Getting Serious

Bolster Chisel

A wide-bladed steel chisel for cutting bricks and chopping out plaster, this can also be used as a lever for lifting floorboards. It is usually driven with a club hammer, which has a stubby wooden handle and a heavy, squared-off head.

Cartridge Gun

Forces fillers, mastics, and adhesive out of a tubular cartridge. Bought with the cartridge it's designed to fit.

Filling Knife

A flexible-bladed tool used to press in and smooth filler when repairing damage to wood and plaster surfaces. Several widths are available - the most useful are 25 mm (1 in) and 75 mm (3 in) wide.

Nail Punch

A tapered steel rod about 10 cm (4 in) long, which you locate over the head of a nail and strike with a hammer. This punches the nail head below the wood surface so it can be hidden with wood filler.

Power Sander

Sanding surfaces by hand is hard, time-consuming work, and a power sander will speed things up enormously. Several types are available. One of the most useful all-round performers is the eccentric or random-orbital sander, which moves circular sanding discs in a scrubbing action. They are attached to the sander's baseplate with a Velcro-type fastening. Holes in the discs align with holes in the baseplate so the tool can extract the sanding dust into a dust bag or, via a hose attachment, to a vacuum cleaner.

Surform Rasps, Files, and Planes

Shaping tools for wood that have toothed and pierced cutting surfaces, like kitchen graters. They cut wood and clear the shavings very efficiently. The planer file surform is the most versatile, doubling up as a wood plane and a shaping file. Files and rasps are used to shape rough edges, particularly in small areas. A plane smooths broad surfaces of wood.