Large outdoor garbage can, preferably with wheels. Find out how big a trash can your trash men will take before buying one. I don’t think the trash men here in Pittsburgh will take anything larger than a 35 gallon can.
Drinking glasses or bottled water. You don’t want to get dehydrated while you’re working. If you have contractors or movers come to your house, it’s nice to be able to offer them some bottled water.
Toilet paper and paper towels.
Mop or Swiffer Wet Jet. If you have a mop, you’ll need a bucket it can fit into.
Broom and dustpan.
You will still need a snow shovel, for sidewalks and for getting your car unstuck. Also stuff to sprinkle on driveways and sidewalks for melting ice. You probably won’t be able to get either of those now, but you should definitely get them before the first major snowfall. They tend to sell out during the first major snowfall.
A toilet bowl brush for every bathroom and some cleaner
A first aid kit, just in case
A box where you keep all your user manuals (good for things like lawnmower manuals if you’ve never changed the oil in your lawnmower, vacuum cleaners so you know how to take it apart if something gets caught, etc.)
Extra t-shirts, cleaning rags or old towels to wipe up any spills, scrub the house, mop up overflow from clogged toilets, etc.
A plastic bucket it helpful to have, whether for cleaning, weeding, etc.
I also cannot emphasize enough how helpful it can be to have a cordless drill around.
I think you said you’re not byuing things now, but I just wanted to emphasize the point. We moved from an apartment into our first home, and found that the previous owner had left his entire collection of outdoor tools – shovels, rakes, clippers, even an axe for chopping wood (which he also left). Also cleaning supplies – cleaners, towels, rags, buckets, mops.
In fact, he left too much stuff – we ended up calling his realtor to remove a pickup truck worth of things we couldn’t use. But we really coasted on what he left behind for a long time.
That was actually the first thing I searched for, but I saw that Booker57 recommended it first. Sadly, this and a fire extinguisher are still two things I need to supply Chez Knead with.
Depending on your bathtub style, a spring-loaded shower curtain rod and a curtain and hangers for it. While you -can- use it without for a few days, its a huge hassle and may damage your flooring.
This is an estate sale, so there’s nothing left behind (except for a nice wardrobe they couldn’t get rid of).
power screwdriver. I have to think there’s a power screwdriver/cordless drill deal out there somewhere. Good idea. Paintbrushes and rollers. Yeah - I’ve painted with bad rollers, and it’s a nightmare.
**toilet paper. ** Speaking from experience, KtK? Ladders. That’s a good one, Mahna Mahna - I think I’m going to keep an eye out for something similar. Shovels. I have a snow shovel, just need a regular spade now. Plumber. Yeah - I think I’ll get ahead of the curve on this one.
**Flashlights. ** Check. I have a crank-batteryless one, an LED, and an LED headlamp. If you don’t have a headlamp, get one - I love it. Carbon Monoxide Detector. Good one. Space Heater. Another good one. The house has a built-on spare bedroom, that the inspector said has no insulation under the crawl space, and it’ll probably get a little cold over the winter. It’s going to be a den, so that’s not a huge deal, but a space heater will be good backup.
**Large outdoor garbage can. ** That’s provided for with city garbage.
**Mop or Swiffer Wet Jet. **Ah - I think I threw that away on my last move. Broom and dustpan. Check. Plunger. Check. (Trust me - check!) toilet bowl brush. Check. first aid kit. Great idea.
**User manual box. ** Another good one. I usually use a drawer, but I think storage is at a premium at the moment. plastic bucket. Check, but I need a few more.
**Shower curtain and rod. **Check. (Curtain at least - I think the tub has a rod ATM.)
A 4’ level. If you are going to decorating, putting up wallpaper, and hanging stuff on the walls you’ll want a level and since a good straight edge comes in handy, it might as well be useful as a level as well. Those little torpedo levels and other specialty levels are useless. The laser things are pretty cool but require too much fiddling around.
Ugh. I drove by last week, and was horrified to find out that trash is picked up at the street - NOT in the alley. That makes zero sense to me, but what can I do? (Well, I suppose I could go downstairs and complain to Public Works…)
When we bought our first house, things kind of fell into 3 catagories:
Things you need to have around incase of an emergancy. That would be things like buckets, plungers, smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, snow shovels. Things you can’t take the time to buy, if the need comes up.
Things you WILL need, but it won’t be an emergancy. Things like cordless drills, tape measures, ladders, rakes, hammers, garden hoses, extention cords. If you don’t have it, you will be able to drive to the store when the need comes up.
Things that you want, but can live without if needed.
Over the next couple of months, you are going to get to know your local hardware store very very well. I’d suggest, on top of buying stuff online, finding the neighborhood store (not a big box store). These are the folks where you will walk in with waving part of your plumbing and saying “I need this to hook up to that” and they will help you.
Also, does your house have a fireplace? We always have a chimney sweep come out and inspect/clean.
As for fire extinguishers, I suggest several. One for the furnace room, one for the kitchen, one near any fire places, possibly one in the garage.
Sadly, this and a fire extinguisher are still two things I need to supply Chez Knead with.