What the hobby looks like week to week

Most sessions start with something that annoys you: a door that sticks, a towel bar pulling out of the wall, a toilet that runs at 2 a.m. You look up how the thing is built, watch someone fix the same model, make a trip to the hardware store, and spend an hour or two on your knees or on a ladder. Jobs are small and finish the same day. Over a year the list shifts from repairs to upgrades, such as new cabinet pulls or a wall of shelves. Renters can do plenty of it too, with the landlord's written permission for anything that leaves a hole or changes a fixture.

A person kneeling to fix a metal bracket to the side of a white cabinet with a screwdriver — One bracket, one screwdriver

Know your limits: permits and licensed trades

Stop here and call a licensed pro

House wiring belongs to a licensed electrician.

That covers the breaker panel, new circuits and outlets, moving a switch, aluminum wiring, and any job where bare conductors are exposed. Some places let owner-occupants swap a fixture with a permit, many do not, and a mistake hides inside the wall until it starts a fire.

Never work on gas.

Gas lines, furnaces, gas water heaters, ranges and dryers are hooked up and serviced by licensed gas fitters. If you smell gas, leave the house and call the utility from outside.

Leave structure alone.

Do not cut, notch or remove wall framing, joists, rafters, trusses or foundation until a structural engineer has looked at it. Any wall can be load-bearing, and the plans need a permit.

Plumbing stops at the wall.

Parts you can reach and shut off (a flapper, a faucet cartridge, a showerhead) are fair game. Moving supply or drain lines, replacing a water heater and anything soldered or buried in a wall is permit work for a licensed plumber.

Stay off the roof.

Roofing and anything higher than a stepladder reaches is where most serious DIY injuries happen.

Ask about permits before you start.

Rules are set by your city or county building department, and a phone call is free. Electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling, structural changes, new window or door openings, decks and water heaters usually need one. Painting, patching and swapping hardware usually do not.

Unpermitted work follows the house.

It can void an insurance claim and has to be disclosed, or redone, when you sell. Condo and homeowner association rules apply on top of the building code.

A kitchen mid-renovation: white cabinets under plastic sheeting and a stepladder by the window

Hazards to check for before you cut, sand or drill

Check the year your home was built first

Lead paint (homes built before 1978).

Assume old paint contains lead until a certified inspector or an EPA-recognized test says otherwise. Dry sanding, scraping and heat guns turn it into dust that poisons children and pets. Lead-safe work means plastic sheeting, wet methods and HEPA cleanup, and many owners hire a lead-safe certified firm instead.

Asbestos (common before the 1980s).

It turns up in popcorn ceilings, 9-inch floor tiles and the black glue under them, pipe wrap, vermiculite attic insulation and cement siding. Left intact it is low risk. Send a sample to an accredited lab before you sand, cut or demolish any of these, and leave removal to licensed abatement contractors.

Hidden wires and pipes.

Cables usually run straight up or down from outlets and switches, so never drill in line with one. Scan the wall first, and stop if the bit breaks through into something soft or springy.

Water and power shutoffs.

Find your main water valve and your breaker panel today, and confirm the valve turns. You want to know where they are before a fitting lets go.

Ladders.

Open a stepladder fully on flat floor, keep your belt buckle between the rails, and stay off the top two steps.

Eyes and lungs.

Wear safety glasses for every job that drills, cuts, hammers or works overhead, and a rated respirator for sanding and attic or crawlspace work.

Digging.

Call 811 a few business days before any hole in the yard, even for a mailbox post. The utility marking is free and the call is required by law.

Official guidance, free to read

Your first weekend, step by step

Punch list: tick each line off as you go

What you can fix in your first month

Tightened hardware

Every cabinet hinge, door handle and towel bar in the house snugged up, which takes one screwdriver and an hour.

A level shelf or mirror

Hung on screws driven into studs, so it holds real weight and stays put.

Invisible nail holes

A wall's worth of old picture holes filled and sanded flush, ready for paint (uses the Wall Repair add-on).

A fresh tub joint

Moldy caulk cut out and replaced with one clean bead (uses the Caulking and Sealing add-on).

A quiet toilet

A running toilet stopped with a new flapper or fill valve (uses the Plumbing Fixes add-on).

A bearded man driving a yellow cordless drill into a white wall

Directions to grow into

Start with repairs, then pick a first project

Repairs and upkeepSticking doors, loose hardware, squeaks, filters and seasonal checks. The base kit covers all of it.

Start here

Walk every room with a notepad and list what is loose, sticking, squeaking or dripping. Fix the three smallest items on the list this weekend.

Hanging and mountingShelves, mirrors, curtain rods and TV brackets. The skill is finding solid wood behind the drywall and getting things level.

Start here

Hang one heavy item, such as a mirror or a shelf, with every screw driven into a stud. Mark the stud edges in pencil and check the marks with a level before you drill.

Wall RepairFilling nail holes, dents and small cracks so they vanish under paint. It is the cheapest way to make a room look cared for.

Start here

Fill every nail hole and dent in one room, let the filler dry, and sand each patch until you cannot feel its edge with your eyes closed.

Caulking and SealingRenewing the flexible joints around tubs, sinks, windows and trim, which keeps water out of the walls and drafts out of the room.

Start here

Cut out the old caulk along your bathtub, clean and dry the joint fully, and run one new bead in a single pass.

Plumbing FixesRunning toilets, dripping showerheads and slow drains, all on the room side of the shutoff valve.

Start here

Put a few drops of food coloring in your toilet tank and wait 15 minutes without flushing. Color in the bowl means the flapper leaks, and replacing it is your first plumbing job.

Finish trades and bigger buildsTiling, painting and wallpapering, home organization, even log cabins and tiny houses. Each is a hobby with its own tools and learning curve, and a general kit is where all of them begin.

Start here

Pick one small room, such as a half bath, and learn a single finish trade on it from start to finish before you touch a second room.

This Old House project guides

Open a card to see its first step. Wall Repair, Caulking and Sealing and Plumbing Fixes each add their own supplies to the toolbox, and you can switch them back out from the kit.

Skills to practice first

Measuring and marking.

Measure twice, mark with a sharp pencil, and hook the tape the same way each time. Most crooked results trace back to a sloppy mark.

Driving screws.

Match the bit to the screw head exactly, push hard, and start slow. Set the drill's clutch low so it slips before the screw strips.

Drilling pilot holes.

A hole slightly thinner than the screw keeps wood from splitting and lets the screw pull tight.

Finding studs.

Studs usually sit 16 inches apart, center to center. Confirm a finder's reading with a small test hole where the item will cover it.

Reading how a thing is assembled.

Before forcing a part, look for the hidden set screw, clip or cap. Nearly everything in a house comes apart in the reverse order it went together.

What trips beginners up

A first attempt takes two or three times as long as the video. The presenter has done it a hundred times and edited out the stuck bolt.
Expect two trips to the hardware store per job. Bring the old part with you so the replacement matches.
Old houses are not square, level or standard. Measure the actual opening instead of trusting a nominal size.
Starting a job at 6 p.m. on a Sunday that leaves the only toilet out of service. Begin anything that involves water in the morning, while stores are open.
Overtightening. Stripped screws, cracked porcelain and crushed plastic fittings all come from one more quarter turn.
Hanging heavy things on plain drywall with no anchor or stud behind the screw.
Buying a large boxed tool set up front. Half of it never gets used, and the pieces you do use are the weakest in the box.

Hands loading filler onto a putty knife from a steel hawk beside a pale wall — Filler on the knife, ready for the wall

Where to learn

Search for your exact fixture or problem plus the brand stamped on it, and favor videos made by working tradespeople over quick-hack clips. Manufacturer websites post installation sheets and exploded parts diagrams for almost every faucet, toilet and appliance, and those diagrams name the part you need. For hands-on practice, community colleges and adult education programs run inexpensive evening classes in basic home repair, and a volunteer build day puts real tools in your hands with a crew leader watching.

Free places to learn and ask

How to buy the kit

The essentials are the ten things nearly every job calls for, and the drill is the only expensive one. Choose it by battery platform first, because the battery will later power a saw, a sander and a work light from the same brand. A compact 12-volt drill handles screws and small holes and is easier to hold overhead. An 18 or 20-volt drill with a half-inch chuck has the torque for long screws into studs, and is the better single drill for a house. Look for a clutch with numbered settings, two speed ranges, and a kit that includes the battery and charger. Before each job, put the battery on charge and check that the bit is seated straight in the chuck. Buy hand tools one at a time at mid-range quality. A hammer or a tape measure bought once will outlast the house. The add-on groups cover the three most common first projects, and you only need the ones you plan to do.

A hand pulling a yellow tape measure across a pine board resting on a ladder — A tape measure on a pine board

Load the toolbox

The essential and recommended tools start in the toolbox. The supplies for Wall Repair, Caulking and Sealing and Plumbing Fixes join once you pick that project, above or from the add-ons in the kit. Compare the options, then set your picks and check out from the kit. Clicking a card selects it there.

Cordless drill/driver kit

essential · Core tools

It drills pilot holes and drives screws, which is most of what mounting, assembling and repairing involves. Doing either by hand is slow and strips screw heads.

budget

BLACK+DECKER 20V MAX Cordless Drill Kit with ‎Battery, Charger, Includes Double Sided Drill Bit (BCD702C1)

4.7(3.1K)

$59.99

Home Improvement

What the hobby looks like week to week

Know your limits: permits and licensed trades

Hazards to check for before you cut, sand or drill

Your first weekend, step by step

Directions to grow into

Skills to practice first

What trips beginners up

Where to learn

How to buy the kit

Load the toolbox

Cordless drill/driver kit

Drill and driver bit set

16 oz claw hammer

Screwdriver set

25 ft tape measure

Utility knife

Pliers set

Adjustable wrench

Level

Safety glasses

Stud finder

Drywall anchor and screw assortment

Step ladder

Work gloves

N95 respirators

Lightweight spackling compound

Putty knife set

Sanding sponges

Caulk gun

Kitchen and bath silicone caulk

Toilet fill valve and flapper repair kit

Thread seal tape