If you’re considering starting your own plumbing business, there is a lot of demand for it. Most homeowners are looking for reliable plumbers that can do high-quality work in their homes. If you have the right tools for plumbing, you can offer top-tier work to clients and complete work faster. Having the right plumbing tools is essential for your business, so we’ve put together a guide of tools plumbing businesses should have.
Plumbing Tools List Every Plumbing Contractor Needs
Whether you have an established plumbing business or you’re just getting started, our plumber tools list will help ensure you have everything you need. Here’s our plumbing tools list to get it started:
Wrenches
Wrenches are an essential plumbing tool as they can be used in tight spaces for hard-to-reach nuts and turning pipes and fittings with a rounded surface. Wrenches can also be used to tighten and loosen nuts and enhance grip when dealing with possible leaks.
Wrenches are the most common tools used in plumbing, including adjustable wrenches or basin wrenches. Having a good selection of wrenches with you ensures you can complete jobs for customers with the right tools.
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Some of the most important wrenches to prevent leaks and work with metal parts for your plumbing business include:
- Pipe wrenches. Pipe wrenches are typically used on heavy-duty fixtures, including galvanized steel and iron pipes. However, a pipe wrench may leave markings similar to teeth marks on fixtures, so plumbers must be careful when using the tool and avoid using them on shiny fixtures.
- Adjustable pipe wrench
- An adjustable wrench that can be used for multiple applications
- Plumber’s tape thread sealing tape
- Basin wrench
- Torque wrench
- Faucet valve seat wrench
- Sink wrench
- Stubby screwdriver
- A faucet key is an x-shaped tool used to close spigots and open them, among other applications
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Saws and Cutters
A plumber’s job may also involve using tools such as saws and cutting tools on the job site, depending on the scale of the plumbing job. Saws and cutters help cut pipe materials, including plastic and metal.
Having a handy array of heavy-duty tools, such as a tube cutter, ensures you can offer excellent service to customers and cut pipes with ease.
- Hole Saw
- Ratchet cutter
- Tubing cutters
- Plastic pipe cutters for cutting plastic pipes
- Spare blades, which are always good to have just in case you may end up needing them on a job site
- For hacksaw plumbers, a strong, high-quality hacksaw. Frequently, pipes and tubing get rusty, or removing old nuts and bolts becomes difficult. Plumbing tools will be needed to take them apart, which is where a hacksaw comes in. For professional plumbers, a hacksaw is useful for removing hardware such as old pipes, nuts, bolts, and screws. To ensure safety while using a hacksaw, it’s essential to secure the blade tightly and keep extra blades, to be properly prepared
Pliers
Other tools that could be useful for many plumbers include pliers to get a good grip on precise areas for nuts and bolts.
Pliers have a clamp-like mechanism and are helpful for small spaces to get a non-slip grip on fixtures and other parts of pipes and fittings. Some types of pliers you can consider for your plumbing business are:
- Water pump pliers
- Channel locks – these are pliers with adjustable jaws and can be used if you need two pliers that are of the same size
- Slip joint plier
Plungers
Plungers are a specialized tool type for removing blockages, clearing clogs, and cleaning drains. Plungers are an essential hand tool that can prove to be immensely useful for a good plumber, including plungers such as flange plungers.
There are other draining cleaning tools that go along with plungers to ensure you can work with stubborn blockages that may lead to a stuck pipe. Blockages in a pipe or supply line can be challenging, which is why plungers are crucial for a plumbing business.
- Cup plungers
- Flange plunger
- Drain auger or a hand auger
- Drain snake
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More items for a plumbing tools list
- Plumber’s torch to seal copper piping. A plumber’s torch can also be used for sealing in new piping as it’s used to apply intense heat to a pipe for sealing.
- Plumber’s tape, which should ideally be able to withstand high and low temperatures
- Tube benders
- Press fitting systems enable plumbers to undertake press fitting, which is a joining between pipes and fitting using specific tools
- Other safety tools such as heat shields to protect from heat damage and goggles to protect you from elements in the surrounding environment
- Borescopes, which consist of small cameras attached to a flexible cable. This tool enables plumbers to get more coverage on small spaces such as supply lines to make pipe fitting and repair easier
- Drain inspection camera to examine sewer lines for more complex jobs
Final Thoughts
When selecting tools for your plumbing business, it’s essential to consider each tool’s key features and how they will be used. This list aims to bring together tools that are most used by plumbers to ensure you are doing the best work possible for customers.
While it might be tempting to purchase all the tools in one go, consider what kinds of jobs you’re commonly getting and what you need to get through the current workload. That can help you prioritize what types of tools to get and spread out the cost a bit more.
Also, consider the type of pipe you see most frequently when homeowners call you for a job and the tools that will be most useful to work with that kind of pipe. Simple tools like wrenches, pliers, tubing cutters, and more can help you get through most work.
Another point to note is that safety is paramount, so balancing safety tools with plumbing equipment is crucial. In addition, protecting your employees from heat and the elements is vital, which is why purchasing safety equipment should be a top priority.
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