There are some plumbing repair jobs that a handy do-it-yourself kind of person can do without hiring a professional. In the kitchen, you may want to install an under the sink water purifier or replace a garbage disposal. In the bathroom, you may need to clean out a drain, fix a leak, or replace the mechanisms inside the toilet. In the basement, you can insulate pipes yourself. And the ambitious can even learn to replace broken or corroded pipes.

Toolkit Basics

Your plumbing repair toolkit must be stocked with a few basics. First, include a flashlight. Doing work while squeezed under sinks and in basements is made much easier when you can see. Also, have an adjustable wrench. You may choose to get a basin wrench for some work, which is a wrench that is designed to provide leverage in a minimum of space.

And you will also need two varieties of sticky stuff: tape and caulk. If you are using a wrench on any visible part of a fixture, wrap it in tape to keep it from scratching the finish. Also use tape to protect anything that you are going to get near with a scraper, like a sink, if you are scraping away old caulk. Masking tape and painter’s tape are both good. And as for caulk, you will need it to seal any visible work you do, like the seam around kitchen sinks or faucets, with silicon caulk.

For various jobs, you will also need standard household tools, such as screwdrivers, needle-nosed pliers, or a putty knife.

Advanced Toolkit

Some plumbing repair tools are better bought as you need them. But there is nothing intimidating about finding the right tools for each job. If you are serious about your plumbing repair hobby, you will end up with plenty of washers, nuts and bolts, and repair kits. If you tackle the challenge of repairing pipes, and doing the cutting and soldering, your toolkit will eventually include solider, flux, and a torch, a pipe cutter, and cleaning compounds.

The Most Important Thing

For the novice or the hobbyist, the most important thing to have is a good plumbing repair reference. This can be a book, video, or the internet. Today, since so many people are interested in DIY home projects, there is a whole TV channel dedicated to how-to shows. So if you have a problem, before you get worried, try a web search or library search. You will be surprised at the quality of the resources you find.