertson (square))
screwdriver with multiple replaceable heads (get one with as many heads as you can)
pliers (buy a set of at least three types) (also make sure at least one of these has a wire cutter)
vice grips
Allen key set (metric and imperial)
adjustable wrench
exacto knife (with replaceable blade)
crow bar (at least 12" long but bigger is better) (don't get smaller because you can use the flat screwdriver for anything smaller ... a good size piece of iron is good for lots of uses)
To me this would be a good start. This is basically what I started with about 30 years ago and now I have a garage full of tools to literally build a house.
Every time you have something to fix or repair, use your kit and make sure to put everything back. And often you may need a special tool to get your job done, if you can afford it buy it and add it to your kit. The cost of the new tool will repay itself as you use it again later.
And if you are not mechanically inclined than don't feel a need to grow the kit either. These basics will help with most situations.
- Good list! I would probably just also add a battery powered drill.
  
  I think that can come after because for some people, a powered drill is a bit of an expense they can't afford. I had to go without a good powered drill of my own for about a year after I got my first home. I borrowed a lot of things back then. I did have a drill but it was a 1950s black and decker wired one that was on its last legs. It took me about two / three years before I got my first brand new drill and it was wired because it was cheap. Wired drills are cheaper, last longer - they are less convenient but at least they get the job done. Then it took me about five years later before I got a good cordless one for about $200. Then it took me about ten years later when I got a lithium battery powered Dewalt impact driver and drill set and its all I ever use now.
  You can start off with a cheap battery powered drill but honestly, I'd just wait until you can afford a $200-$300 impact/drill set (they usually go on sale at some point) and that set will last you years or decades of use. If you buy a cheap one (like I did), the battery will die prematurely in a year and you'll end up buying another one ... do this three or four times over four years and the cost would have been saved if you had just bought one good powered drill to begin with.
  Ask me how I know because the first powered drills I bought were cheap $100 specials - they were good but the batteries never last ... even just sitting eventually just drains the batteries and slowly kills them.
  
  I've had a $60 Ryobi drill for 10+ years. The battery and the drill work just fine. For basic maintenance, I would rate a cordless drill in my top 5 tools - up there with a hammer and tape measure.
- An electric screwdriver is essential. Don't even try to start assembling IKEA furniture without one, it will literally take twice as long.
- Excellent list!
  Man, how often needle nose pliers come in handy is INSANE.
  
  The list I thought of is a list of the most common things I use in any kit for just a homeowner doing things around the house.
  If the person isn't interested in doing things around the house any more than they have to ... then the kit is enough to do the most basic things.
  If the person is interested in doing things around the house ... then the toolbox can be filled with more and more things.
  I like building/repairing/renovating/tinkering/mechanics and anything like that and after 30 years I have a ton of stuff and the main kit I carry around in my truck basically would allow me to do just about anything. Not a professional but capable enough to do about 80 to 90 percent of most things that is in, on, around, over or under a house.

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