PLEASE can someone tell me what tools/drill to get to assemble furniture? Actually in tears

[frall]

I’m a newly single parent so a bit delicate at the moment. I need to assemble a new bed for my daughter and I don’t know where to start. I’m not an idiot (generally!) but this stuff flaws me. I have no tools at all. How do you know what sort of drill to get? Does one drill do all sorts of furniture sizes? Where do you even get one from? Is an electric one best? Feel very overwhelmed

Great list, I would also add a pencil to mark things where you want to make holes , drill holes, or cut.

Get a ratchet screwdriver with interchangeable Phillips and flathead bits just to make your life easier going forward.

If you're putting flatpack/ IKEA furniture together, it should come with an Allen wrench/ hex key. Keep this as they're handy for other things too.

A camera phone to take a photo of the thing you want to assemble?
An internet connection to post some info on what it is that you are trying to assemble?
So as not to waste your time and money buying hundreds of tools?

The best things I bought was a cordless drill & drill bit set with all screwdriver bits, a hammer & a set of Allen keys. I've put together loads of flatpack with no previous experience. Take your time, when you open the pack lay out all the pieces, sort screws & cam fastenings into groups of same size, read the instructions, each section of the booklet get the pieces it says & the right number of screws & cams, if you have someone to help hold things while you fasten them it is good but otherwise sit on the floor to do it.

Read the instructions (twice) - they will tell you what tools you need. Unlikely to be more than an Allen key and maybe a screwdriver. Our bed didn’t need any - it just slots together.
Identify all the bits before you start. Make sure that everything is straight when you put it together. Have a break if you get frustrated.
Youtube is excellent for giving you an idea of how things work, there are videos about everything.

It is a hijack, @Sam2000 - sorry, OP, but I happened to be looking at this the other day. You could attach one of these to the door. Make sure your door has strong hinges, the books will add weight.
https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/baggebo-bookcase-white-20436713/

I got a drill because I'm disabled and have poor grip. I reasoned that a drill is not much more expensive than an electric screwdriver, but I can use it for more things. Most drills, if they come with any drill bits, don't come with screwdriver heads. You have to buy them separately but any brand will work. Most pound shops or supermarkets sell them. The screwdriver heads go into the drill the same way as a drill bit. You can then put in screws in seconds with no pain. The screwdriver parts I bought for my drill are magnetic so if you have no hands free, it holds the screw in place so you don't drop it. Really handy. You can also put allen key heads in the drill and use them the same way. The only thing I would say if using a drill for screws is go slowly and don't overtighten them.

It does make me cringe when I read threads like this.it is no wonder that men think women are stupid and overemotional!

B&Q do a basic toolkit for £25. It’s a 41 piece kit in a carry case. It includes Allen keys, hammer and a screwdriver set. The screws etc should be in the kit you buy.

(And she’s not even been back to clarify anything despite being ‘in tears’.)

People don’t post for your entertainment.
Maybe OP found the answer she needed or maybe her house burned down. Who knows.

You don't need a drill for furniture. An electic screwdriver speeds things up but it's fine without, I don't have one.

A cross-head scredriver does most things. You might need a few other types of screwdriver depending on the furniture. You might need a set of allen keys, but often an allen key is included if you buy the item new.

My entertainment? Here is what I posted:-

“Have you bought the bed? Or know which one you’re getting? Link it here and we can talk you through what you need.

I will say flatpack stuff is very easy, I’ve done all sorts.”

OP has had so much advice and suggestions but unless we have more details it might not be relevant. If she gets the same bed I have she doesn’t need anything. If she gets the bed I had 15 years ago she needs a screwdriver and a pile of books. It appears that if she gets the bed other people have she might need a drill or electric screwdriver or different sizes of this or that. No one knows because OP has not told us.

Every single post here has been full of good advice, most of which will probably not be relevant to the actual bed OP will get. But we will not know that as she has not told us.

I sincerely hope her house has not burned down as you suggest. It is an extremely rare event and the odds are against that having happened to her.

Thank you for all the lovely messages on here! I think I am going to try and do this more often now and keep all these messages to read back on!

Can anyone help with putting a picture up? Do you literally just hammer a nail into the wall and hope for the best? Again how do you know what size nail?!

If it’s not mega heavy, I would use command brands. They are brilliant for hanging things on the wall and you really can’t get it wrong, no tools required

I'm just blatantly place marking for tool recommendations - I did buy myself one of the little IKEA sets of everything and DH has "borrowed" and lost half the screwdriver bits, refuses to drill holes into the wall to put anything up as he "doesn't know which drill bit to do and my drill won't do it" and is generally driving me mad - so I'm going to start building up my own blooming set of tools as he's like a tool hoarding goblin who loses all the bits of his.

So lots of recommendations for screwdrivers - after recs for a basic drill and drill bit set that would be up to snuff to put up the odd shelf?

If someone's covered this already I apologise.
Most screws you'll come across will be pozidrive not philips
there is a difference, pozidrive have a cross etched on the head of the screw,
philips are plain. If you get individual bits they will have the size etched on the shank PH 1 etc for philips and PZ 1 etc for pozidrive.
Most screws you are likely to encounter will need a PZ 2 driver.
see image for clarity. Philips on the left Pozidrive on the right.

A picture frame with a string or wire on the back can be put up with either a picture hook or a picture nail. A packet of picture hooks from B&Q (or Amazon) will come with the hooks and nails.

A frame with a metal hanging bracket on the back just needs a picture nail. You can buy packets of picture nails on their own without the picture hooks.

It is as simple as banging a nail into the wall. But if you're trying to align more than one picture frame there is a little more to it in terms of measuring where the nail goes.

Before you go banging nails in, just stop and look at the wall. Is there a lightswitch or socket above or below where you want the nail to go? If so, move to one side. Wires in walls mostly run vertically but could go up or down from where the socket/switch is. Occasionally they go horizontally where there are sockets/switches close together. You can buy a battery powered tester that will give a Bleep! when you hold it against a wall where there's a wire or pipe running.

I theory it is as simple as hammering in a nail for a picture frame. But the risk of blindly doing this is to hit a cable or pipe.

The simplest and cleaner method is to use stick on hooks, or stick on Velcro - provided the frame isn’t very heavy

If an A4/A3 flat frame then a neat method is these types of stick on pads:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BVTBWKLM/ref=sspa_mw_detail_0?ie=UTF8&psc=1&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9kZXRhaWwp13NParams

If you do need a hook then these fit the picture frames with a metal back to be hooked on:

www.amazon.co.uk/Command-Sawtooth-Picture-3-Hangers-17042-ES/dp/B001CN6X6O/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?adgrpid=112752433399&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.haOC3n4231VvD4i9JECUBaR6WhaFAAHwrtBbQ_hO-RedVSeiMLcXFYHMlR_EjcLJBM7zTwcYw0IkLYCzo5Gp4cDytaH4kY94w7T24jVX4tQrDOVY0RYz2mJGmG_P0e0QImbJEFWbxUcQMmhXRzvmHec9uEzi0yPfzSJ49JcnkmGo07C95F4mjVPDJtVO8q92Lnsy6LzPuz_9NnTO07szfA.7Wy7dT3KQlVbgSpeBE59N3pnSfck67gmxcO9VP1Klmo&dib_tag=se&hvadid=593773002608&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=1007044&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=13745316767443860084&hvtargid=kwd-443199419229&hydadcr=2506_2293302&keywords=command+hook+for+picture+frame&qid=1719917324&sr=8-3

Various other styles of hook are also available as stick on pads.

If you do need something more substantial then the better option to a nail is this style of nail in hook. They have 4 smaller pin nails which go in ‘neatly’ flat against the wall and are better than banging in one larger nail at an angle which could pull away the wall over time

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Picture-Hooks-White-Non-Trace-Hanger/dp/B07PX1D9ZS/ref=sxin_21_pa_sp_phone_search_thematic_sspa?adgrpid=130243385278&content-id=amzn1.sym.79f15352-1a78-44af-b6b7-c6d7ff5dbe38%3Aamzn1.sym.79f15352-1a78-44af-b6b7-c6d7ff5dbe38&cv_ct_cx=picture+hook+with+nail&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.LQwx0GdKm7npt7DQG3DYyz0AaaUbPK7wiTGKpArcdTzNmZ0FpgffXza6KrC12mYvpU_r_XbSsligCCHkxyVqZw.DBpcMGB82FNFBWIbbqnvKWFA5vhY5rkgDUl0g4iw3-4&dib_tag=se&hvadid=593703989257&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=1007044&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=b&hvrand=1638601348112872533&hvtargid=kwd-327423609598&hydadcr=2535_2293293&keywords=picture+hook+with+nail&pd_rd_i=B07PX1D9ZS&pd_rd_r=ad2614e4-bcc1-47f0-91b9-52b75eb05b2a&pd_rd_w=XPkMO&pd_rd_wg=r627b&pf_rd_p=79f15352-1a78-44af-b6b7-c6d7ff5dbe38&pf_rd_r=QM5W247Z728E2ECNW1EP&qid=1719917895&sbo=RZvfv%2F%2FHxDF%2BO5021pAnSA%3D%3D&sr=1-1-ad3222ed-9545-4dc8-8dd8-6b2cb5278509-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfdGhlbWF0aWM&psc=1

Classic nail and hooks are here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/130PCS-Picture-Hooks-Hanging-Hangers/dp/B0CH3GKMZC/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?adgrpid=130243385278&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.cYzu8LPW3N5ruMYh_a3DXhyA8xy8wOenF9CV4YeXdAmkWy080kIT5wjuxdHa6IEIxhAC_PaWcKQcyzG1lvpzTquUAA2zw2UuNreOC7a21zJewL235IJivaQAA4x8amFUneAGm4szFXtFS8OrL6xY1IikHcO-erbVGcf0VYl86SsXAtjC75fP-wGL4BiAcY6AiPc_PK-s9PzPK7bmGx3pxw.ijwvtNJPiISAQe07HbJsaB2yxuHAEARpO5vyqXiGNk8&dib_tag=se&hvadid=593703989257&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=1007044&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=b&hvrand=1638601348112872533&hvtargid=kwd-327423609598&hydadcr=2535_2293293&keywords=picture+hook+with+nail&qid=1719917895&sr=8-3

You can usually tell if there is likely to be a pipe or cable by looking around the area around that wall.
Is there a light switch, socket etc above or below?
Is there something related to the heating or water above or below? (Radiators, sinks, bathroom above etc)

But to be sure a detector such as this will warn you if there is potential trouble from hammering in nails:
(Test it out by waving around where you expect to find cables so that you know how sensitive it could be)

www.amazon.co.uk/FOLAI-Stud-Finder-Wall-Scanner/dp/B0CXXVD6JW/ref=mp_s_a_1_15?crid=222TGHD9HE4H8&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.V87kfvMIJyhfvsdb_F4cu5FbCX4QmFYT6LSk_0C-lT6WN454YN2VyL0L_YMfAOsTUz9S93Yk1V8vwpY5VwgP5K4UUPhZc3aN_nLcrUsltwUC6ti6ZPKwchoQ1rYaZ-N6RKxWY_FqSELidmJb-KM20jSv047mwfSGvJryTXN8XdyA5bvpsPHhJq_2eV36NqV8sagGht-H4VhzrrSxhThzSg.oHpSjbCB96TtSZ-2CKjgQ6NPCoXFt5PRfru_FB0XS5g&dib_tag=se&keywords=cable+detector+for+walls&qid=1719918096&sprefix=cable+de%2Caps%2C105&sr=8-15

For those above I’d recommend stick on hooks first.
Then if you do think you need a nail then consider the type of wall - could it be solid masonry, a panel etc ?
The nail/hook world has recommendations for different types of wall

When hammering pretty much any hammer will do, but try for something that feels comfortable in your hand, and don’t smash it as hard as possible, just a few taps.
Avoid hammering fingsers, and check out YouTube for handy picture hanging tips, such as holding the hook that then in turn holds the nail

Remember that even men can do DIY, it’s easy when you know how - and if you don’t then just look it up on YouTube & ask people

OP, even if you don't use it for this particular job, you will never ever regret buying a decent ratchet screwdriver and a basic set of bits. They are not expensive (think we paid about a tenner for our Stanley one about 20 years ago) but they are useful for infinite jobs (e.g. think of how many toys have battery packs accessed by screws) and the ratchet makes it so much quicker and easier on your hand/wrist.

The best thing about the Internet is being able to learn how to do new things. A lot of DIY isn't that difficult.

Hanging pictures isn't to difficult, if your using nails though be careful of electrical cables. Look out for sockets and never hang above them as cables normally run straight up. But having something like this is handy as it helps you trace the cables in the walls.

https://www.diy.com/departments/sealey-ak2018-3-in-1-metal-voltage-and-stud-detector-with-9v-battery/5024209579964_BQ.prd

My advice is not to use an electric screwdriver on flat packs because it’s easy to over tighten screws and unscrewing screws because you’ve attached things the wrong way or in the wrong sequence is pain when they are tight.