I strongly encourage everyone to look up and join their local tool library.
If you don’t have one, start one!
this post was submitted on 27 Dec 2025
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I just exclaimed "HOLY SHIT" loud enough to get my partner's attention. There are two in my area! They have so many tools!
Why didn't I know about this?! I considered myself educated, but now see I still have much to learn.
Me when tools needed to build things
Where are the bags of cash?
In the new underground bunker my husband and I decided to build for our 4-year old daughters outdoor playhouse so that she could entertain guests without them having to take their shoes off after montessory ski school party camp to raise awareness for impoverished hamsters in bad homes in need of renovation that my brother's construction company has contracts with
hidden under the eco-friendly wood veneer
Most power tools pay for themselves with the first project.
You can rent the tractors. It’s easier than renting a car, don’t even need a license. More fun, too.
That's a very rural/suburb thing though. Try laying down a thick concrete bed in your back garden in a terraced house. If you're lucky, you can sneak the truck over the alleyway behind the garden. If not, you're going to have to somehow pipe it through the house from the road, or do it all manually, in stages, and hope that the damn thing doesn't crack.
Agreement on the power tools, but it's still a big commitment in terms of dedicating space to having them. I have mine hanging on an inside wall next to my TV because I don't have a garage or shed
If you are pouring that much concrete you should maybe consider having one of these brought out. Otherwise just mix the concrete in the garden.
DIY concrete is fucking brutal work, though, even with a mixer, unless you're pretty strong or have strong friends, and you have to do it in one go if structural strength is a concern. I love the savings and personal satisfaction of DIY, but I started eating the cost of getting concrete poured professionally somewhere in my early thirties.
Well I'm thinking along the lines of a 4m x 5m base and about 30cm deep. I can't get a mixing bucket for that without having to do it in dry/wet/dry/wet batches which I think might lead to cracking.
A truck like that would do the job nicely, and probably could reach through the house, but parking that on a public road would be a big no-no
Are you sure that the parking portion wouldn't be part of the permitting process? I'd be hard pressed to expect that you could pour such a large slab of concrete without needing a permit in the first place, but where I am in the US I got hassled over not pulling a permit for an 8x8 shed.
Over here you can pretty much build anything in your backyard (HOA does not exist, thank god for that) within 2m of your fences as long as it's no taller than 2.5m high. If you wanna build higher, you can go up to 4m but you need to increase the distance from the fence.
There also needs to be "prior art" (i.e. other people in the area have built similar extensions or outhouses)
My dad passed down to me early that all DIY projects are substantially easier with the right tools. Not only will you earn your money back on the project, youll earn it in time, peace of mind, and safety.
Who is going to pay you that money?
I dunno where you live but in my state I at least need to apply for a temporary hoisting license before I can get anything with an arm or other mechanism capable of lifting over 500lbs
Also need to have a way to haul it to the site yourself; most places don’t deliver (but perhaps this isn’t true for mobile equipment like tractors; I’ve only ever rented specialized lawn equipment)
Goodness, that’s terrible.
Here in California, the companies deliver. With special weekend rates for DIYers, Sunday’s free, since it’s technically illegal to make construction noises then. First time I ran an excavator, I was 8yo.
Parkside tools from Lidl have been a Godsend. Cheap but decent enough for casual use.
Still haven't released an excavator tho
Get cheap and available tool until you wear it, then since you clearly use that tool a lot and could do with an upgrade, buy the more robust, better constructed (and more expensive) version.
Most of my DIY tools are still the cheap Parkside ones but when I wear them out or they're not up to the task I replace with milwaukee.
I feel like most diy construction channels are explicitly not designed for beginners/non construction workers to follow along with and imo that's fine. Its a very specific niche for people with a very specific set of skills and for them its probrally pretty helpful.
I mean you wouldn't expect a YouTube channel that does advanced scientific experiments to reduce their safety equipment so viewers could more easily replicate their experiments.
Tldr: It might be DIY that doesn't mean you can DIY it
I feel like I am in the target audience of this type of channel. I have spent the last 20 years buying a tool every few months, usually used. I might not have every tool, but short of a lathe or excavator, I can usually figure out a replacement.
I still consider myself a DIYer, since i am not professionally trained to do anything. I am fortunate enough to have like minded friends, some even professionals to ask. They watch these channels too, and they consider themselves DIYers on everything but their specialty area.
I am not a DIYer. I am a scientist. I am equally inept, but doing dangerous shit is the point not a consequence. The helicopter is for when I succeed.
I saw a really cool youtube channel about a guy who makes his own tools out of 3D printed parts and concrete. He built both a drill press and a lathe.
Dunno how much cheaper that is than buying the tools outright, but it’s pretty impressive how people can find a way.
Lathes are expensive, but you can build a shitty one and use it to make a better one, and so on (if you have that kind of time and dedication).
Something about this feels right. Like buying a cheap 3d printer and building your way up to a quality, printed 3d printer.
There’s a series of books written in the 1980s by David Gingery about how to manufacture your own machine tools, starting with a charcoal foundry.
Chris Borge? I love his videos, I find them very relaxing
Who wouldn't want to own a bunch of expensive tools? These shorts are fun to watch, even knowing you'll never be able to replicate them.