These Are the 3 Power Tools You Need (2026) | WIRED
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The difference between the professional home builder and the DIYer often comes down to tools. While I would never want to play down the role of skill, having the right tools is often part of building those skills needed to build and repair things yourself. If you don't have a drill, it doesn't matter how skilled you are with a drill because ... you don't have a drill.
The first step to developing any repair skills is to make sure you have the right tools for the job at hand. That doesn't mean you need every tool. This is the trap many budding DIYers fall into—buying every tool around and then hardly using them. I spared myself this trap by living on the road in an RV. I can't own large tools like a table saw or miter saw, but much of what you do with a miter saw you can do with a circular saw and speed square. Much of what you can do with a table saw you can do with a circular saw, a long straight edge, and some clamps.
After years of DIY, fixing up old houses, building out a school bus, restoring several vintage campers and RVs, and countless other small projects, these are the three power tools that I use on almost every project.
A Good Drill
Photograph: Scott Gilbertson
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Milwaukee
M18 Cordless Drill
$149 Home Depot (Tool Only)
$199 Home Depot (Kit with 2 Batteries, Charger)
A drill, and some quality drill bits, will likely be your most used power tool. It's essential for almost any common house repair job. A drill can do more than just drill holes. You can mix paint, plaster mud (though that's hard on it), grind rust off metal, or even polish your car. Drills don't require a ton of power and were one of the first tools to be reliably usable with batteries. That's still true today—I change the battery in my drill less than any other tool, despite using it all the time.
Most people will be fine with a 12-volt, 8-amp drill for small jobs around the house. If you want something heavier duty, grab a 10-amp or higher model, usually an 18-volt drill, which will work for drilling into harder substances like thick metal or concrete. (Technically, you might want a masonry or hammer drill for concrete. Don't tell anyone, but I use my regular drill all the time.)
Impact Driver
Photograph: Scott Gilbertson
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Milwaukee
M18 Fuel Cordless Impact Driver
$179 Home Depot (Tool Only)
This is the tool that had the most profound “I can't believe I didn't own one sooner” impact on me. Get it? Anyway, yes. You can drive in screws with a drill and some impact bits, but you'll burn out the drill faster and strip more screw heads. An impact driver works like a torque wrench, applying rotational force in short, sharp bursts (impacts) to make the screw turn without destroying the head of the fastener or the motor of the tool.
It's especially necessary with today's star-shaped fasteners, which you'll likely strip trying to drive into hard wood with a drill. The impact gun also simplifies the process of putting in a series of fasteners because you don't have to constantly switch between a drill bit and an impact bit in your drill.
Inside is a pretty simple mechanism, with a hammer and anvil assembly, which kicks in when the tool encounters heavy resistance. This is what makes the loud clacking sound you get using an impact driver. A spring pulls the hammer back and then releases it. The hammer strikes the anvil as the hammer rotates, and that drives the collar and bit with increased torque.
There are a few things to pay attention to when buying an impact driver. The first is the torque rating (usually given in inch-pounds). The higher the rating, the better it will be for very dense material and/or large fasteners. The range is generally 1,500 inch-pounds of torque up to 2,500 for a pro-level tool. Mine is smack in the middle at 2,000 inch-pounds. I've never felt the need for more, but if you plan to drive concrete bits or you want it to double as, say, a way to remove wheel lugs, go for something more powerful (though there are specialized tools for wheel lugs for a reason).
The other two specs worth considering are the impacts per minute—higher makes the tool more efficient, though the difference is not huge—and the rotations per minute. The rotation number isn’t a huge differentiator, though faster rotation will make driving low-resistance fasteners quicker. Trust me, this is the one you didn't know you needed. It's the first thing you should get after a drill.
Circular Saw or Jigsaw
Photograph: Scott Gilbertson
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Milwaukee
M18 Cordless 6-1/2 inch Circular Saw
$229 Home Depot (Tool + Free Battery)
I'm cheating a little bit here by giving you a choice. I find the circular saw to be far and away the most used power saw I own,