It doesn’t matter whether you occasionally dabble in DIY at home or you always prefer to tackle an array of jobs yourself.  What does matter is that you have the right tools for each job. After all: you want to complete each task to a high standard and save yourself time, and in turn, money.

The trouble is, many home DIYers end up with either the wrong tools or just ‘get by’ using hand tools or things they’ve fashioned themselves. Whilst power tools can be expensive, if you know where and how to shop you can save £££ on those essential tools.  I use cash back sites like TopCashback to gain returns on all my purchases which saves about £250 per year on products and general everyday shopping needs.

You can also save a little extra by buying kits or multi packs of power tools rather than individual items and you might even consider second hand items.

With all that in mind, check out these must-have power tools. If you’re not convinced that you need any extra power tools in your arsenal, read each section to find out why and how they might benefit you on a home renovation.:

1. Cordless Drill

You’re likely reading this and thinking to yourself “I already have a drill driver, it’s not a branded powerful model but it works.”

The thing is, branded cordless drills offer a plethora of benefits over none branded ones. Whilst a standard cordless drill driver will cost about £60 a well know branded model will only cost you an extra £40 but will often be twice as powerful and will last 10 or more years.  My last Dewalt cordless drill lasted my over 9 years before the battery gave in.  Whilst I could have replaced the battery at that point I decided a new drill driver was on the cards. 

I decided to upgrade and buy a drill driver and impact driver set which saved a reasonable amount of money and provided me with two drivers. 

This halved my work time having to switch between a drill piece and a driver piece. A practical example of where a cordless drill and impact driver comes in handy is when you’re doing some DIY in the garden, such as my DIY shed.

2. Screw Gun

Have you ever tackled a DIY project that requires the use of dozens or even hundreds of screws to hold it all together? If so, you might have thought about using your drill or impact driver with an appropriate bit for fastening screws.

Using drills for fastening screws is suitable but not effective.  For one, some drills don’t have variable speeds. Another downside is they are heavy to hold for long periods. That’s why it makes sense to use a lightweight screw gun.

If you’re putting up plasterboard, for example, the best dry wall screwgun will make light work of the task!

3. Mitre Saw

Whether you look online or head to your nearest DIY store, one thing’s for certain: there are several types of saw that you can purchase. So why should you buy a mitre saw?

If you purchase a mitre saw, you can make a variety of angled cuts through materials such as wood and steel.  They’re ideal for all kinds of jobs from shed building through to creating angled sideboard joints.  You could use a hand saw for these jobs but a mitre saw will do the same job in a fraction of the time.

Just be sure to buy one that can make a suitable length cut.  Some mitre saws will have a fixed saw blade and others will be mounted on a sliding bar allowing for a much longer cut.  Cut distances generally range from about 120mm up to 340mm.  You can now even buy them cordless.

4. Jigsaw

Jigsaws make ideal gifts for people that enjoy solving puzzles.  But this jigsaw is a power tool and makes it easy to create rounded cuts on things like sheets of wood.  Jigsaws are undoubtedly the cheapest of power tools that you can buy – and the easiest to use.

They come in a range of prices but none will break the bank.  Try and avoid the cheapest and aim for some in the mid range to ensure a decent tool that will allow some precise cuts.  You can even find some cordless ones from the same brand so that batteries can be swapped to fit each tool.

If you’ve spent a lot of time manually contouring your cuts, stop wasting your time and buy a jigsaw. It’ll soon become your favourite power tool! 

5. Circular saw

This tool is going to be ideal when the mitre saw and Jigsaw don’t meet the required cutting length or accuracy of a cut.  The circular saw is going to provide you with a good even cut down the length of a piece of wood.  They come corded or cordless and in a number of different variations.  They can save huge amounts of time on sheet material cuts so a must have for any home renovations.

A track saw is a variation of a circular saw but allow for a very accurate straight cut.  They mount onto a metal ruler track for this level of accuracy.

Finally you might want to consider a decent hand saw as these are pretty much always required for jobs that mechanical saws just can’t handle.  They’re also great for making clean accurate cuts through hard and soft wood.

Conclusion

The above list covers some of the basics for home renovations but are probably the tools I use most often on the majority of projects.  If you’re serious about your DIY work and want to increase your skills and experience it’s always best to invest in your power tools.  Buying known brands and spending a little more than you’d hoped will give you a tools that will do the job well and last much longer than any other unknown brand.  So invest wisely early on if a sensible approach.

Try some more of my posts on home renovations and tools:

• Must-have essentials for home woodworking
• Essential woodworking tools for beginners
• How to master safe DIY without DYI (doing yourself in)