What tools do I actually need for basic DIY?
A realistic starter tool list for household jobs, what's worth spending on, and what you can buy later or hire.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 20 min
- Read
- 2 min
Short answer
A cordless drill/driver, a bit set, a decent screwdriver set, a claw hammer, an adjustable spanner, a spirit level, a tape measure, a utility knife, pliers and a cable detector will handle the large majority of household jobs. Spend on the drill and the level; economise on almost everything else.
Tool lists tend to be aspirational. This one is what genuinely gets used repairing, hanging, assembling and maintaining an ordinary home — with an honest note on where cheap tools are false economy and where they're perfectly fine.
Step by step
- Start with a cordless drill/driver with two batteries.The single most-used tool. Two batteries matters more than extra power for household work.
- Add a mixed bit set: masonry, wood, HSS, plus screwdriver bits.Buy a reasonable set rather than the cheapest — blunt bits make every job worse.
- Get a cable and pipe detector before you drill into anything.This is a safety tool, not a convenience. It's the cheapest item on the list that can prevent a fatality.
- Add a claw hammer, an adjustable spanner, pliers and a utility knife.Cover the four jobs a drill can't: hitting, gripping, turning and cutting.
- Buy a proper spirit level, at least 600mm.Cheap levels are often not accurate. Check one against itself by rotating it 180° — the bubble should read the same.
- Add a 5m tape measure, a pencil, and a set of screwdrivers.Screwdrivers still beat a drill for delicate or awkward work.
- Hire rather than buy anything you'll use once — SDS drills, floor sanders, tile cutters, wallpaper steamers.Hire is far cheaper than owning a tool used twice a decade, and you get a better tool.
Tips
- Buy into one battery platform if you expand later — batteries are the expensive part, and they're not interchangeable between brands.
- A cheap spirit level, a cheap tape and a cheap detector are all false economies, because being wrong costs more than the tool.
- Cheap hammers, pliers and screwdriver sets are usually fine for domestic use.
- Store everything in one place. The single biggest barrier to doing a small job is not being able to find the tools.
Common mistakes
- Buying a huge tool set — Mostly filler you'll never use, and the quality of the pieces you do need is usually poor.
- Skipping the cable detector — It's the one tool on this list whose absence can be fatal.
- Buying a specialist tool for a one-off job — Hire is cheaper and gets you a better machine.
Questions people ask
Do I need a hammer drill?
Most cordless combi drills include hammer action, which handles brick and block fine. You only need an SDS drill for concrete, engineering brick or heavy work — and that's a hire item for most households.
Corded or cordless?
Cordless for almost all household work. Corded still wins on sustained heavy tasks, but the convenience of cordless means the tool actually gets used.