Tired of Hiring a Handyman? These Tools Will Level Up Your DIY Game. (2024)

For starters, we’re assuming that you have everything in Wirecutter’s guide to essential tools for basic home repair, which includes some common hand tools plus a cordless drill.

Beyond those basics, there’s a case to be made for dozens of tools that each deserve a spot in the kit of an up-and-coming DIYer. Sure, there are different schools of thought about what you ought to buy: Some experts and DIYers recommend lots of specialized hand tools. Others will tell you that you can’t get by without heavy-duty power tools. Some tools focus on carpentry and renovation, while others cover repairs and maintenance.

But you can find some common threads in all of that advice, and that’s what we’ve tried to pull together here. Our suggestions here are guided by the wisdom of Wirecutter senior staff writer Doug Mahoney, who worked in high-end home construction for a decade before becoming Wirecutter’s tool expert and home-improvement specialist.

We’ve kept our list intentionally short so that it’s approachable and not too expensive. You’re certain to need more tools than this, but it’s the set that any homeowner should get a lot of value from. Everything here meets at least two of the following criteria:

• Pays for itself: Tools aren’t free, but some of them can save you big bucks in comparison with hiring a pro. And plenty of repairs and minor upgrades don’t need a pro’s touch.
• Works for a bunch of different projects: We looked for jack-of-all-trades tools to keep costs down and clutter to a minimum.
• Offers a big advantage over another, less-expensive tool: It either does something unique or is much faster, more precise, or more effective in some important way.

This is also the type of list that I wish I’d had a couple of years ago, after I bought a house and grew frustrated with high costs, inconsistent communication, and sometimes mediocre results when I hired professionals.

Plenty of electrical work should be left to the pros, but you don’t need to be a licensed electrician to safely upgrade an outlet, install a dimmer, or swap a lighting fixture. You’ll inevitably end up working near electrical wiring on other DIY projects anyway, and you’ll want to know if any live wires are nearby.

A non-contact voltage tester is the simple, inexpensive, industry-standard tool for checking live-wire safety. Just wave the tip of this battery-powered, pen-shaped tool near a wire or outlet opening; if it’s live, the tester will beep and light up.

For years, I thought I was being frugal in testing outlets for power by plugging in a phone charger or lamp. But that strategy failed when I tried to replace a lighting fixture. I felt even sillier when I realized that voltage testers cost as little as $5—even brand-name voltage pens tend to cost less than $25. It’s a small price to pay for peace of mind.

Drains inevitably clog, and if first-line fixes aren’t working, you don’t necessarily need to call a plumber for help. When the drain service comes to unclog your tub and makes up a price based on how desperate you look (ask me how I know!), this is the tool they’re going to use.

A drain auger is a long cable that you push into a drain line and then spin with a handle or a drill to break up and dislodge blockages. It works on sinks, toilets, and bathtubs for clogs that a plunger or short drain snake can’t handle. (It’s also safer for many pipes—and for all people—than a drain-opening chemical like Drano.)

In our guide to toilet plungers, we recommend a 3-foot, wand-style auger, which might be all you need. Personally, I opted for a drum-style auger. It has 25 feet of reach, which might be overkill, but I’ll be happy to have it if I ever need it. The price for either style is a tiny fraction of the cost of a single visit from a drain service.

As Doug writes in our guide to ladders: “As much as you might try to keep everything in your life within arm’s reach, there will be times when you need to get a little—or a lot—higher. If you’re putting up a ceiling fan, painting the eaves, or just moving items in and out of high shelving in a garage, you need a ladder.”

The right type of ladder depends on your home, and how comfortable you are with heights. Our top pick, the Gorilla GLX-5B 5.5 ft. Aluminum Dual Platform Ladder, is basically a large stepladder with two platform-style steps at the top, which provides a “more comfortable sense of balance and range of motion as you’re working,” Doug writes. If you want to be able to reach the roof of a two-story house or set up a ladder on uneven ground, you need a different type; we cover a few options in our guide.

On to the power tools! An oscillating multi-tool is a true jack-of-all-trades: It can cut through wood, tile, or metal, make precise cuts into drywall, quickly and completely remove grout or caulk, and even handle some sanding.

The first time I ever used one, it came in handy three different ways in a single project, allowing me to make a clean cut through some drywall, saw through a copper water line, and then smooth out the drywall patch once I was done.

Experts and experienced DIYers don’t usually have an oscillating multi-tool at the top of their must-have lists—but it’s in almost everybody’s top 10. It’s super convenient to have one small, relatively safe tool that works reasonably well for so many different tasks.

Plug-in oscillating multi-tools start at around $20, but cordless models are much more convenient and not terribly expensive. The one that I own costs $80 without a battery, though I got it as part of a power-tool starter pack (more on those later), so the effective price was even less.

Home improvement usually means cutting wood. You can find many kinds of saws that can cut wood in many different ways. If you have to pick one, a circular saw occupies the sweet spot for basic carpentry. It’s pretty fast, fairly accurate, versatile, portable, and not particularly expensive.

A circ saw won’t see much use for small repairs or maintenance. But as Doug wrote in a now-archived Wirecutter guide to circular saws, it’s an essential tool for projects such as building a treehouse, a porch, or even just shelves.

For our old circ saw guide, last updated in 2019, we seriously considered only plug-in circular saws because they were much stronger and less expensive than cordless models. (Our top pick back then, the Skil Sidewinder, is still available.) That’s still true of corded circ saws as of 2024, though the relative cost of cordless saws and their batteries has come down a bit since then.

If you’re buying a starter set of power tools, and it comes with a cordless circular saw, that might be all you need to get started.

While a circular saw is a tool for building things, a reciprocating saw is a tool for ripping things apart. “They are demolition machines,” Doug says. If you’ve moved into an older building and need to do some renovations, a reciprocating saw will come in handy. “It’s a decent way to save some money on a renovation, if the homeowner handles a lot of the demo.”

The cuts are sloppy but fast, and with the right blade attached, you can saw through just about any material. They’re surprisingly versatile, too: I can’t justify buying a chainsaw, but I’ve used my reciprocating saw to remove small stumps and cut big branches into manageable scraps.

As with circular saws, plug-in reciprocating saws are faster and more powerful than cordless models. But the battery-powered models are just fine for occasional use, and they almost always come included in affordable starter packs of cordless power tools.

As I’ve alluded to a few times: Most home improvement stores and even some general retailers sell a starter kit of cordless power tools. Most of those kits include all three of the power tools listed above, a couple of batteries, and a few extra tools for good measure.

Purchasing a starter kit often costs less than separately buying a cordless circ saw, a reciprocating saw, and an oscillating multi-tool, plus a battery and charger—especially if you find the kit on sale. You’re likely to end up using the extra tools in the kit, too, which typically includes a drill, an impact driver (which drives screws much faster than a regular drill), and a worklight or standing flashlight.

Every major hardware store has one of these kits from its preferred homeowner-grade brand, and they’re all basically fine.

If we had to recommend one, it would be Ryobi. I personally own the six-piece Ryobi cordless kit—not because I put much research into the purchase, but because Home Depot is the closest hardware store to my house, and it was on a crazy sale when I happened to come across it.

I was happy to learn that Doug also thinks Ryobi is the best of the homeowner brands. “I’ve always found their stuff reliable,” he says. “The downside is that they’re only available at Home Depot. The upside is that they’re available at Home Depot. They have a huge presence, and they are so loyal to that 18-volt battery. It can fit into so many different things.” It’s a popular recommendation on DIY forums like r/Tools, too.

Other entry-level power-tool platforms, such as that of Craftsman or Hart, don’t offer quite as much room for growth, and tools from contractor-grade brands like DeWalt and Milwaukee are probably overkill unless you plan to use them at least weekly.

When you buy into a system, you can add new tools as you need them, without having to purchase new batteries over and over again. And once you get a taste for fixing up your house on your own, you might be surprised by how much you’ll want to add to your collection.

This article was edited by Megan Beauchamp and Maxine Builder.