What Tools Actually Save You Time Around a Constant Spring Home

The tools that save you time are the ones that stop you doing a job twice or going back to the shop halfway through. For most homes that means matched drill bits and wall plugs, a decent tape and level, a roller on a pole, and a wheelbarrow if you keep a yard.

Key Takeaways

• Masonry bits matched to your wall plugs save more time on a block wall than a more expensive drill does.
• A paint roller on an extension pole lets you do a whole wall without moving a ladder every few minutes.
• A gadget that does one job you do once a year costs you storage space and saves you nothing.
• Malcolm's Hardware closes at 1:00 PM on Saturday and stays shut on Sunday, so a weekend job needs its materials bought by Saturday lunchtime.
• Malcolm's delivers across Kingston and St. Andrew, Constant Spring included, with delivery quoted by order size and location.

Which tools save the most time?

The ones that fit the job you keep repeating. Time goes on three things around a house: redoing work that went wrong, hunting for the thing you need, and the extra trip to buy what you forgot. A tool that cuts one of those earns its place. A tool that doesn't is clutter.

Find the line that sounds like you and start there.

What saves time on wall jobs?

The right bit, more than the drill. A wood bit on concrete block goes blunt fast, and a hole a size too big leaves the plug spinning. Both mean drilling again somewhere else and filling the first hole.

Take a wall plug with you when you buy masonry bits so the two match. Then keep a small box of the plug and screw sizes you use most, so a curtain rod on a Sunday afternoon doesn't stop because the drawer is empty. Our fasteners and fixings department is where those live.

A pencil and a spirit level save the other half of the time. Mark both holes, check the line, then drill. A shelf drilled by eye usually gets drilled twice.

What saves time when you paint?

An extension pole on the roller, then the prep kit. With a pole you can roll most of a wall from the floor and only climb for the cutting-in along the ceiling.

The prep kit is drop cloths, painter's tape, sandpaper and a brush that doesn't shed. It feels slower to tape and cover first. It isn't: cleaning paint off a tiled floor or a window frame takes far longer than the tape did. Buy enough paint for the whole room in one go, too. Running out halfway is an easy way for a one-day job to turn into two.

Malcolm's paint and finishes department lists Sherwin Williams, Crown and Berger. For outside walls, our guide to choosing exterior paint for a Kingston home covers the paint itself.

What saves time in the yard?

A wheelbarrow, if you move soil, cuttings, blocks or sand. Carrying them by the bucket is where a yard afternoon goes.

After that, a hose long enough to reach the far corner without moving the tap connection, and garden tools you keep sharp. A blunt blade makes every cut take two strokes, and a file costs less than the time it saves in a season.

What you can skip is the gadget aisle. A tool that only does one small job once a year mostly takes up space. The garden and building department is the place to start for the basics.

What about small plumbing fixes?

An adjustable wrench and a roll of thread seal tape handle a lot of small jobs, like a dripping connection under a sink. Add a bucket and an old towel and you have the kit most people end up borrowing.

The bigger time saver is knowing when to stop. If a job means cutting into a supply line or anything you're unsure of, call a plumber before you start rather than after. Our guide to DIY plumbing and when to call a pro goes through where that line sits, and the plumbing supplies department covers the fittings.

Which time-saving tools don't save time?

Anything sold as doing everything. A multi-tool that's a saw, a file and a screwdriver at once tends to do each job worse than the plain tool, so you finish slower.

The cheapest version of a tool you use every week. A tape that kinks or a bit that dulls on the first wall costs you the job and a trip back. Spend on the tools you use often and save on the ones you use rarely.

And tools you can't find. One box or one shelf where everything goes back saves more time than any new purchase, because ten minutes looking for the level is ten minutes not using it.

How do I get a weekend job done in Constant Spring?

Shop on Friday or early Saturday, with a written list. Constant Spring is a residential neighbourhood in the north of Kingston, in St. Andrew, according to Wikipedia's Constant Spring entry, so a forgotten item usually means a drive back across town rather than a walk to the corner.

Malcolm's at 44-46 Slipe Road, Cross Roads is open Saturday from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM and closed on Sunday. A job you start on Saturday afternoon has to be fully stocked before lunch, or it waits until Monday. Write the list from the job, not from memory: what the wall is made of, what size the old fitting is, and how much area you're painting.

Two store services save the trip itself. You can call ahead and have an order ready to collect, and Malcolm's delivers hardware and building materials across Kingston and St. Andrew, quoted by order size and location. Our Constant Spring delivery page has the details, and the Cross Roads hardware guide covers what to put on the list.

Frequently Asked Questions