Recommendations for basic power tools...

[spacewoman99]

Ok, bear with me, I'm a bit ignorant in this area. I'm newly separated from my DH who did all the diy, but I need to learn to do it myself now.

I need to buy a drill as I have some flat pack furniture to assemble and pictures to hang. Am I right in thinking a drill acts as a screwdriver too with the rights bits, or are they 2 separate pieces of kit? .

Also, any recommendations on which to get? I'd like to not spend too much, will only be doing basic stuff myself. And any other vital tools I'll need? I think I have a spirit level, but maybe one of those thingys to check where wires are under the walls before I drill?

Lidl or aldi drills are great for dit... only 30ish pounds. If you get a drill/driver it will do what you need

Thank you Alex, I didn't think about looking in Lidl.

Lidl's "Parkside" power tools are quite good, and made by a German company, you can actually get spares for them.

A drill/driver is weaker so will not be much good for drilling. A combi drill includes hammer action so will go into a brick wall. It will be a bit heavier and a bit bigger. If you are prosperous you can get one of each, possibly in a kit. I recommend an 18volt one which is a good balance between power and weight. Get a set with two batteries so one can be on charge while you are using the other.

You will also need a set of drills (bits), including twist drills (for wood) which are usualy black. and masonry drills (for brick and lightweight concrete) which are usually silver.

You won't need a set of a hundred. if you buy a kit of about a dozen you will find you only use about four of them persistently. Small sizes are easily broken. When you know what size you need you can order those sizes by the dozen off ebay. Some DIY kits include a basic set of drill bits in the case. You will also need screwdriver bits. These are made of a special hard steel. When they get any visible wear, throw them away. A worn head wil damage the screw. A perfectly fiting pozi driver will fit the correct screw so well that there is no shake or wobble. You will soon recgnise it.

Some American things still use Phillips screws, which are different.

If you ever have a great deal of drilling to do, or concrete, then a corded drill will be more powerful and cheaper and is worth having in your cupboard. Don't buy it till you need it.

For most DIY purposes, cordless will be fine.

With low-price DIY power tools, don't buy them until you have a major job to do. They may not be very durable but they have excellent guarantees so you can take it back if it breaks. Really good tools may be five or ten times the price.

Thanks so much for that comprehensive answer Pigletjohn, really helpful.

Power tools are very useful but lack control for delicate things. They are great for making holes in walls and screwing into solid things but some flat pack furniture either is made of composite wood or has delicate fixings.
With power tools you cannot tell when things are starting to beak or be over tightened.

Flat pack stuff also can be great, but it does take some knack to assemble but I would give you a couple of bits of hard and furiously earned advice -

1, Read the instructions and check you have all the bits. It is infuriating to get half way through assembling something and find you lack a side panel to a draw. Bastard MFI.
2, Sometimes the wood can be soft and a power tool will drive a screw in too fast and so the countersunk hole will be stripped. This means that no screw will grip the wood you are trying to hold and your item will become unsteady and can be an expensive mistake.
3, As per #2 sometimes fixings are plastic or soft metal and a power tool would destroy them etc etc.
3, The tools I most often need for furniture assembly are screwdrivers of various sizes and head shapes, a smallish hammer and a Stanley knife.
4, No manufacturer uses only one size or shape of screw. Therefore you will need a wide range of screw drivers.

So

1, Buy a set of conventional screwdrivers from somewhere like B&Q or Homebase. A set of about 15 drivers should will have a good selection of all 3 types of screw head types and will deal with most sizes. If you get magnetic headed ones they will often hold the screw onto the end of the driver preventing them being dropped and great annoyance.
2, Said DIY shop will also sell a basic set of tools in a box from about £30 which should see you through most of life’s little DIY challenges.
3, Battery powered drills are great and I find them ideal for knocking holes in walls etc.

Basically take your time and think before you do. I have learnt the very expensive way, when you hurry or do not think things through. The ‘D’ in DIY can stand for lists of nice words like destroy, decimate or devastate.

Good luck

I would also add pliers and those pliers which have a cutting edge. I use those a remarkable amount.
Re drill - I just bought replacement.m and did some looking around. I ended up getting plugged one not battery. I found battery powered were heavy and/or made it les stable in hand. Definitely go for one which has hammer option - good for drilling into walls. Most do. Yes they work as screwdriver with bit fitted which comes with many sets of drill bits. I use conventional screwdrivers far more.

Thank you so much grumpy and heron!

I like a cordless combi drill. We have a Ryobi one (B&Q), with two batteries, so one can charge whilst we use the other one (but we are doing quite a lot of DIY). We can also use the batteries in other items from the range, like our electric sander.

I like having a decent set of screwdrivers in several sizes, and I prefer a short handled hammer (find I have better control).

Tbh we have accumulated quite a lot now, but it's been stuff we've need for specific jobs.