For people who do the work themselves
The drill is the easy part. The day you want the saw that goes with it, the battery decides, not you. We explain what fits what, what changing your mind actually costs, and which tool does the job in front of you. We also score jobsite machines on their published figures: 6 comparisons, and 6 jobs explained step by step.
18V SDS-Plus rotary hammersOur score: 8/10
Read our review
Air compressorsOur score: 8.5/10
Read our review
Inverter generatorsOur score: 10/10
Read our review
Pressure washersOur score: 8/10
Read our review
Laser levelsOur score: 10/10
Read our review
Circular sawsOur score: 8/10
Read our reviewDig out, compact, form up, reinforce, pour, level, cure: seven steps and the machines that are better hired.
Read moreSet out, fix the frame, run the cables, screw the boards, tape and joint: six steps and the kit that goes with them.
Read moreBase, setting out, adhesive, laying, cuts, grout: six steps, and the right tool for every cut.
Read morePrepare the base, isolate the edges, set the level, pour and dry: both methods and the kit each one needs.
Read moreRead the loft, fix what hides under the insulation, protect flue and downlights, insulate without compressing: both cases and the kit each one needs.
Read morePrepare the ground, set the supports, fix the joists, screw the boards, finish the edges: the steps of a deck that stays put.
Read moreQuantities before you buy: bags, boards, tiles. Each calculator shows its formula and says what it does not replace.
How many bags of cement for your slab, assumptions included.
Read moreTiles, bags of adhesive, grout and spacers, by tile format.
Read moreBoards, track, studs, screws, tape and compound, centres included.
Read moreBoards, joists and screws, from joist spacing and board width.
Read moreBags of blown wool or rolls for a slope, from the pack size you enter.
Read moreThe decision that locks you in
9
platforms compared, with the maker's own figures
Switching platform costs you every battery you already own. It is the most expensive decision in your tool collection, and the one most people make without thinking.
The gap nobody fills
12
adapters verified in the right direction
Running a Makita tool off a Parkside battery is possible, it is sold, and it carries real risk. We say which adapter exists, in which direction, and when not to use one.
One battery, many brands
3
brand alliances, incompatible with each other
AMPShare, CAS and Power for All run tools from dozens of makers off a single battery. It is the least known fact in the category, and it changes the maths.
If you take one thing from this site: choose the battery platform before you choose the tool. An impact driver can be replaced; a platform is something you live with. Once you own three batteries from one maker, the cost of leaving is almost always larger than the price gap that would have changed your mind.
Three situations these machines really meet. The photographs come from the makers: we do not stage jobsites we have not worked on.
No cordless tools yet, a job coming up. The decision guide starts from how you actually work, not from a ranking.
Pick your first platformThe question is no longer which brand, but what your platform can do and what it will never do.
See all nine platformsThe same battery carries two different numbers depending on the market. It is the first confusion in the category, and it is deliberate.
Understand the differenceConcrete, mortar, quantities. The assumptions behind the number are written down, not hidden behind a result.
Open the calculatorWe do not bench test tools, and we do not pretend to. What we do is documentary: read what manufacturers publish, retrieve real prices, check what fits what, and say so plainly when the sources contradict each other. When Makita claims 380 products in one block of a page and 440 in another block of the same page, we quote both.
We are not a substitute for a licensed trade. On electrical work, gas, load bearing structure and work at height, the rules are not suggestions: an electrical installation has to meet the code that applies where you live and pass the inspections that go with it. A tool buying site authorises nothing.
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