The 5 Basic Plumbing Tools You’ll Need

If you’re a plumber, chances are you’ve been through quite a bit and been in professional situations where a particular tool or another saved your bacon in a critical situation.

If you aren’t yet a plumber but hope one day to be one, you probably haven’t had some of these situations yet and might not have the foresight to bring this tool or that to the job site. Indeed that is how we learn many times: by failing, and by having to do without a time or two.

Of course, it’s difficult to always know exactly what tool you’re going to need in a given situation, but you’ll need a solid toolkit that contains your most trusted and well-worn instruments of the trade. But which tools are those?

Our list does not even come close to comprising everything you need as a plumber. To be certain, you will need to bring a whole host of tools with you (and don’t skimp; you have a full truck, right?). But these are some of the standbys. If you aren’t acquainted with them, you’d better get to know them quickly!

Hacksaw: You’ll cut through metal pipe, hardware, screws, nuts, bolts, and plastic pipe with your trusty hacksaw. Keep the blade taut and tense and always have extra blades. You never know when you’re going to break one!

Basin wrench: If they say you’re nuts for becoming a plumber, it might be because you deal with so many. Your basin wrench will help you handle the particularly difficult ones.

Propane torch: You never know when you’re going to need to sweat a copper pipe and fittings. A propane torch will make that job pretty convenient.

Tongue-and-groove pliers: Depending on the part of the country you live in, you might call these “channel locks.” Whatever you call them, you’ll appreciate having them when you need to grab, pull, twist, or tighten something small.

Metal file: Nothing takes the edge off better than a metal file, and we mean that literally. Use your file to smooth burs and sharp edges after cutting.

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