Tools 101

This weekend was like a refresher course for me on how to use different tools. We leveled out and replaced a section of the subfloor in the living room and put in some temporary walls to prepare for the first beam that goes in. I finally learned to use the worm drive & it is a pretty amazing tool. Thank goodness that Nick has a pretty good collection of hand and power tools, or this project would be even more expensive! Here are the power tools alone that we used this weekend: cordless jigsaw, cordless planer, screw gun (this term was new to me: I always called it a drill), sawzall (I have yet to use this), nail gun, chop saw and the shop vac. The list of hand tools is much longer: levels (three different sizes), hammers, crow bar, sledge hammer, chalk line, chisels, measuring tapes, caulking gun & glue, clamps, speed square, and my favorite, the nippers! At times I felt like I was assisting during surgery and predicting what tool Nick would need next. The best part is that Nick has got to be the most patient person in the world. When we were screwing the plywood into place for the new section of floorboard, I managed to get 2 screws in while he put in at least one dozen. We did determine that we preferred the Bosch drill (screw gun) to the DeWalt, so I now get to use the Bosch if we’re both working at the same time. He also made sure that I knew how to use the worm drive & went over all the safety points while it was un-plugged. I know it’s a lot faster to just do it yourself most of the time, but I enjoy learning and in the long run I will become more proficient at all this!