Building Your Tool Inventory:

Why is it important to beef up the tools you own?

Repeat after me: Time is money and quality creates value.

If you dont have the right tools, it can severely add to the time it takes to finish your project. Missing an important tool can take something that should be an hour long project can very quickly turn into something that takes all day and leaves you feeling unproductive and, well, pissed. A great example of this would be having a reliable framing gun and compressor. What's the alternative? Nailing everything by hand. No thanks. My nailing gun has saved me countless hours on all types of projects.

The other factor to take into account is to have current, up-to-date tools. Using old, clunky, dated tools can cause the workmanship to greatly decline. When I finished the basement in my first house, I used a chop saw that a friend let me use. It must have been built in 1980 because it was absolutely impossible to cut a solid 90 degree miter cut which is critical when installing base trim. It cost me so much extra time and money since I ended up needing more material (because I wasted a bunch) and the final product was iffy at best. It definitely looked like I slapped together a little bit of wood with tons of putty filled in all the holes and gaps. Not recommended!

Used tools are still great and pawn shops or Facebook Marketplace are solid places to find used tools. Just make sure that they are relitively new and work as you would expect. Be sure to test them out in advance!

Affording some of these tools can be a little demanding, I know! Ask friends and family if you can barrow theirs until you can afford your own. Just don't get stuck trying to finish your project without the tool that you need. Borrow the right tool. I promise you, it's worth it.