The Greatest Apartment Maintenance Tools of All Time
The 11 in 1 made by Klein tools is pretty much everyone’s go to. Yes, you’re going to eventually lose bits. But, you can now buy just the bits to replace them if need be. The memories you’re going to make with this baby is worth $15.00. Just wait until the first time you lose it and then find it on top of a water heater a week later. You’ll cherish the memories forever.
While we’re on the subject of multi-bit Klein tools, let’s not sleep on this one. The Klein 27 in 1 with the precision bits stored in the pull out handle is clutch when you randomly come across those tiny hex screws that are in towel bars, door handles and toilet paper holders. No more running out to the truck to search for your allen wrench set with baby tucked in your tool pouch.
I know your Klein 11 in 1 has nut drivers on it. However, there will come a time when you’ll need something longer that will hold on tight to a screw while you send it deep into a dark abyss covered in spider webs. These babies have never let me down. Magnetic nut drivers are the cats pajamas!
This stripper is fantastic. You’ll only have to pay once and it will love you forever. It’s not if you’ll need to strip some wires, it’s when. Don’t get caught out on the job with no way to get to some fresh wire.
It’s Monday night and you just started your on call week. The phone rings and it’s an A/C not cooling call. You show up and it’s just a float switch. “Thank you apartment maintenance gods”, you say to yourself. Your gallo gun doesn’t fit between the pan and the coil so you head outside to suck out the drain line with a shop-vac. You plug it into the building outlet. The outlet doesn’t work. “Nooooooo!” you scream angrily. Those days are over with this gem. A battery powered shop-vac. Leave the corded shop-vacs to the amateurs.
For Pete’s sake, GET A VOLT METER! AND, LEARN HOW TO USE IT! It’s disturbing how many apartment maintenance techs go through life with no volt meter. I was that guy once and I can tell you that it made the job way more stressful when I was just guessing and throwing parts at repairs and hoping I fixed it. Once I got a volt meter and learned how to use, it made the job cake and fun again. In the age of YouTube tutorial videos, “I don’t know how to use one”, is not an excuse.
I like easy money and one button always equals easy money. Press the only big red button on the Supco Megohmmeter and it will tell you if a compressor is bad or good on an HVAC unit. It will also tell you if a fan motor is bad or good on an HVAC unit. I did a tutorial video with this tool on my YouTube channel if you’re curious how it works out in the field. Click here to see video.
Ask any veteran maintenance tech and they will tell you that you’ll be able to do 80% of work orders with your 11 in 1 and some channel locks. I like getting different sizes because sometimes we have to get into spaces that are as tight as a gnats butt.
Okay, before you feel like ripping my eyebrows off with gorilla tape, let me explain. For those of you who follow my YouTube channel, you know that I use a Ryobi impact driver. Unless someone is cutting me a check to use their tools, I am not loyal to any brand. My Ryobi impact has been a great tool that I’ve used almost daily for 5 years now. Same drill. Same battery. My wallet thanks me as well as Ryobi doesn’t break that bank.
If you’re the “go-to tech” for all the property’s HVAC issues then I highly recommend these digital gauges. If you’re still using analog gauges, that’s okay. I know digital gauges are expensive and can be intimidating. However, if you charge units properly using superheat and subcool then I know you’ll get used to these gauges after 3 uses and fall in love with them. Watching all the temperatures and pressures in real time has made doing HVAC a pleasure. You shouldn’t have to come out of pocket for these gauges. The property should buy them for you since you’re working on their equipment. Any property who doesn’t lacks integrity and they’re wrong.
The days of grabbing your stud finder out of the truck and finding out the batteries are dead are over. Get this magnetic stud finder. I promise you won’t be disappointed. It has a powerful magnet that sticks to the sheetrock screws or nails that are holding the sheetrock up. Where there’s a screw, there’s a stud. I’ve been using mine for 8 years and it’s still going strong.
Have you ever had a plumbing work order and needed to pull the toilet so you can replace the wax ring? Only to find out that the nuts and bolts are so rusty that they both just spin together and you can’t get them off. Uuuggghhh! Get you one of these babys. Jam it under the washer or bolt and it will hold the bolt in place while you unscrew the nut from the top. Hence the name, “Jam Bar”. This tool has pulled me out of many jams.
You show up to Miss Johnson’s apartment. It’s the first of the month and she’s pissed that she has to pay rent every month. She wants something for all the money she pays to live there every month and she swears her oven is not reaching 400 degrees. You show a little fake outrage while at the same time acting like you’re on Miss Johnson’s side. How dare she have to pay rent every month. You grab your Raytek temp gun and shoot the inside of her oven. It says 400 on the screen. You show it to Miss Johnson who looks embarrassed while thanking you. Drama diverted until the first of next month.
While a volt meter is more trust worthy, these non-contact volt tester sticks do come in handy. Placing the end inside outlets during a make ready to make sure the outlets work is a quick way to find out if they’re live or not. Or, using the beeping sound it makes while you switch breakers on and off. When the beeping stops, that’s the breaker for that circuit that has been turned off. It’s the size of a pen and stays in most tech’s shirt pocket.
The oscillating tool. If you know, you know. Cut pretty much anything, anywhere. No matter how tight the space. YouTube tutorial videos will show you the power of the oscillating tool.
When you get tired of carrying around your heavy butt extension ladder, I ask that you please return here and get this telescoping extension ladder. I know, sketchy right? I thought the same thing. However, now that I’ve had to climb up to numerous second story balconies to let drunks into their apartments after they lost their apartment key, I love this ladder. It’s easy to carry and has a handle so that you can walk with it like a suitcase.
Before you go, you’ll need something to carry your sweet new tools. I love this DeWalt backpack tool bag and mine has been going strong for years with no issues. It also has an LED light that folds out for when Miss Johnson calls you at 2:00 am for a power outage. Noice!
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