What Goes into a Basurto Painting Toolbelt?

Here’s what you see in the video:

• Belt with Pouch – Our belts are fairly simple, with a snap-on buckle and a single pouch. Nico has researched many different belts– “I went through 10 different belt pouches!”– and finally settled on the one Basurto Painting uses.
  
  
• Putty Knife – The main purpose of a putty knife is to apply putty to cover up nail holes. If you want to quickly judge how good of a preparer your painter is, take a quick look at his putty knife. This tool is the jack of all trades! It removes over spray, scrapes old paint, cleans spills, opens a paint can, cleans brushes, cleans rollers, applies spackling to holes, patches walls, and repair wood! (You know those times when you forget to pack your spoon? The putty knife also makes a great emergency spoon!)
  
  
• Multi-Bit Screwdriver – This screwdriver is shockproof (up to 2000 watts). It contains 4 of the most commonly used size bits and it’s very compact.
  
  
• “Duster” Brush –  Removing dust from the surface is crucial for a great paint job. This brush is chinex material meaning that it will not curl up like polyester material does with abrasion. Chinex material is easy to clean and will last more than 10x longer when used as a duster. Crucial, being that whenever we’re on a ladder, we’re sure to be somewhere that dust, cobwebs and bug droppings fester.
  
  
• Quick-Snap Breakaway Blade – A thin utility knife with a long replacement blade inside, so that we can replace it quickly if it breaks against something (sort of like a mechanical pencil). Each blade has 9 super sharp blades on the same strip. When it gets dull, you just break it away and a brand new super sharp blade is available!
  
  
• Pencil – To quickly label items that are being painted over, as a pencil marking will not bleed through paint like a pen or permanent marker will. It’s important to have a pencil on your pouch for taking notes and to mark things without leaving a permanent flaw.
  
  
• Sharpie – another great labeling tool for those occasions that you need a more permanent and visible marking, main purpose label paint cans at as to where each color and product goes (kitchen cabinets, interior trim, kids bedroom walls, ect) this makes the homeowners life so much easier when they need to touch up areas and ours as well when called back for more work. We do this at the end of every job! These wide markers are good for writing on plastic or paint tins.
  
  
• Nail Setter – Finish carpenters are not perfect, and more often than not, they will leave nail heads sticking out. This hammerless spring powered tool is light and compact. A painter doesn’t need to have a long hammer handle dangling and hitting door openings all day long.
  
  
• Measuring Tape – We often paint homes where doors have been removed either by other trades or homeowners for various reasons. Having a measuring tape helps us identify where they go, or when doing a drywall patch, installing towel bars and lending it to homeowners for various purposes.  It’s crucial for our estimates and for our work, we need to know the exact dimensions of everything we paint to know the right amount of paint to bring.
  
  
• Pen – Sometimes it’s great to have something that does leave a permanent mark around. We keep a pen on hand for notes, signing, and making lines we can see better. When prepping areas to paint, we need to remove hardware and doors. Labeling items makes our lives so much easier when reassembling items.
  
  
• Mini-Flathead Screwdriver – With the smallest screws, you sometimes need a very small screwdriver to open or shut something. This tiny screwdriver is there just in case! It’s main use is for removing or installing items such as bathroom towel bars, towel rings and toilet paper holders for a thorough paint job.
  
  
• Pilot-Drive Drillbit – Sometimes door hinge screws become loose with use and we get asked to either adjust the screw position or replace the entire hinge with a new one. The pilot-drive drill bit is the perfect tool for that, since we have already taken the hinge off to paint we can easily install a new one back on.
  
  
• Flashlight – sometimes we work in dark corners or places that natural or electric light just can’t reach. Our flashlight can help us peer in. We like to do our own inspection of our work before delivering it to the homeowner. (We call it our pre-delivery inspection).
  
  
• Can Opener – Having a can opener on your belt is very useful for getting paint cans open quickly (you don’t really need a large flathead screwdriver for that). Having this tool will save many trips to the tools box (not to mention knowing where it’s at). It’s the safest and most efficient way of opening paint cans.
  
  
• Heavy-Duty Scissors – These are electrician’s scissors, capable of cutting and stripping wires, but are also very sharp, heavy duty, compact and long lasting. We use them for cutting old telephone wires, old coaxial cables etc as well as tape and plastic.
  
  
• Replacement Blades for the Quick-Snap Breakaway Blade – Having these on hand can keep a painter working instead of returning to the supply box.
  
  
• Small Drill Bit – Used as screw pilot hole, allowing for easier screw and hardware mounting good for starting screw holes needed for repair work or special installations and fixes.