During the last 6 months of this on and then off again lockdown I, like many of you I’m sure, have been doing quite a bit of DIY and repairs around the house. It is only when you engage in this kind of activity that you do realize that a great many of your tools are not quite fit for purpose. It was for this reason that last week I found myself in touch with an aluminum ladder company discussing the various quality of their products. This was brought about for two main reasons, the first was that my ladder bent out of shape whilst performing a particularly hazardous window cleaning operation. The second was because of the lesson which my grandfather had endeavored to teach me, which was the importance of investing good quality tools and equipment, and this is why he was absolutely right.
Cost Saving
Much like many of you I am sure, something which I always have in mind when investing in goods like tools and equipment is saving money. Unfortunately however I have discovered over the years that in buying low cost, and usually low quality goods, saving money is not what happens. What does in fact happen is that you end up spending more money in the long run in replacing the tools and the pieces of equipment. Take my ladders for example, I have owned 3 pairs of ladders in 12 years, each costing around the $40 mark. Had I spent $100 from the outset they’d have lasted until now and saved me $20. It is always important to think of the big picture.
Getting The Job Done Well
Another important lesson was learned after I purchased a jig-saw last year to carry out a project I was working on last year. Instead of going with my gut and buying the more expensive saw, I went for a cheaper one because I wasn’t sure how much use I would get out of it. I quickly learned however that the saw was just poor and in all honesty could only deal with light work rather than what I was working on. It wasn’t broken so I couldn’t take it back, the best I could do was to complain about its poor quality. In the end I decided to have someone else cut the piece to size for me.
Safety
I have to say that there is a very important point to be made here with regards to safety, and the higher quality tool you buy the safer things are going to be for you. In both of the examples which I have given, the outcome of my buying low priced tools and equipment could’ve been very different. Thankfully I didn’t fall from the ladder or lose a limb to the jig-saw, yet things could certainly have been very different for me.
The point of all of this is to say that when it comes to tools and equipment for the home, spend what you have to get the best that you can.
