Most people know that Labor Day is one of the best times of the year to buy tools (get it? Labor?), but if you’re a newly minted homeowner or DIY-er, the landscape can be intimidating. When I bought my first home, I owned only two screwdrivers, a pair of pliers, and a hammer; I had no clue what I was in for.
Now that I’ve been a homeowner for 17 years, I agree with WIRED reviewer Scott Gilbertson that unless you’re a professional tradesperson or really love large projects, you don’t need a garage full of specialty tools. Just the basics will do: a drill, saw, set of manual screwdrivers, and a stud finder, for example.
Luckily, early Labor Day deals are pretty decent this year. In fact, after examining all the major sales, I was able to find a rather encyclopedic house-repair kit for any new homeowner or DIY-er for under $375 (minus tax and shipping) with deals from Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Walmart. Any of these would also be great to stash away for a holiday gift.
Here’s what I chose:
Power-Tool Workhorses: Ryobi 4-Tool Kit for $199
Look, you’re not going to take Ryobi tools to a job site or build a house with them from scratch (a former WIRED editor once deemed them “the Kia of tools”), but if you’re just using them for basic, casual home use, they’ll do the job. Ryobi’s 18V ONE+ batteries (this set comes with one) are fully backward compatible with all Ryobi tools ever made, and this set comes with a three-year warranty. I live in a DeWalt household, so I don’t have a lot of firsthand experience with Ryobi, but my brother, a contractor, says the brand is great for the average DIY homeowner and offers a much broader range of tools than competitor Bauer from Harbor Freight.
This set packs a ½-inch drill/driver, an impact driver (which WIRED reviewer Scott Gilbertson said had a profound ‘I can’t believe I didn’t own one sooner’ impact on him, though his is Milwaukee), a circular saw, and an LED light. The impact driver packs 1,800 pounds of torque, which is pretty decent for a consumer-level tool. If you need a sander, there’s also another kit with a sander plus drill/driver and circular saw, which may be worth a look if this set sells out.
The Hand-Tool Essentials: Workpro 408-Piece Set for $144
Workpro
408-Piece General Household Home Repair Tool Kit
I don’t have this exact set, but I do have remnants of a similar one. Again, you’re not going to bring these to a construction site, but this kit is a knockout deal for everything you get—pliers, screwdrivers, Allen keys, wrenches, sockets, bits, tape measure, knife, hammer, a wire stripper … there’s even a metal box in which to store everything. A lot of the “pieces” are doodads like screwdriver heads and drywall anchors, but it still contains pretty much any non-power tool you might need for light home repairs and even basic car maintenance. (There’s no level, but you can always use an app on your phone for that.) However, note that this is a flash deal, so it’s likely only live for a limited time.
Wall-Hanging Must-Have: Franklin Sensors Stud Finder for $22
Courtesy of Franklin Sensors
Franklin Sensors
Metal and Wood Stud Finder
No household repair kit is complete without a stud finder. (And if you’re a dad, it will give you years of built-in dad jokes.) In fact, you can’t—or, at least, shouldn’t—hang anything even slightly heavy on your wall without one. I have a Franklin Sensors stud finder, though not this exact model, and it’s done well to help my family hang pictures, shelves, mirrors, and pretty much everything else for the past decade or so. This is the best deal I could find, though it’s not technically on sale. However, Lowe’s is having a sale on plenty of other tools, including outdoor furniture, appliances, and grills.