Choosing the right Equipment
Home-decorating outlets and retail chains are full of tools and equipment designed to aid you in almost every decorating project. Quality is unquestionably the key to success when buying equipment. Remember that you can add to a tool collection as the need arises.

Basic Painting Equipment

Having the most suitable tools for painting projects is very important. There are several basic tools that should form part of every home decorator's painting kit, and which may then be added to for tasks with more specific requirements. Buying good-quality equipment will reap benefits in the form of better, longer-lasting results.

The basic painting equipments are:
- Fitch
- 50 mm (2 in) brush
- 100 mm (4 in) brush
- Smooth roller sleeve
- Rough roller sleeve
- Dust mask
- Tape measure
- Paint kettle
- Roller cage
- Radiator roller
- Roller extension handle
- Bucket
- Dust sheet
- Roller tray
- Filling knife
- Sandpaper

Create paint effects
If you intend to use paint effects, you will require some additional equipment as well as certain different materials.

Testing equipment
Before buying any painting equipment - but especially large, costly pieces - test them for sturdiness, and make sure that they have an adequate guarantee.

Tips for choosing painting tools:

Brush
Brushes are multi-purpose and come in many shapes and sizes. They are ideal for cutting in and painting intricate details, and can be used on open wall surfaces, but will be slower than other tools.

Roller
Rollers are ideal for wide open surfaces, being by far the quickest tools for covering walls efficiently. Their size varies, but rollers are too large for cutting in. The texture of rollers also varies.

Sprayer
Sprayers are ideal where little masking is required, and for painting broad wall surfaces and inaccessible areas such as behind pipes. Using a sprayer can be a messy business, so protect adjacent surfaces.

Pad
Pads are suitable for large surfaces, and small pads are available for cutting in. They cause less mess than rollers. Use them where extensive masking would otherwise be necessary, such as in kitchens.

Additional Painting Equipment

Building up a paint-effect tool kit can be expensive, so do it gradually. Buy equipment as you need it, rather than purchasing everything that you think you may need in the future, only to find that you use few items.

Use the following list as a guide:
- Large decorating brush
- Flogger
- Masking tape
- Stencilling brush
- Natural sponge
- Craft knife
- Plastic bag
- Lint-free cloth
- Stippling brush
- Cutting mat


Improvising
You can use tools other than special-effect equipment for paint techniques. Experiment with different objects - ordinary household items as well as decorating tools - to create unique effects.

Basic Wallpapering Equipment

You will need more equipment for papering walls than for painting. Many tools, however, are required for both, so once those items are in your toolkit they can be used for either job.

Here you can find a list of that equipment:
- Goggles
- Wallpaper-hanging brush
- Pasting brush
- Rubber gloves
- Pasting table
- Pencil
- Cross-head screwdriver
- Slot-head screwdriver
- Seam roller
- Filling knife
- Ruler
- Wallpaper hanging scissors
- Spirit level
- Stepladder
- Bucket
- Chalk line
- Steam stripper
- Wallpaper scraper
- Sponge
- Craft knife
- Measuring jug
- Tape measure

Prioritizing quality
Buy the best quality tools that you can afford. This is particularly important for the items that are used most, and those that come into direct contact with the wallpaper, such as wallpaper-hanging and pasting brushes, seam roller, scissors, and a craft knife. The latter two items are vital for making accurate cuts and, therefore, achieving the best possible finish.

Choosing brushes
Select a pasting brush that will cover a surface evenly and efficiently, and a wallpaper-hanging brush with long, flexible bristles.

Considering safety
Follow the same safety precautions with regard to wallpapering materials and equipment as for painting.


Basic Painting Equipment for Wood

Equipment for painting wood is little different from that for painting walls, requiring just a few additional items.

The equipments are:
- Angle-head paintbrush
- 12.5 mm (½ in) paintbrush
- 50 mm (2 in) paintbrush
- Lint-free cloth
- Sandpaper
- Hot-air gun
- Dust sheet
- Small roller and tray

Choosing brushes
Painting woodwork involves more detailed and smaller-scale work than painting walls, so you will need a larger range of small brushes. Pure bristle brushes give the highest quality finish but are more expensive than their synthetic counterparts. They are, however, easier to use.

Selecting sandpaper
Buy several grades of sandpapers. A good quality, fine-grade paper is essential for the smoothest possible finish.

The additional painting equipments that you might need are:
- Fitch
- Softener
- Flogger
- Comb
- Rocker
- Burnishing tool
- Lint-free cloth
- Wire brush
- Wire wool
- Jam jar

Much of the equipment used for creating paint effects on walls can also be used for woodwork. Many tools are multi-purpose.

Including brushes
Include a variety of sizes of brush in your toolkit to cater for different surface areas and finishes.
Meeting specific requirements
A tool such as a rocker will enable you to produce a highly individual wood effect.

Shelving Equipment

Shelves may be constructed from a variety of different materials, but their basic design remains relatively consistent.

Here you can find a list of shelving equipment:
- Spirit level
- Medium-weight bracket
- Heavy-weight bracket
- Expanding wing plug
- Spring toggles
- Plastic wall plugs
- Power drill
- Shelf supports
- Shelving track (Large, medium, small)
- Shelves (Glass, Softwood, Hardwood)

Supporting shelves
All shelves require some support. The exact nature of the support will be determined by the decorative requirements of the shelving and the type of fixing it needs. Use strong supports for a heavy shelf, or one that will carry a heavy load.

Basic Hanging Equipment

A limited amount of equipment is required for picture hanging, since it is a relatively simple job to carry out. However, using the correct equipment is essential, in order to ensure that pictures are hung safely and securely.

The basic hanging equipments are:
- Hammer
- Pencil
- Picture hanging-cord
- Picture hanging-wire
- Eyelets
- Screws
- Wall plugs
- J hook
- Picture rail hook
- Nails and double picture hook
- Nail and single picture hook
- Concrete wall hook

Keeping pictures on the wall
Prevent picture fastenings or fixings from failing by using the appropriate hooks and thread for each picture. Many hooks are sold with guidelines as to the weight they can bear.

Basic Flooring Equipment

Much of the equipment needed for flooring is already a part of most household toolkits, but in case you are not organised I have a list of equipment that I am sure will help you get organised.

- Tenon saw
- Panel saw
- Tile cutter
- Cross-headed screwdrivers
- Slot-headed screwdrivers
- Craft knife
- Tape measure
- Spirit level
- Disc cutter
- Knee kicker
- Nail punch
- Chalk line
- Bolster
- Carpenter's pencil
- Claw hammer
- Staple punch

Tips:
1. Hiring specialist tools. Hire specialist equipment if you need it. It is usually expensive, and you are unlikely to use it enough to justify buying.
2. Checking hired equipment. Make sure that equipment is working and has all necessary operating instructions and safety recommendations.
3. Planning tool use. Plan your work so that you hire equipment only when you need it. Do not hire an item on day one if you will not require it until day three.

Basic Tiling Equipment

A toolkit for tiling will include a few more specialist tools than those which are required for most other decorating jobs. However, some general tools are, in effect, multi-purpose and lend themselves to a number of different tasks.

The list of tiling equipment is the following:
- Score-and-snap pliers
- Power drill
- Tile file
- Tile saw
- Nibbler
- Sponge
- Tile scorer
- Tile spacers
- Tile cutter
- Sealant dispenser
- Pointing trowel
- Filling knife
- Spirit level
- Felt-tip pen
- Notched spreader
- Grout spreader
- Tape measure
- Goggles
- Tile gauge

Choosing a tile cutter
By far the most important piece of equipment you will buy for tiling purposes is a tile cutter. Buy a good quality one, since a sub-standard cutter will not produce clean edges and will increase the number of tiles that you break while cutting. This is wasteful of materials and time, and will result in greater expense in the long run.

Buying wisely
Do not be deterred by the initial expense of a few key tiling items: they may prove themselves to be worth it in the long term, especially as your technique improves.

Hiring instead of buying
Consider hiring expensive pieces of equipment such as tile-cutting machines, which you will use only occasionally.

HEALTH AND SAFETY GUIDELINES

When decorating, consider the following important health and safety aspects:

Following Instructions
- Always read manufacturers' operating instructions before using any equipment.
- Make sure that you use any materials or chemicals safely, complying with statutory legislation regulating the use of substances hazardous to health. Follow advice on labels carefully before making up solutions or mixtures.

Using Equipment
- Make sure that ladders and stepladders are in good working order, and platforms have been constructed safely, to prevent injury from falling.

Dealing with Electrics
- Disconnect any electrical equipment when it is not in use, even for a short time.
- Switch off the power supply when decorating around switches or power points, and when cleaning them.
- Consider using a residual current circuit breaker to protect against electrocution.

Protecting People
- Increase the ventilation in a room to reduce the effects of dust and fumes.
- Wear a mask to minimize the amount of dust and fine particles that you inhale.
- Wear safety glasses to protect eyes from flying debris.
- Wear gloves to protect skin from injury and irritation.
- Keep all chemicals and tools away from children and out of the way of «corridors within your working area.

by Rory H. Hawkins

Are you in a profession, where you are exposed to harmful chemicals or airborne particles or are you in a habit of using such power tools as lathes, saws, sanders and likes at home? Then take a glimpse on this statistics:

Thousands of incidents involving eye injuries are recorded in the USA everyday.
Over 90% of these injuries occurred because there was no proper eyewear which could have prevented the mishaps.

Your eyes are your most precious possession and always take care that your eyes are protected from any kind of impact. But how can you give your eyes the best protection? Simple, invest in a pair of safety glasses. Does the term sound unfamiliar to you? Read the article below and equip yourself with all the necessary information about the safety glasses.

Safety glasses are safety shield for your precious eyes. Want to know how they differ from regular glasses? The regular glasses cover only the front side of your eyes, whereas the safety glasses cover your eyes from the sides as well as from the top in addition to covering the front side, so that nothing can enter your eyes and damage them. Safety glasses are those special kinds of eyewear that have passed through certain ANSI standards.

Not only the frames of these special glasses are much sturdier than the ordinary glasses, the lenses are also stronger with shatter resistance features. It implies that the lenses of safety glasses must pass a drop ball test, in which a ball is dropped on the lens to test whether it is hard enough to withstand all kinds of accidental assaults. The lenses are most commonly made of virgin resin polycarbonate which is stronger than regular lenses. The light weight and impact-resistant lenses of the safety glasses come in both prescription and non-prescription forms.

Apart from being sturdy, the frames are also heat resistant. They are also designed in a way that they prevent the lenses from being pushed into the eyes at the time of accident.

The safety glasses also protect your eyes from harmful UV rays and as such safety glasses are often used as sun glasses. They are also coated to resist scratches.

A new standard, ANSI Z87.1-2003, was passed recently to give instructions regarding the requirements of different types of safety glasses for different workplaces. There are mainly two types of lenses: high impact and basic impact. It is the responsibility of the employers who require protective eyewear for their employees to consult OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration) regulations to know which type of safety glass is required at their job sites.

by Ray La Foy

They might not seem like important purchases for homeowners, but the addition of a solid chainsaw to a tool inventory can very much be appreciated in times of need. The importance of chainsaws in average household inventories perhaps came into the spotlight the most during the 2005 hurricane season. It was during this time people with chainsaws became neighborhood heroes. Chainsaws like those made by Stihl made the day.

But how?

When big storms strike, emergency crews are generally taxed to their limits. Homeowners who have problems, such as felled trees or limbs, may have to wait days and even weeks for assistance in putting their lives back together. A neighbor with a good chainsaw, like those made by Stihl, can come in and help get the ball rolling much faster.

By helping do things such as minor tree and limb clearing, those with a chainsaw and the know how to use it can really speed the rebuilding process along. In the case of tree clearing, it can sometimes take the pros weeks or more after a big storm to come in and lend a hand. And then, the price can be very high.

The key to using a chainsaw to help after a storm is to first understand how to safely use one. Safety should be paramount. Along with it should come an understanding of the surroundings. The time after a big storm can be dangerous, so it's important for those lending a hand to realize that downed power lines and other dangers may lurk where trees and limbs have been felled. With proper use and an eye toward safety, however, chainsaws like those made by Stihl can really save the day.

Stihl itself has been around since the 1920s. The company's founder Andreas Stihl seemed destined to create innovative tools. His name, Stihl, is pronounced "steel." The destiny seems to have come true with his creation of the first electric chain saw in 1926. He repeated demonstrating his expertise in creating again in 1927 when he made one of the very first portable, gas powered chainsaws.

It's been more than 75 years since the man with the most prophetic name created his first chainsaws. Now, Stihl is a household name in countries all over the world. Specializing in a number of power tools, the company also makes such things as edgers, hand tools and more. But, it is for chainsaws it's perhaps the best known. Its tools are sold all over the world and are known for their reliability, durability and quality.

When it comes to chainsaws, Stihl makes a wide variety of them. From gas powered to electric, the tools are used by ordinary homeowners and professionals alike. In fact, models created by Stihl are ideal for high-end construction situations and even loggers while other models are perfect for backyard woodcutters.

A tool is only important when it's needed. In the case of a good chainsaw, this particular tool can help smooth the way for lives to begin rebuilding after disaster. Often overlooked in an ordinary tool arsenal, the chainsaw should actually have a valuable place.