12 Best Plumbing Tools: A List Of Must-to-Have Tools For Plumbers

If you are a seasonal plumber or plumbing contractor, keeping tabs on the latest tools and equipment is necessary to provide more effective and seamless work. Be it day-to-day plumbing work or a large commercial project, the right tools used with the right knowledge can offer an effective solution. 

Usually, the plumbing business is more about the methods and know-how of the professionals. However, plumbing tasks cannot be completed without the correct tools, which makes them an integral part of any plumber’s life. 

This post is about a complete list of some of the best plumbing tools that every plumber must have. We have handpicked the top 12 plumbing tools that help the professionals perform their jobs in a perfect manner.

12 Must-to-Have Plumbing Tools For Professional Plumbers

1. Adjustable Pipe Wrench

It is one of the common tools of plumbers. To tighten and lose hexagonal nuts and work with pipes, plumbers keep different sizes of wrenches. An adjustable pipe wrench helps to have the right leverage and grip to work with rounded pipes and hard material components. A good quality adjustable wrench can make the plumbing work flexible and serve as a multipurpose tool.

2. Internal Wrench

This is a beautiful tool for every complex and messy fitting surrounded by a new clean area. To remove any broken internal part, you can use this tool which will smoothly pull that part out with rotation and without damaging the good external part. An internal wrench is part of pipe wrenches, and most plumbers keep it in their wrench collection for different plumbing tasks.

3. Plungers

Plungers are the most commonly used tool for pluming use. For daily household use and industrial use, plungers help plumbing professionals to remove the clogging. Sometimes, a very troublesome task can be resolved with a simple tool like a plunger. Commonly there are two types of plungers in the market.

• Cup Plunger:

  The Cup plunger is also known as a sink and tub plunger. It can be seen in almost every household, helping clear clogged sinks, tubs, and showers. It has a rubber-made cup with a wooden handle, making it very basic and durable for daily use. That’s why it is something all plumbers should have.

• Flange Plunger:

  Often known as a toilet plunger, the flange plunger has a unique shape that is specially designed for clogged toilets. They are also part of the household market and industrial usage as well. The flange plunger has an extended rubber flap right below the cup surface, which is useful for clogged toilet pipeline issues. Any plumbing professional must have this type of plunger as well to complete a solid toolkit.

4. Plumber’s Tape

Plumber’s tape is one of the essentials for a plumbing toolkit. It is also known as thread seal tape, Teflon tape, thread sealing tape, and PTFE tape. It is a widely available and affordable tool that helps plumbers to seal, prevent, and patch possible leaks at the pipe joints. 

This is a thin white tape that plumbers wrap around the threads on the pipes and fittings before twisting them and fixing them. You get a temperature-resistant silky-textured tape that never dries out and provides a little bit of lubrication to the joints to prevent leaks. So, overall it’s a simple but very much useful tool that comes in handy whenever there is a need for extra care for leaks in plumbing work.

5. Hand Auger

A hand auger is a rescue tool when plungers can’t help with clogging. Its been in the industry for a long time, and nowadays, many technologically advanced augers are available with different functionalities. 

Basically, it is a circular manual tool that allows plumbers to draw the cable deep down and resolve the clogging problem with a hand crack. Moreover, this tool is not suitable for toilet clogs, which should all the plumbers know.

6. Pipe and Tube Cutters

Plumbing works will always require cutting, resizing, and remolding of pipes and tubes. It is a basic task in almost every project, and that’s why having an excellent pipe cutter is very important to cut pipes smoothly and with minimal effort.

The latest mechanical tube cutters will do better than Hackshaw by having an easy mechanism. Pipes of copper, plastic, brass or any material can have a smooth edge with tube cutters and give a seamless finishing to your work.

7. Faucet keys

It is a simple four-way or X-shaped cross key that helps plumbers open and close spigots and sillcocks. The faucet key is a fundamental but highly valuable tool for plumbing workers. This might come in various metal options and can last for a long time.

So, the plumbing tools list is incomplete without a faucet key, as they have been an integral part of the plumbing industry for decades.

8. Snake Machine

The snake machine is also a plumber’s snake and drain snake. It is a higher-level solution for clogged drains when hand augers are unable to help further. Moreover, it is a long motorized version of a hand auger that goes deep down and clears off the clogs. 

A snake machine is an electric tool that comes with a long wire to clean the pipes and drains deeply. A snake machine is a must-have tool for tough drainage issues to make the task quick and effective. 

9. Plumber’s Flashlight

Plumbing projects might not always be in daylight and fully bright locations. To work comfortably in confined spaces, it’s important to carry a flashlight. Easy to carry and long-lasting flashlights can provide the necessary vision in dark and enclosed places to fix dense plumbing works or even underground plumbing networks.

10. Pipe Inspection Camera

This exclusive tool is not necessary for everyday use, and not every plumber will have one. However, a pipe inspection camera is a fantastic tool that enables you to inspect hard-to-reach places and hidden sensitive parts of the plumbing system. 

It gives you visuals of inner surfaces and clogged pipes that you don’t want to touch without knowing things thoroughly. So, it’s a great investment for large, complicated plumbing projects which are sensitive to invasive procedures.

11. Cordless Drill

A cordless drill is probably every plumber’s favorite tool for natural causes. With a cordless drill, you don’t have to worry about the long wire and electric supply on the site. It is a battery-operated tool, and that’s why you can just keep extra batteries to secure your energy supply for the drilling work. This tool is a more effortless and convenient drilling solution as compared to the conventional one.

12. Plumbing Software

Good plumbing software will manage various business operations on a digital platform to make your business more streamlined. Every plumbing business owner should get advanced software for invoices, estimations, client communications, online promotions, reviews, and directory organization. Managing business and backend activities according to the latest facilities is equally important as efficiently performing plumbing duties.

So, these are some of the plumbing tools that plumbers should include in their list. Still, have some questions? Don’t worry; we have answered some of the commonly asked questions.

Conclusion

Most tools fall under three categories: hand tools, specialty tools, and business tools. A home plumber’s toolkit might have useful tools in a combination of hand tools and power and specialty tools. On the other hand, an industrial-level plumber might have all three kinds of tools for his daily work. 

These 12 plumbing tools are useful for all professional plumbers. Each tool has different features and comes in a different price range. So if you are wondering which are the best plumbing tools to have for any small residential or large project, then now you have the list. 

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