20 Tools You Should Borrow Instead of Buying

The Once-a-Year Tools

These five tools share a pattern: they are seasonal, bulky, and most homeowners need them for a few hours per year. Owning them means dedicating garage space 365 days a year for a few hours of actual use.

• Aerator ($200 to $400) - Used for two hours every fall. Plug aerators weigh 150 to 200 pounds, are awkward to transport, and take up significant floor space. A single aerator can service an entire block of lawns if everyone takes turns over a weekend. Split the cost with a neighbor or borrow one from your FriendsWithTools group.
• Pressure washer ($200 to $500) - Most homeowners pressure wash their driveway and deck once or twice a year. That is 4 hours of use for a tool that occupies 6 square feet of garage space year-round. Gas models require winterization and fuel stabilizer. Electric models are simpler but still bulky. See our pressure washer overview for specs on current models.
• Dethatcher ($150 to $300) - Even more seasonal than the aerator. Run it once in spring, store it for 364 days. Power dethatchers are heavy and wide, making them difficult to store in anything smaller than a two-car garage.
• Spreader ($30 to $200) - The cheap broadcast spreader ($30) is fine to own. The $200 tow-behind spreader for large lots should be shared. It attaches to a riding mower, covers a half-acre in 15 minutes, and sits idle the rest of the year.
• Snow blower ($300 to $2,000) - If you live somewhere that gets three storms per winter, a snow blower costs more per use than most people realize. A two-stage gas blower runs $800 to $1,500 and needs off-season maintenance (oil change, fuel stabilizer, belt inspection). Borrowing arrangements are common in snowy neighborhoods, and a single machine can clear four or five driveways in a morning.

The One-Project Tools

These tools are needed for a specific project, used intensively for a day or two, and then not needed again for years. The purchase price is high relative to the total hours of use, and most of them are large enough to create a storage problem.

• Drywall lift ($150 to $300) - Holds 4x8 and 4x12 sheets against the ceiling while you screw them in place. Used for maybe 2 days per room. Nobody should own this unless they hang drywall professionally. Borrowing one for a weekend ceiling project saves the purchase price and the 4 square feet of floor space it occupies.
• Concrete mixer ($200 to $600) - The average homeowner pours concrete once or twice in their life: a pad for a shed, a set of fence post footings, maybe a small patio. Borrow the mixer, keep the wheelbarrow. The wheelbarrow has dozens of other uses; the mixer does exactly one thing.
• Tile wet saw ($100 to $500) - Tile work is a one-project job for most people. The wet saw cuts the tile, but you also need a trowel, spacers, and grout float. Buy the consumables, borrow the saw. A quality wet saw like the DeWalt D24000 ($500) sits in many a garage after a single bathroom renovation.
• Floor sander ($50 to $100 rental, $800+ to buy) - Refinishing hardwood floors happens once per decade. This is one of the few tools where rental from a home center is the established norm, because even frequent DIYers do not sand floors often enough to justify ownership.
• Rebar cutter ($100 to $400) - You need this for one phase of one concrete project. A bolt cutter handles thin rebar (#3 and #4), but a dedicated rebar cutter handles #5 and above. Borrow it for the afternoon.
• Post hole auger ($200 to $500 powered) - Building a fence involves 20 to 50 holes, then the auger goes away. A gas-powered two-person auger drills 6-inch holes in minutes, but the project takes one weekend and then the auger collects dust. Hand augers ($30 to $50) are an option for small jobs (four to six posts), but anything more and you want the powered version.
• Stump grinder ($200 to $400 rental) - One stump, one day, done. Stump grinders are heavy, loud, and throw debris. Renting or borrowing is the standard approach even for professional landscapers who only remove a few stumps per year.

The Expensive Specialists

These are quality tools with real value, but only if you use them regularly. For someone who builds one set of shelves or paints one exterior wall, the cost per use is prohibitive. Borrow them for the weekend project and return them when the job is done.

• Table saw ($300 to $3,000) - For a dedicated woodworker, a table saw is the shop centerpiece. For someone building one set of shelves or cutting a few boards, a circular saw with a guide does the same job. See our table saw buying guide if you are considering the investment, or borrow one for the weekend project.
• Miter saw ($200 to $800) - Same logic. A circular saw with a straightedge guide makes the same cuts, just slower. If you need to make 200 trim cuts for a room of baseboard and crown molding, borrow the miter saw for the day. The miter saw vs. table saw guide covers which saw fits which projects.
• Paint sprayer ($150 to $600) - Faster than rolling, but the cleanup takes an hour and the learning curve wastes paint on the first attempt. Published user reviews report 30 to 40 percent time savings on large exterior jobs compared to brush and roller. Borrow one when you are painting the exterior or an entire room.
• Band saw ($200 to $1,500) - Resawing thick lumber into thinner boards and cutting tight curves. Unless you are doing this monthly, borrow. A 14-inch band saw occupies about 4 square feet of floor space and weighs 200 to 300 pounds.
• Planer ($300 to $600) - Flattens rough lumber to a consistent thickness. A serious woodworking tool that sits idle in casual shops for months at a time. If you are buying rough hardwood from a lumber dealer, a planer saves you 40 percent on material costs. If you are buying pre-surfaced boards from a home center, you do not need one. See our beginner woodworking guide for when a planer earns its place in a shop.

The Ones You Think You Need but Do Not

These last three are less expensive individually, but they represent the broader principle: tools with narrow use cases and long idle periods between projects.

• Laser level ($50 to $300) - For one tiling job or one shelf installation, borrow. If you find yourself reaching for it monthly, buy. A self-leveling cross-line laser costs $50 to $100 for a home-grade unit. Professional models with outdoor visibility and wider range run $150 to $300. Our laser level guide covers the differences.
• Brake bleeder kit ($30 to $100) - Used once every two years per vehicle at most. Borrow from the friend who does their own brake work. A one-person bleeder with a check valve costs about $30, but the per-use cost is high if you only bleed brakes on one car.
• Fish tape ($20 to $80) - Running one new electrical circuit through finished walls requires a fish tape for about an hour. Your electrician friend has one. A steel fish tape handles most residential wiring pulls; fiberglass versions ($40 to $80) work better in conduit but cost more.

The common thread across all 20 tools: high purchase price relative to time spent using the tool, plus storage cost. Every tool in your garage displaces something else. The math almost always favors borrowing for tools used less than 10 hours per year.

When Borrowing Does Not Work

Some tools are not worth borrowing because the coordination cost exceeds the purchase price. A $15 basin wrench, a $8 caulk gun, and a $25 drain snake are all cheap enough to buy and keep. If the tool costs less than $30 and you will use it more than once, just buy it. The time spent arranging a loan, picking up the tool, and returning it is worth more than the purchase price of inexpensive hand tools.

Safety-critical tools that need to be in calibration or in known condition are better to own so you know their history. A torque wrench that has been dropped may read inaccurately. Jack stands of unknown age may have metal fatigue. Our torque wrench guide explains calibration intervals and how to verify accuracy at home.

Consumable tools that wear out with use obviously cannot be borrowed. Saw blades, sanding discs, drill bits, and abrasive wheels are all items you buy and replace. The tools that hold these consumables (the saw, the sander, the drill) are the borrowing candidates, not the consumables themselves. See our borrow-or-buy decision guides for category-specific analysis.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I Know If I Should Borrow or Buy a Tool?

Multiply the purchase price by your expected uses per year. If the cost per use is over $20 and the tool is available to borrow, borrow it. If the cost per use is under $5, buy it. Between $5 and $20, consider how easy it is to borrow and how urgently you typically need the tool. A pressure washer you need on a planned spring weekend is easy to coordinate. A drain snake you need at midnight when the basement is flooding is not.

What If Nobody in My Area Has the Tool I Need?

Then you have found an opportunity. Buy it, use it for your project, and list it on FriendsWithTools. You will be the first person in your group to own it, and everyone who needs one next will come to you. Your cost per use drops every time someone borrows it, and you help your neighbors avoid the same purchase.

Will Borrowed Tools Be in Worse Condition?

They can be, which is why condition photos and honest communication matter. Set expectations when you borrow, inspect the tool before you use it, and return it cleaner than you received it. The system works because people take care of each other's things. If a tool comes back damaged, that is a conversation worth having once so it does not happen again.

Related Reading

• New Homeowner Tool Guide
• Borrowing Etiquette
• How to Lend Confidently
• Pressure Washer Buying Guide