Britain loves a project. Tool buying guides, product comparisons and the practical questions worth answering before you spend — with spring through the May bank holidays still the busiest stretch of the year.
Halfords’ best-selling Advanced socket set, checked against Auto Express’s test of its 200-piece sibling, a 2026 owners’ thread and 896 Halfords ratings. What the lifetime guarantee leaves out, what is missing, and why to buy only at half price.
Bosch's eighth-generation IXO has replaced the IXO 7. We pull together a side-by-side workshop test, Parkers' hands-on review and 31 Screwfix buyers, price the adapters, and set out exactly where a screwdriver stops and a drill starts.
A US jobsite test, UK woodworkers and 66 Screwfix buyers agree the FatMax 8m blade stays straight a long way out. Stanley UK says 3m standout, shops say up to 3.5m, and the guarantee is one year. Prices run £14.99 to £24.95.
Two US bench tests, ToolGuyd and 455 UK buyer ratings agree the DCW210 has power and low vibration. The catch is weight with a 5.0Ah pack — buy it bare if you already own DeWalt 18V XR batteries.
The PST 18 LI has gone from Bosch’s UK range; the UniversalSaw 18V-100 replaces it on the same Power for All battery. Two German magazine tests, hundreds of buyer ratings, and why the kit can cost less than the bare tool.
Three sources on Bosch's entry blue combi drill: a trade-press installer test, a four-week hands-on blog and 22 dated retailer ratings. Whose 55 Nm that is, which battery the weight includes, and why the B&Q listing you pick matters more than the drill.
B&Q sells the DCD796 in nine configurations and the specification changes with the listing. We set out whose 70Nm figure that is, which battery each weight includes, what B&Q puts in the box, and the one complaint both testers make.
B&Q lists the Makita DHP485 under four different codes at four different prices. Three sources — a magazine test of the sibling model, a trade supplier’s range guide and 59 retailer ratings — agree on the drill and disagree on the torque.
A combi or an unvented cylinder rules you out — over 12 litres a minute off the mains is notifiable work. If you do have a loft tank, the bar rating on the box is measured with the water switched off.
One type does most UK household jobs, and Screwfix sell a good one for £24.99. The decision that actually matters is the dust: the bag on the back is not extraction, and HSE are blunt about what wood dust does.
DeWalt's own FlexVolt page proves it: one battery is 12Ah at 18V or 4Ah at 54V, and 216Wh either way. Buy on watt-hours, a brushless motor and a battery platform you can afford to feed — spare packs run £39.95 to £129.99.
Checked and confirmed trading in September 2026, owned by Highbourne Group since 2022. Free parcel delivery, 365 days to change your mind, 4.8/5 from 77,295 Trustpilot reviews — but you pay to send it back, and a specialist courier wants £99 for a bath.
Nine UK DIY sites checked in September 2026: delivery costs, click and collect, and who pays return postage. The law gives you 14 days and hands you the postage — which is why collection beats delivery. Plus the site we recommended in 2021 that has been dissolved since 2023.
A £99.99 brushless 18V combi out-torques every corded percussion drill we priced and weighs half as much. The corded tool still worth owning is an SDS hammer: 8 joules at £74.99 against 2 joules at £99.99 bare.
Two quotes for the same roofline can differ by two thousand pounds, and it is almost never about the plastic. Sourced UK installed costs, uPVC board prices from four suppliers, the ventilation rule and the cap-over-rot trap.
Room temperature decides compressor or desiccant. And a 20-litre machine puts out about eight litres a day in a real British house — the box figure is measured somewhere you do not live.
