Here’s What To Always Have On Hand If You’re A Bob Vila Fan

Any handy person knows that you won’t get far on any DIY or home improvement project without a tape measure. From measuring the amount of flooring you need to determining if furniture will fit in a room, tape measures are absolutely essential to any remodel. It would be awful to spend hours on a DIY project only to find out it didn’t fit correctly in its intended location. This retractable tape measure has a useful self-locking mechanism that allows the blade to be extended smoothly for up to 25 feet without snapping back on you suddenly. 

As you know, many of Bob Vila’s home improvement projects include revamping the property’s landscaping. In order to do this, he needs to have a sturdy shovel on hand to move sod, dirt, plants, and mulch as needed. This lightweight 48 inch shovel from Forest Hill can serve many purposes in landscaping projects, and is specially reinforced to promote durability, rigidity, and break resistance. It arrives fully assembled, and can even be used to shovel snow during the Winter.

Bob Vila wears a tool belt when he’s on the job and you should, too! Tool belts make DIY projects more efficient because you can keep everything you need to do the job on your person. This tool belt adjusts to fit any waist up to 52 inches wide, and has 10 storage pockets and 2 hammer holders. 

When working with power tools, safety is always a priority for home improvement experts like Bob Vila. Make sure to protect your eyes from flying particles like nails or staples, chemicals, sparks or heat, and other hazards found at construction sites. These durable glasses are designed to be comfortably worn all day, feature anti-scratch lenses, and are third-party tested and certified to guarantee your safety. 

A sturdy multitool is something that someone like Bob Vila would always have on hand! It’s small enough to be carried in a car glove compartment, backpack, or pocket and you never know when you might need it. This multitool has 12 useful tools in a compact package, including a pocket knife, pliers, saw, screwdriver, bottle opener, wire cutters, and more. Not only does it come in handy during DIY projects, but also in your daily life or while traveling and camping. 
 

While you likely have an organized set up for all your tools at home, sometimes you may need to leave your house to do a DIY project at a friend or client’s house. In this case, you need a portable tool box to safely transport all your tools in an easy and organized fashion. This tool box from RIGID holds up to 60 pounds of gear, and can be carried by hand or pulled like a suitcase to protect your back from unnecessary straining. It has plenty of storage space, as well as a lockable system to prevent theft and damage caused by water, dust, or other construction debris. 

Combination Squares are a useful tool that Bob Vila has been known to use. Combination squares, like this excellent choice from Mr. Pen, have a rigid steel rule that is 12 inches long and a headpiece that slides along its length. The headpiece has edges that form 45 and 90 degree angles that can be used to make and check crosscuts and miter cuts. It can also be used to check the squareness of a joint, leveling using the bubble level in the handle, and as a saw guide. 

Hex keys, which are also referred to as allen wrenches, are a must-have for every tool box. It is a simple tool that is used to drive bolts and screws that have hexagonal sockets in their heads, and is used more often than you’d think! A few examples of when hex keys are used includes assembling IKEA furniture (we’ve all been there), repairing bicycles, or mounting towel racks and other bathroom accessories. This particular hex key set from Klein Tools is particularly handy because it has 11 extended reach blades and can fold up for convenient storage when not in use.

If you’ve been watching and learning from Bob Vila for a while, you already know that putty knives are extremely useful tools to simplify drywall repairs. When you apply putty to a damaged area, simply use the putty knife’s edge to smooth the substance so it will look nice and unnoticeable when it dries. This putty knife can also be used for tile repairs, loosening dried paint, removing wallpaper, and spackling nail holes, making it one of the most versatile tools in Bob Vila’s toolbox.  

During construction, there will inevitably be times when you need to hold pieces together that will eventually be glued. But before the glue dries, you need bar clamps to hold the pieces tight and flush until the glue dries. Bar clamps, like the ones offered by Irwin, are a great choice for this job because of their easy-to-use quick grip design that prevents unwanted scuffing. Bar clamps are typically larger than C-Clamps, which are a similar product, and have a fixed jaw at one end and a tail slide that can move up and down the bar’s length per your needs.