There are basically three types of tools:

Regular tools that you should already have

Specialty tools that you buy on a need-to basis

Rental tools that are simply too expensive to buy just for one use, or too big to easily store.

House Tools

Apart from the usual hand tools, I’d make special note of these:

• End-Nippers — These are wire cutters that open on the end, rather than the side.  They’re terrific for yanking things like nails and staples out of walls. There’s something about the jaws opening on the end that gives you a better line of sight on the object, and there’s something about the angle that the hand and wrist like better than the usual side-nippers.

• Vicegrips — Be sure to dig up the original Irwin 7-WR model.  They’re 7 inches long with a built-in wire-cutter.  The 8″ model seems a little clumsy for a normal-sized hand.  If you squeeze it down a few twists at a time, the wire cutter part will cut through a 1/8″ bolt or 4″ nail.  Most of them don’t have the wire-cutter, so look for the “7-WR” specifically, or order it either through the store or online.

• Channel Locks — What a great tool this is, especially for larger nuts and bolts, like with much of plumbing.  While I have a small one and a great big one, I like the 12″ model for most work.

• Microwave Stud Finder — Boy, did this thing pay for itself in about 30 seconds.  And it has a lot more uses than just walls.  I’ve used it on tabletops, hollow-core doors, ceilings, all kinds of things.

I’m also a big fan of pegboard.  In lieu of that, a ‘tool caddy’ works fairly well.  The one place you don’t want to keep tools is in the kitchen drawer.  If you want to keep a spare crescent wrench and screwdriver in the drawer, just for the quick tightening, that’s fine, but give your main tools their own home.

Specialty Tools

These are usually plumbing tools, like the special tool needed to get a Moen faucet valve apart.  Ditto replacing valve seats in a shower or faucet, where you might need a special wrench to get the old valve seats out.  If the valve seats aren’t replaceable, you’ll need a special valve seat grinding tool.  If you want to replace the whole faucet, you’ll probably need a special basin wrench to reach the faucet nuts behind the basin.

If you want to turn off the water to your entire house, the main water valve (the one in the ground) needs a special wrench.  Ditto shutting off the main natural gas valve to the house.  They don’t want just anybody doing this stuff, understandably.

Other specialty tools just drift along as they see fit.  Some things you’ll use once and it’ll rot away in a drawer over the next 20 years; other things you might haul back out once in a while.

Rental Tools

Over my 14 years as a sub-contractor, the one tool I couldn’t qui-i-i-ite bring myself to buy was a Sawzall; the big nasty power blade saw used for cutting through roots, galvanized pipe, etc.  They’re fabulous, but fairly expensive.  So there’s a good example of a rental tool.

Other things aren’t particularly expensive, but they might be big or bulky and hard to store.  A real tall extension ladder is a good example.  You might use it once a year for the Christmas lights, but trying to store the dang thing is a nightmare.  So, easier just to rent.

Proper Use

Using the wrong tool often hurts the tool, itself.  Classic examples would be using screwdrivers for chisels and pry bars and things like ratchets for hammers.  If the screwdriver ends up bent, who ya gonna blame — the screwdriver manufacturer?  It’s simply good sense not to abuse your tools.

Power Tools

For what it’s worth, I’ve always had good luck with Sears Craftsman tools.  Can’t recall one that ever broke.

When it comes to battery-powered tools, I highly recommend Makita.  The problem with most battery-powered drill guns, for example, is that once they go, they really go.  My Makita, however, while it might spin around at 1 RPM — still spins.  And, eventually, it’ll make it through.  When you’re out in the field, 1 RPM compared to 0 RPM is a BIG difference.