Some of the best holidays are the small ones. They celebrate such little, and seemingly insignificant, things as talking like a pirate or pancakes. But oftentimes these are the best days to go out and just be yourself, to express your interests and start new traditions with your family and friends. In this vein, we’d like to introduce you to a little-known gem of a holiday: Worship of Tools Day.
That’s right. The Man has seen fit to bestow us with that most illustrious holiday. On March 11, you can use it as an excuse to buy any new toys you want, or just sit in that altar you call a shed and bask in their construction-giving life.
(Pixabay / www-erzetich-com)
If you do decide to buy something nice for yourself, you should know where to start and that all depends on what you want to do. If you’re looking at building a custom deck, this article is for you. We polled our team of Denver-based custom deck installers about the tools they find to be the most useful. Here are their recommendations.
The obvious
These are tools everyone needs. They’re helpful for more than just building decks; they can go so far as helping you choose and install a new fridge to remodeling your kitchen. But they are an absolute must for those deck builders out there.
Measuring tape
This one is a given. Just remember the old cliché: “measure twice, cut once,” or else your deck might be a tad shorter than planned.
Level
Few things are more annoying than a crooked picture frame. Other than that, you’ll need the level to help make sure your planks and framing are straight, otherwise, you’ll have a structurally weak, tripping hazard. Or you’ll find out certain pieces don’t fit.
Chalk Liner
These are perhaps one of the nicest and most useful tools for drawing a straight line. They’re indispensable for lining wood planks. Just know that you should try to use white chalk. Any other colors run the risk of staining the wood.
The building
Using these will make building a deck so much easier—mainly because if you didn’t, you’d be stuck using old hand saws or sharp rocks tied to a stick.
Miter saw
In any construction, it’s guaranteed you will see at least one 90-degree angle. However, when building decks, other angles, like the 45-degree, are also very common. Having the ability to diversify your cuts and angles is very nice when you want some more unique designs than a straight plank, and it helps to get the different pieces fleshed together properly.
Nail gun
A handy-dandy tool to get for Worship of Tools Day, especially if you really do want to be your own porch builder, is the nail gun. This fantastic toy isn’t only good for shooting bad guys in the eye (see the reference?), but it’s really good for securing brackets, anchors and other parts into the framing for your deck. It can also be used to secure the deck boards, but that runs the risk of causing splitting.
Electric drill
To be honest, you probably already have at least one of these, maybe two. If you don’t want to risk the splitting that can be caused by using nails on the boards, or risk the constant stress causing them to pop up, a drill is good at keeping things safe and structurally sound. Just make sure you drill a pilot hole first.
Circular saw
When building your deck (or just asking for a new gift from your family for this auspicious day), the circular saw will likely be the most used. Good for cutting the ends off the boards to the proper length, this really is a must-have tool.
Another useful thing under this category is a hand-held circular saw. If you decide to cut all your boards to be a little longer than needed, this one can get them all the same length in one go.
Other than these handy and desirable toys that you should definitely enjoy for your holiday, there are some other tools you’ll likely need when installing your own DIY deck. For example, a posthole digger. This tool is a must-have for placing some of the framing for your deck or eventual pergolas, unless you enjoy digging 2-foot-deep holes with a shovel. You can even rent powered ones that do it for you.
In reality, there are a ton of tools you can enjoy for this glorious day of days. Just make sure you get the right ones. And if you really do want a deck, but don’t have the time or confidence in your skills, look into a custom porch builder in Denver, like SRI Decks.
