Since we rented out the apartment and then took our first weekend off in 8 months and I immediately went back to renovating the house!
I know I know… finally right? We’ve already demoed quite a bit of stuff in the house so I’d say it’s in the repair stage now. All the little annoying things have to be done, like spackling, sanding and priming but if we don’t do them we’ll never get to the fun stuff like painting and picking out fixtures! So anyway, as I sit here on the floor of my future office eating my lunch, I decided to pause and write this short blog post on the 5 things I couldn’t live without while renovating. (Yes this post contains affiliate links which means if you click and purchase, I get a small commission with no increase in cost to you. Thanks for supporting this blog!)
5 Things You NEED to Flip Houses Or Renovate a Home
I realized throughout my years of remodeling that there are a certain few items that I use so frequently I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have them. All of the items listed below are honestly sitting in the room with me right now (that’s what sparked the idea for this post!)
A Work Light
Most houses I’ve worked on never seem to have overhead lighting, or if they do, it’s one of the last things to get installed. So I’m often left with less than stellar lighting for things like speckling and painting – which makes a huge difference in the end result if you can’t see what you’re doing.
I swear there have been times when I thought my sanding job was absolutely perfect but the second I shine the work light on it I can tell it’s far from perfect. You can definitely still tell where the last owner kicked his foot through the wall!
So a work light is absolutely essential for me. The one we have caught on fire one time so I’m not recommending it. This one is on my wish list though! (Yes it’s an affiliate link, thanks for supporting this blog!)
A Space Heater
Owning a space heater (or four) is absolutely essential when you’re a landlord and comes in very handy in the cold months when working on houses with no heat! I even use it in houses that do have heat! If I know I’ll be spending the entire day in one room and don’t feel like heating the whole house with the oil heat, I’ll plug a space heater in, close the door and warm up the room that way (that’s what I did today in fact – sans closing the door because there currently isn’t one.)
And when you’re a landlord I always think it’s best to have a few on hand in case your tenants lose heat. It’s not something that’s required, but it’s always nice to be able to offer your tenants something in the event of an emergency (it’s better than having to put them up in a hotel or have them go through their renter’s insurance to get a hotel if the heating system fails.)
Sanders
I hate when a house has a crappy paint job with tons of ugly globs and snotty looking drips. So I always have at least one of my sanders (usually two) with me when working on a house. I hate bad paint jobs so much that every time before I paint, I completely sand the walls down spending extra time on areas where I see said globs or drip. I have an orbital sander and a finish sander. I usually use the orbital for the walls and the finish sander on the doors and trim (always going with the grain of the wood!)
Sanders like these also come in handy when you’re refinishing hardwood floors! If you’ve ever done floors you’ll know you can’t get the big belt sander tight into corners or closets so you have to go around on your hands and knees to get the edges… perfect for a little sander!
Two Drills
Yup, you read that right TWO drills. It is so annoying to have to pre-drill things in the first place. But when you have to continually switch the bit on the end of the drill every single time it becomes even more tedious! So I recommend getting two drills. I even further recommend getting one regular drill and one impact driver and you’ll be set for almost any task you set out to do.
A Quality Tape Measure
& Utility Knife
& 
Truthfully, I never realized how important it is to have a good tape, especially when you’re doing a lot of measuring by yourself! Before I got the tape measure I have now, I thought they were all the same – as long as they had numbers on them. But that is definitelynot the truth. My old tape was so flimsy I could barely measure 4 feet without the thing bending in half. The tape I use now allows me to measure entire rooms by myself!
A good utility knife is also super important. When I first started in the field I had blisters from the way I had to hold my knife. The knife I have now is super comfy and I can use it for hours on end without getting blisters. The blades are also super easy to change and it can hold up to five at once.
I know it sucks having to shell out all that money in tools but it truly make a difference when you buy good quality items that last a while. It doesn’t make much sense to buy a $30 drill and replace it every year when you can buy an $80 drill and replace it every 10 years. So when I purchase things I do a ton of research and read all the reviews I can get my hands on… I recommend you do the same thing!
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