Young House Love

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The 5 Best Power Tools For Home DIY Projects

You guys often ask about our must have tools for DIY projects, and the truth is that it still catches me off guard that I’m The Guy People Ask About Tools. Growing up I remember taking trips to Hechinger (anyone remember those?) thinking “who would ever willingly go to a home improvement store?!?” And when my dad gifted me a set of screwdrivers in high school I wondered what the heck I’d use them for. But here I am today – 32 and the proud owner of more tools than I can count (and still fewer than I’d like) – including some of those same screwdrivers from my dad so many years ago.

must have tools for DIY manual screwdrivers

Home ownership is what flipped the switch for me. I quickly witnessed how the right tools could make a project go smoother, faster , or just plain better overall. But even still, I’ve been a slow adopter tool-wise. Well, mostly power-tool-wise. Tim Taylor’s mantra was more power *grunt grunt grunt* but mine is probably closer to sufficient power *pretty please*. I still have a healthy fear of tools that could shock me, slice me open, blow me to bits, or poke me full of holes, so in many cases I play it safe and opt for more elbow grease. But my confidence with and reliance on power tools has grown bit by bit over recent years as I’ve tried new ones and realized I can use them successfully… and without maiming myself! And Sherry’s right there next to me grinning and firing them up.

In fact, certain must have power tools have been game changers for us. Some were particularly confidence boosting. Some were the gateway drug (or saw). And most are now things that we can’t do without. So without further ado, I present to you: 5 Power Tools That Changed How We DIY.

5 must have power tools that changed how we DIY graphic

#1 – Power drill / driver – I’ll start slow here, because a $40 cordless drill barely registers on the power tool spectrum. But my little 12v battery-operated drill/driver that I bought nearly a decade ago is still one of my best tool purchases. Just putting a little power behind the otherwise tedious task of screwing things together or drilling simple holes (like for picture hanging anchors) has made small DIY tasks much easier and faster. Seriously, just buy yourself a hex screwdriver bit set and see how much faster your next Ikea assembly goes. The 12V Black & Decker model we used to use is no longer available, and we’re currently using this 18V Ryobi ONE+ version because its battery matches some of our other cordless tools.

must have power tool for DIY power drill

#2 – Miter saw – Power saws were the most intimidating power tool to me. I mean, c’mon, there’s a whole gory movie franchise bearing their name. But borrowing my dad’s miter saw to install trim in our first bathroom remodel was eye-opening to me. Just making simple 45° cuts turned out to be super easy, fast, and even kinda fun. I got that little rush that you get when you conquer a fear and it triggered a complete 180° in me. I love saws. I own six of them (not counting the manual ones). And becoming confident with them has opened up a whole world of projects we can tackle – whether it’s cutting big sheets of plywood with a circular saw or ripping floorboards on our table saw. Here’s the exact miter saw that we have.

must have power tool for DIY miter saw

#3 – Kreg jig – Now this one isn’t technically a power tool (although it does involve using a power drill/driver), but it was too significant in my “tool journey” to leave off the list. This was the device that got me interested in building stuff. It took some of the mystery out of joining two pieces of wood together (not that there’s a whole lot of mystery there to begin with). I started small with some shelves for Clara’s nursery and before long we were using it to constructing giant console tables, play kitchens and even real kitchen cabinets (okay, all of those should probably be singular). Although I’ll admit ol’ Kreg and I don’t spend as much time together as we used to thanks to the next item on my list. Here’s the Kreg Jig that we have.

must have power tool for DIY kreg jig

#4 – Nail gun – After “saw”, “gun” is the scariest word in the tool dictionary to me. I was a slow adapter in purchasing a nail gun (we bought ours less than a year ago) and our model is far from heavy duty. But after hours of numb arms thanks to manually hand-nailing some crown molding in our last kitchen, I knew we had to up our game if we wanted projects like adding board and batten to take days instead of weeks to complete. And just like with the miter saw, within one use we were both full converts. Not only has it made projects like adding crown molding and installing our sunroom ceiling possible, but for the most part it (plus wood glue) has replaced a lot of tasks we had previously used the Kreg Jig for (mainly for speed reasons, since glue + nails is much faster than drilling pilot holes and screwing things together – although that’s still the best way to go for certain tasks). Our nail gun is no longer sold, so this is what we use these days instead (it doesn’t require an air compressor either!)

must have power tool for DIY nail gun

#5 – Paint sprayer – This is the latest power tool to join the Petersik ranks (it’s even newer than the nail gun) and it almost didn’t make the list. Just like numbers one through four, it has been invaluable for speeding up tasks that otherwise would’ve taken us days – namely spraying all of the blue/cream/mauve trim & doors on our house’s second floor before moving in. But it wasn’t a shoe-in for this list because I still have a love/hate relationship with it. While I love its painting speed, there’s a lot that I don’t love – from prepping and protecting against over-spray, to the time it takes to clean it after use – which means using it isn’t a no-brainer for us every time. I’m still glad we have it, and we definitely like to use it strategically (like for painting the kitchen cabinet doors that we could remove and spray in the garage while hand-painting the frames that were still in the kitchen to avoid an over-spray snowstorm), but it hasn’t caused us to ditch our old school brush and roller completely. We’ve since fallen out of love with our old Graeco model, so here’s the one we’ve been using more recently.

  must have power tool for DIY paint sprayer

So those are our 5 must have tools for DIY projects. What are yours? Are there any others you think I should add to our repertoire?

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Comments

  1. Mary | Lemon Grove Blog says

    Love this – great list! We purchased a table saw last weekend to bust out some board and batten trim work, and it’s the biggest game changer tool to date for us. It’s amazing how much easier (and cheaper!) the project was with the table saw.

    Totally agree on the nail gun, as well. We purchased one this summer and it’s amazing the difference it makes in the finish.

    Reply

  2. Amanda says

    John, you are definitely “the guy people ask about tools” because my brother actually asked me for Christmas to get him “the nail gun that John and Sherry use” (yes, we talk about you like we know you)! We’re even planning a brother-sister-bonding trip to come visit the show house in May. Thanks for all the great tips!

    Reply

    • Leah says

      My husband doesn’t even read YHL, and he knows what I’m talking about too. He also knows you guys are to blame for the couple ceramic animals that have popped up in the last year ;-)

      re: tools, we don’t own, so we love our drill the best. We move more than I’d like around the boarding school campus, so it is imperative to be able to quickly add/remove hardware. I also love my painting stuff for repairing weird paint choices previous occupants have made. Thankfully, the school pays for the paint as long as we’re reasonable in purchases & color (and they’ve got a pretty wide latitude for reasonable).

    • Jessie G. says

      Amanda, that is too cool! I wanted to do a trip to see the show house too. I’m in S. Florida and was going to hook up with my sister – spend some quality sister time together and see HOUSES. Unfortunately, her orders changed (she’s a soldier) so now I need to find someone else to bring with me. LUCKY YOU!

      And I love the [yes, we talk about you like we know you]. too funny!

    • Gilly says

      I refer to John and Sherry so much that my kids have (in jest) started referring to them as Uncle John, Aunt Sherry, and Cousin Clara. I just shake my head at them.

  5. Kelley says

    I agree with you 100% about the hex bit set for the power drill! We moved into our first home in August and bought a patio set on clearance. Putting together those chairs with the little hex wrench? I swear that is a new form of home owner insanity. Those hex bits made quick work–and they are much sturdier, too!

    Reply

  7. Lisa@Double Door Ranch says

    Great list! I have all of them except the paint sprayer. My luck with Black & Decker hasn’t been so great though, so I recently upgraded to a DeWalt 20V drill/driver and I’m head over heels! (Black Friday online shopping ftw)

    I wish I had a table saw or even a circular saw. I love my miter saw, but my grandpa’s old jigsaw just isn’t cutting it anymore.

    Reply

  8. Jeanie says

    I got a paint sprayer for Christmas, but I have to wait until spring to use it! (Too much snow here in NJ). My husband said I’m a special type of woman to request power tools as presents. I think he meant that in a good way. :)

    Reply

    • Susan Valle says

      I got a paint sprayer for Christmas as well. Looking forward to using it on Furniture and doors (that can me taken outside) I got the Flexio so I’ll let you know how it is after we thaw out in PA.

    • Emily says

      My Dad is the Dad that can fix anything and he’d always show me and my brother how to fix it so we’d know how to do it the next time. Everything from loose handles to dents in your car. Everything.

      I took woodshop as an elective my last two years of high school and it made my Dad very proud. My mother requested that I take accounting since I would be in college soon and need that class, but My dad and I agreed that I’d learn a lot in woodshop as well.

      Then I moved away to an apartment and my Dad was always so proud when I put power tools on my Christmas list! I have a feeling that you’ll be just as proud when Clara moves into her first college apartment and shows all of her friends how to use the drill to hang pictures properly in the fall and wall patch to fill those holes in the spring to get their security deposits back!

    • Wendy [New Moms Talk] says

      John, you’re not the only man who feels that way!

      My husband once said to me, “I love that you love doing the dirty work… and you’re good at it!”

      It’s one of the sweetest things I’ve heard. I take joy in setting the example for our daughter that her Mom can remove huge trees safely, use a sledgehammer with precision, paint, refinish furniture, etc.

    • Laurie says

      This is funny because I requested a nail gun for Christmas – this blog gave me the confidence that I would (find) lots of use for it!!

    • Jessie G. says

      A special type of woman indeed!

      For my birthday I my hubby got me a miter saw with sliding arm and for Christmas???
      a shop-vac (because the miter saw is no joke with sawdust)and an air compressor with staple/nail guns!

      We ARE special indeed!

      In my family we joke around our roles being reversed because he is the baker in the house, so I give him things like Kitchen-Aid stand mixers and such :)

  11. Chelsie says

    I am not sure if this is a tool question – but sortof. When you guys aren’t using the paint sprayer and stick to the old brush and roller method what have you found is the best way to clean your brushes and rollers without taking forever and wasting a ton of water?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We just use water since it’s water based paint and lay them flat to dry on a paper towel. We don’t soak or anything, and with no-VOC paint it rinses clear pretty soon.

      xo
      s

    • Hilary says

      I would totally recommend a roller scraper. Mine is metal – one side has a curve for running down the roller and the other side has a metal comb. I can scrape A LOT of paint out of the roller before I start to wash it and using the scraper while I’m washing the roller speeds that up too. And then when you are done washing it helps get water out of the roller and fluffs it back up. I use the metal comb side for my paint brushes,it helps get the paint out of the middle of the brush. I got mine at my local Ben Moore store for under $5 and I think most places that sell paint have something similar. (Also,I can use it for opening paint cans!)

  12. Lindsey says

    We’ve been gifted/inherited a lot of the tools you use, and have used many of them for our house, thanks to you showing us how you use them for projects. That nail gun is looking pretty great…we have a lot of molding we want to install in our home… Thanks for sharing, John!

    Reply

  13. Mary Kaye says

    I bought the paint sprayer you guys use but have yet to use it. I need to find some time. I also just ordered the camera you guys use so yes, you are influencing many of us on the pieces of equipment you use. If they are tried and true in your eyes, they are good to go with me! :)

    Reply

  14. Crystal says

    We have an impact driver – I’m not sure I appreciate it’s full awesomeness (although the little flashlight that points on the screw when in use is pretty cool) but apparently my husband and his carpenter Dad think they’re the best.

    We also got the critter spray gun after seeing the review on LGN – for the price and ease of clean, it is sooo worth it!

    Reply

  15. Adrienne says

    We have a new build and have tons of priming and painting to do. Have you ever used your paint sprayer for painting a room? Any tips? Thanks!

    Reply

    • Evie says

      That’s my question too! We’re renovating and opted to do all the interior painting ourselves to save a buck (or 8000 of them) and I’m wondering if a paint sprayer would be wise when we’re starting with straight up sheetrock!

    • YoungHouseLove says

      In our experience it’s awesome for doors (room doors and cabinet doors alike) as well as trim and we hear it can be good on ceilings as well. I wouldn’t really think it would be great for walls just because it might be a lot more paint than you need (it’s a thicker application, so for walls you might just need 1-2 coats, and you’ll go through gallons a lot faster with a sprayer). Not sure how the finish would be on walls either. Anyone have tips/exeriences?

      xo
      s

    • Ruth says

      My dad was a professional house painter, and he used a sprayer for exterior work. Inside the house, he only used it when he had to paint every wall in the house (the same color). Otherwise, it’s too much work to seal off all the doorways, cover the floors, clean the sprayer, etc.

      So as far as practicality, yes you can spray interior walls. You might not want to because it’s not necessarily faster or better.

    • Caitlin says

      We used the paint sprayer indoors when we renovated (before moving in). We installed new dry wall in several rooms (due to ugly panelling) and used it to prime the drywall. We also painted all the ceilings with it as well as the dark brown doors (while hanging on the hindges!)We did all of this before any flooring was installed of course and it saved SOO much time. We used a roller however for actual color on the walls. Good luck!

    • Jocelyn says

      When our church was building a new building, we were doing most of the work ourselves. The pastor sprayed the rooms with his paint sprayer and it made the job go much faster for such a big place. This was before the ceiling tiles or flooring was put in so he didn’t have to worry about overspray. I’m not sure what brand he has or about the thickness part of it that Sherry mentions. It seems there would be a way to adjust the nozzle to not spray it as thickly to save on paint. But to answer your question, yes, you can paint walls with them. Sorry I don’t have more info though.

    • carrie says

      We moved into a neglected home in which we have had to fix literally every.single.surface. in the whole place. My beau used a sprayer to prime the whole house and I have to say I am not a fan… They take a lot of practice, and so as his inaugural run, we ended up with a lot of bubbles and runs in the primer which of course had to be dealt with before we could paint. At which point I banned the use of the sprayer in the house.

      My suggestions are these: practice on something other than your walls first, so you get the hang of the amount of pressure, the speed of your pass, etc. Carry a roller along with you so that as those bubbles or drips happen, you can hit them with a roller (this tip came from a GC friend of ours after the fact).

      Ultimately I think spraying indoors only makes sense when the house is empty- some of the paint will end up airborne which means a super fine coat of paint on everything, and like drywall dust, it is nearly impossible to contain even with plastic sheeting over doors, floors, etc. It was okay in that regard for us because we sprayed before we moved in, and while all the floors were in their original (not yet ripped out) state. Now that we have furniture here and finished floors and a kitchen that I use for something other than tool storage, I would never consider using the sprayer in the house.

      I should point out too, that we were using a much bigger model. Ours sits on top of a 5 gallon bucket and is meant for these large projects. I suspect the one John shows here would be less cumbersome and possibly produce less overspray, but that it might also be impractical for large jobs like whole rooms or houses because you’d have to refill it so often.

    • Hollie says

      Didn’t Katie Bower (blog = Bower Power) use a sprayer to paint her office a couple of years ago? I think I remember that happening. And she and Jer (yep – talk about y’all and the Bowers as if I know you…) we’re pleased with the results I think. But it was a LOT of prep bc of potential overspray.

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes, I think they used it on all the wood paneling in there (to prime and paint it) although I’m not sure they used it on the drywall. I should know that! Can I blame prego brain?

      xo
      s

  17. Tania @ Run To Radiance says

    Good list…I have to add a couple of my own!

    I would pick the reciprocating saw- we’ve used it to cut everything from wood/branches to plumbing pipes. I also love this super cool tool I got for my husband for christmas- you stand and point a laser, and it tells you exactly how many feet it is away from you! Down to 1/32 of an inch. It’s been so helpful during our remodel. :)

    And…a power sander. For all the millions of things we have had to smooth and paint over during our remodel. Bless it’s heart. :)

    Reply

  18. betty says

    oh man.. I used to go into hechingers every weekend with my dad. it was ‘our thing’ and even if we didn’t need the big carts that are good for lumber, we still pushed one around, because I loved riding on it.

    Reply

  19. Meredith says

    This is a dumb question, but I am just getting my toe into home (and tool!) ownership, but is a drill/driver different than just a drill? I have a corded drill, but I don’t think it screws things together. (Or if it does, I haven’t found that function.) Will a drill/driver change my life? Thank you!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I think most drills are actually drill/drivers (sometimes you change the head or buy an attachment). We call ours a power drill (just seems to be the common name) but the true full name is drill/driver. Maybe google the name/brand and see if there’s an attachment?

      xo
      s

    • KathyG says

      There is a difference in the traditional drill, a hammer drill, and an impact driver. The impact driver beats the traditional drill by miles especially for long screws *like building a deck* or putting up doors or even furniture building. It’s lighter, easier to use, faster, more efficient. I’d never go back to a traditional drill.

  20. Heidi says

    This is a great list! Our cordless drill and a borrowed miter saw made our floor installation project a reality. There was one more saw we used that was like a mini sawmill, but I don’t know if that is an “everyday” piece of equipment.

    After a lot of back and forth we decided to contract out our backsplash installation. Neither my husband or I have ever used a wet saw before and trying one out for the very first time with marble tile (that is expensive to “buy more”) didn’t seem like the best idea. I hope down the road we can master that skill and redo a bathroom, but for our kitchen it just wasn’t in the cards.

    http://jax-and-jewels.blogspot.com

    Reply

  21. Kate says

    I love my miter saw (it was my Christmas/birthday gift from my parents a couple years back). But now I want a table saw. And a drill press. And a….. well, the list could probably keep going a while, lol!

    Reply

  23. Marianne in Mo. says

    You are justified to fear the power tools – hubs was using a table saw many years back, hit a knot in the wood and took off the very tips of two fingers! Luckily he missed bones and nerves, but I will never forget rushing him to the hospital as he was almost passing out. He no longer has a table saw, but still uses the compound miter. Have to add that he isn’t Mr. Safety when it comes to tools. Every time he’s been injured, it was his own stupidity. (His admission! ) Be safe, work slow, and if you are “pushing” to get the job done, DON’T!!!

    Reply

    • Ammie says

      Ack – this reminds me of why I’m intimidated by circular saws. When I was younger my Dad worked construction. He was wearing all the appropriate safety gear but hit a knot in the wood, the saw jumped and sliced his thumb right off. It was hanging by the skin and they got him to the hospital fast enough to reattach everything but he does have a little numbness in the area still (like 15 years later). It was after that incident that he decided to switch to a more suit & tie career :)

  24. Carissa says

    I grew up around a ton of DIY (my father is an amazing craftsman, the scent of fresh sawdust is extremely comforting to me) and some of my earliest memories are trips to Hechinger with him! (A native of Baltimore here.) I didn’t really think I would grow up to marry a self-taught-learning-along-the-way DIYer, but here we are, 7 years and 4 total house gut and remodels later, and the scent of sawdust still familiar and comforting. I really miss Hechinger though!

    Reply

  25. Kate says

    I loved going to Hechinger’s as a kid! Mainly because riding the big metal carts were SO MUCH fun! They also displayed their doors so you could walk through all of them and there was a big “hallway” in the middle of the display…
    Oh, so much fun.

    Reply

  26. Cate says

    This is a fun list! Sadly, I’m still using bike tools (hex wrenches…) for Ikea assembly.

    Question about the paint sprayer – if this is, lets say a Grade B sprayer, do you think a Grade A sprayer would be more enjoyable/less tedious/more precise to use? It all comes with an increased investment, of course.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I’m not sure about that since it might have less overspray, but every sprayer still has some by nature, and cleaning them all seems to be a drag. In other words, if we were unhappy with how it sprayed, a better sprayer would help, but it’s just the tedium of taping things off and cleaning it afterwards – both of which you have to do with all types.

      xo
      s

  27. Caitlyn says

    Definitely bought a palm sander over last weekend on your recommendations – and I LOVE it. We were painting my husband’s office and sanded down the baseboards to rough them up a little for better paint application. It would have taken hours, and thanks to our friend the palm sander, it took about 10 minutes. Thanks for the recommendation…and that drill is next on my list! (Valentine’s Day present? :)

    Reply

  28. Tracey Bradshaw says

    I love my power tools – many of them have increased my ability to DIY for the mere fact that they make jobs that were near impossible for me at times due to pain issues, accessible to me again. Arthritis in my hands makes it difficult to grip firmly and other pain and health conditions limit the time I can spend working on projects, so everything from my nail gun, drill/driver, sanders, sliding compound mitre saw and even my heat gun make light (and fast) work of some heavy duty tasks. I love browsing the Power tool department at my local hardware store – on my wish list are a thicknesser/planer, plunge router and table saw – and a good dust extraction unit for the workshop. Just need to remind Santa and the birthday fairy each year that this girl wants tools not jewels!

    Reply

  29. Corinne says

    Great update! We are also thinking about spraying our kitchen cabinet doors and hand painting the frames- but my husband is worried about the finish looking different. Do you notice a big difference between the sprayer’s smoother finish and the hand painted frames?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We don’t! We noticed a big difference in coverage (only needed to spray one coat of primer and one coat of paint vs. rolling/brushing on two coats of primer and three coats of paint) but the finished look is pretty consistent.

      xo
      s

  31. VAinNC says

    My husband doesn’t quite understand, but I can spend a whole day at the hardware store. Always have. When I was little, I loved trips to the Hechinger on the Falls Church/South Arlington border.

    Thanks for the blast from the past!

    Reply

    • rachel swartley says

      Wow — I haven’t thought about Hechinger in probably 20 years! I remember it from when we used to visit my grandma in Falls Church, although I don’t think I ever went in.

  32. Shams says

    Love the list! I don’t do too much major building of things and really just don’t have any space for saw (and just use a friend’s table saw when I really need one). But one thing thats totally changed my life has been my Dremel. I use it to cut smaller pieces of wood for shelf supports, trim shades (lots and lots of shades), and sanding some things too. Its been a complete game changer!

    Reply

  33. Carrie says

    My dad is a general contractor, so occasionally he’ll go through his garage and ship me boxes of stuff, jigsaws, routers, belt sanders, palm sanders, every drill gun known to man etc. But the best thing we have is a cordless nail gun. Dad watched me hand sink trim nails in our kitchen, said “this is silly” and comes back with the nail gun. It runs on batteries and little propane gas canisters. Love it.

    Reply

  34. Milisa says

    Am I losing it or did you build a box/picture frames/something of that size and shape? Did you use the kreg jig? I could quite possibly be losing it since I don’t seem to remember details but have this “feeling.” HA! But either way, I love everything about Young House Love and wish your family (Burger’s female lookalike Paris says hello!) all the best as you move into the exciting spring you guys have coming up!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes, I made some boxy shelves for Clara’s nursery with the Kreg Jig (I actually linked to those in this post for you). Is that what you’re thinking of?

      -John

  35. Amanda says

    Stupid question here…. but is your paint sprayer by the same people that make baby products?! Or is it like Dove chocolate and Dove soap? (Or are those made by the same people? Oh, geez, I have some thinking to do…my brain hurts. )

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Good question! I just googled it for a second, so it wasn’t any deep research but it seems they might be completely different companies. Never even thought about how they had the same name!

      xo
      s

  36. Gillianne says

    Hechingers? Absolutely. And their “Harry and Harriet Homeowner.” I SO wanted to find a handy dude who’d share my desire to buy a solid but dated fixer-upper that we could rehab room by room (I wasn’t allowed to take shop in school). Memories…. You and Sherry are something of a stand-in for that abandoned long-ago dream. :) Thanks for sharing your adventures.

    Reply

  37. maureen says

    Throwback Friday! A Hechinger mention. Grew up in NOVA & hardware stores were and still are “toy stores” to me. I have #’s 1,2 & 4 on your list. Nail gun still intimidates me though,need to practice a little more. My husband for Christmas got me a Home Depot gift card for Christmas, one of the best gifts ever.

    Reply

  38. Susan says

    Hechinger! My dad’s favorite store. My sister and I spend many hours playing hide and seek while he shopped. (best place to hide — behind the big knife display). Thanks for the smile this morning. :) And the good tool advice, of course.

    Reply

  39. ErinY says

    I like that you still have the old screw drivers as well. My grandparents started a tradition a long time ago that my grandma carries on. Each Christmas she gets all the grandsons a new tool for their tool box. Hammer, screw drivers, wrenches etc. So by the time they’re ‘real adults’ they’ve got a full tool box.

    Reply

  40. Sarah says

    Great post. I’m still building my tool repertoire but luckily I moved a couple years ago to the same town as my brother, who has a whole workshop full of tools. I think one of the tools I have my eye out for for my next purchase is a router. Those are so awesome! (And until then, I just drive the few miles to big brother’s house…)

    Reply

  41. Krista @ The Dabbling Crafter says

    Love this list! I asked and received a nail gun and compressor for Christmas. I haven’t had the chance to use it yet but I’m super excited to try. I have been hesitating on the kreg jig for that reason you named…I feel like the nail gun will be more time effective. I have a Router next on my list.

    Reply

  42. Patti says

    The only power tool I have mastered is my palm sander but I can’t live without it! Speaking of power tools, have you ever seen the Woodwright’s Shop on PBS? It’s very informative. The carpenter does everything by hand, no power tools at all. He even made a rake out of wood! I guess I’m easily entertained ;-)

    Reply

  45. Alicia M says

    We have a craftsman cordless drill and while hubby loves it, it’s just too heavy and cumbersome for me to use on some projects. So, last year for Christmas, my parents got me my own drill! It’s a compact and lightweight one that has more than enough power. I love it! This is the one I got :

    Reply

  46. Laura J says

    I love this post! We are jumping into the world of DIY with VERY limited storage space (a townhouse with an itty-bitty shed) and have been wondering which tools have the most bang for their buck and which tools are, well, just convenient. Home improvement stores are so overwhelming with the 30 different kinds of saws and huge shop tools. I trust and value your advice, so I think you may have just changed my life. haha

    Reply

  48. Elise says

    Great list! My Kreg — I love it sooo much I should marry it. And I bought a table saw recently but since I usually set up my tools outside and it’s been below zero most of the winter here (Minnesota) I might have to wait a while to try it out!

    Reply

  49. Laurie says

    Ooo, I’m so tempted to get a little nail gun. There are a lot of projects I put off because I dreading all the nailing. Mainly because I can get a little ham-fisted with the hammer and nail and it just doesn’t always look great.

    Reply

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