Ok guys looking for some input. I own a handyman business and do many different things everyday. For years I haven't been able to find the right tool setup. I have used buckets with the bucket boss liners, tote bags, electricians bags, and whatever else came out. I haven't been truly happy with anything. Buckets are great because I can sit on them when at a service call but they end up turning into a catch all, and I can never find anything. Currently I'm running an electricians pouch but it's jammed full and I still have to run to the truck. I thought about trying a back pack but I think I will just end up taking stuff out of it and using the pouch on certain jobs where I need to be mobile. Weight can also be an issue. Lennox makes a nice tote and it can hold a lot but I don't want it to weigh 50 pounds. Any ideas, thoughts?
Tool bag, pouch, belt what's the best?
AndersonBros
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Ok guys looking for some input. I own a handyman business and do many different things everyday. For years I haven't been able to find the right tool setup. I have used buckets with the bucket boss liners, tote bags, electricians bags, and whatever else came out. I haven't been truly happy with anything. Buckets are great because I can sit on them when at a service call but they end up turning into a catch all, and I can never find anything. Currently I'm running an electricians pouch but it's jammed full and I still have to run to the truck. I thought about trying a back pack but I think I will just end up taking stuff out of it and using the pouch on certain jobs where I need to be mobile. Weight can also be an issue. Lennox makes a nice tote and it can hold a lot but I don't want it to weigh 50 pounds. Any ideas, thoughts?
Try a homemade tooltote. Transfer the tools you need for the job from larger tool boxes.
like this one:
http://www.garymkatz.com/ChartsDrawings/tool_tote.html
like this one:
http://www.garymkatz.com/ChartsDrawings/tool_tote.html
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Honestly I have a mix of everything and it really depends on the job I haven't found a 1 size fits all
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With a handyman business you will never have a one size fits all toolbag, there are too many tools. Your best bet is to load up a small toolbag with the most common tools.
In the handyman world I'm betting you do a lot of finishing details, installing pictures, shelves, cabinets, drywall repairs, painting, trim and light framing electrical etc. So I'd probably load up an everyday bag with screwdrivers, level, pencils, prybar, stud finder, light electrical tools, tin snips.
Choose a system, systainers, tstacks, packout, lboxx...just choose one.
Then make kits with more specific tools. Fill one up with plumbing tools and partner it with another with plumbing fittings. Make one for HVAC tools, make one for electrical and testing tools....tile....drywall....painting... Build kits for different tasks.
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In the handyman world I'm betting you do a lot of finishing details, installing pictures, shelves, cabinets, drywall repairs, painting, trim and light framing electrical etc. So I'd probably load up an everyday bag with screwdrivers, level, pencils, prybar, stud finder, light electrical tools, tin snips.
Choose a system, systainers, tstacks, packout, lboxx...just choose one.
Then make kits with more specific tools. Fill one up with plumbing tools and partner it with another with plumbing fittings. Make one for HVAC tools, make one for electrical and testing tools....tile....drywall....painting... Build kits for different tasks.
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Yep, I keep my truck pretty much stocked with everything but depending on the job, I'll only grab certain tools. I have these which work well for me.
12 pocket 2 loop apron ( i like the 2 loops as I can hang a hammer in one loop and clip my screwgun on the other loop, if need be. : http://www.galeton.com/custom-leath...ustom-leathercraft-tool-works-trade-12-pocket-canvas-waist-apron/12272-product/
and 2 of these: http://www.techtoolsupply.com/Produ...BRAHEiwA7Snfc3U-WGTIqgTXov2cMsZCeRKnUavOo-mAm-mKU4gLZI6CJAyvQ9yLpRoC5RcQAvD_BwE
Personally I dislike being loaded down with a big bulky toolbelt. It wears me down. The aprons are great and with the carry tool bags I can load them with whatever tools I'll be needing for that specific job..which keeps me from going back and forth from the truck. On bigger jobs I just haul my stuff in and leave it there until the jobs done (as long as the HO is cool with it)
I avoid anything made of plastic or anything on wheels, they always seem to break on me.
I have everything trade / task specific. One tool box for sheet vinyl, one for carpet, one for wood flooring, bag for electrical, bag for coax and telco, toolbox for plumbing, framing bags, tearout bags, finish bags, wooden window re pair and glazing box, and on and on. I have multiples of most things, so I don't have to collect tools.
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I have tools I don't use often separated, paint, tile, drywall etc. I guess I need to downsize a bit. Thanks for all the replies. Someday someone will come out with something. The one thing o have found that i am super happy with is the Milwaukee organizers. I have 10 of them so far best boxes on the market.
You will probably find quickly that handyman work requires the most amount of tools and has some of the lowest return on investment. Fast-forward a few years and you will probably find yourself in a more specialized position.
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That's not true around here a good handyman/installer can bill out at 60-75 per hour. You will however be expected to complete several tasks in a days time if working for a large management company and those tasks can be broad in scope. So yeah your tool kit will have everything. The title has definitely been redefined from the old days when the "handyman" was some old guy named Harvey who changed a door knob or two and pulled weeds in your garden.
I agree. I now work for myself and can make a grand a day and not work hard at all. Appliance installs/repair and light plumbing/ electrical are easy money for me. For me it's about 100-125 per hour.
ie. change out a shower valve cartridge or re-seal it, 100 beans (plus parts) and I'm onto the next job in 30-45 minutes.
I generally hate bags, especially if your a handy man or a GC- your truck is just stacked with different "possible" needs, and bags often times get crushed due to the weight of other bags. Even if its just a bit of drywall touch up, a bent trowel won't perform well, a bent sawzall blade doesn't make life easy, and a warped foot plate on a saw is no fun either. Niether is a spilled can of purple primer, squeezed out caulk, or that can of spray lube thats sprayed all over everything. If you can carry it on a belt, it will fit in a tool bag. Also a belt tends to drop stuff when not worn, so I still empty the belt out into a bucket, and then reload the belt when I wear it.
My boy has pretty much got the passenger seat locked down. I've already tried to talk to him about it - no go. Good dogs are hard to find.
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due to the fact your a handyman every day will be different start with a drywall repair, then go hang a door then ...... next day a compete different set of jobs. I found that having a single "universal" Dewalt tough box that has a bit of everything in it.. Then I have a second box that I rotate out tools relevant to what I have planned. It does not always work out so in my truck I made be slides to carry a lot of other tools. But this is why I have about 20 pairs of vise grips 10 tin snips and other tools in multiples because it was easier cheaper to go buy another then run back home to get the one in my shop.
I have been on the road get a call to fix something and cause I have not put in a full day or have the energy to do some more work and has a request to put back some trim for example. No compressor or cordless gun in the truck but have a hammer but no trim nails putty or paint gear off to the store you go.
I used to do the open bags but I found they don't stack always look messy no matter what you do have customers poking around in them random people poking around in the them in commercial settings. With a closed box they look neat closed up but you cant over stuff them with the extra tools you ran back to the truck to get to complete a job.
Unless you narrow down your field of work you end up spending a small fortune on custom kits. But If you are like me and don't want to do the same thing every day.
I have been on the road get a call to fix something and cause I have not put in a full day or have the energy to do some more work and has a request to put back some trim for example. No compressor or cordless gun in the truck but have a hammer but no trim nails putty or paint gear off to the store you go.
I used to do the open bags but I found they don't stack always look messy no matter what you do have customers poking around in them random people poking around in the them in commercial settings. With a closed box they look neat closed up but you cant over stuff them with the extra tools you ran back to the truck to get to complete a job.
Unless you narrow down your field of work you end up spending a small fortune on custom kits. But If you are like me and don't want to do the same thing every day.
I'm going to call bullsh!t on this because I've worn that shirt. Yeah sure you can bill out 50-100 bucks an hour for handyman work. You can also price projects flat rate and turn likely up to 150 bucks an hour, but you're not billing out 8 hours a day. Heck you're lucky if your billing out 4 hours a day on average at that rate.
If your bidding flat rate you will have a massive amount of time tied up in looking at jobs, pricing them out, invoicing and collecting. Then you have to schedule your jobs efficiently, then you have to juggle jobs that are a higher priority and then warranty work to top it all off.
Sure you have $1200 days but you also have -$20 days that balance things out.
I bought one, they sell for about a buck a pound here.
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