Whether you’re looking for the perfect gift for a home improvement lover or you’re looking for something fun and new to use for yourself to fix up your home, the items below will work wonders for you. Many of them are small enough to easily carry around, and with the technology they use it will take the guess work out of having to do it all yourself. There are many new tech gadgets coming out for home improvement, and these are just some of the best.
1) Skil Digital Angle Finder ($59.99) – Remember those little leveling guides with the small vial of yellow liquid, where you place it on something and wait for the little bubble in the yellow liquid to settle? Well those days are over … sort of. The Skil digital angle finder gives you a digital display of the measurements, but also has the yellow liquid vial as well to give you horizontal and vertical angles. The LCD screen will show you the measurements and calculations of the angle, and has a miter button which will calculate miter angle into miter saw angle. It takes out the guesswork of making sure something will be level.
www.skiltools.com
2) Robomow ($1,000-$3,000, varies by model) – This robotic lawn mower can save you the hours you would otherwise spend cutting the grass. Improve the look of your lawn by letting someone, or in this case, something else do it. You will still get a perfectly mowed lawn, without having to put in all of the effort. While it is cutting your lawn you can spend your time improving other things around your house. It is also environmentally friendly, since it runs on batteries. It definitely isn’t the cheapest thing around, but it is cool and can save you tons of time. It is also very handy for people with disabilities who can’t get out to cut their lawn on their own. You don’t have to worry about bothering your neighbors because it’s quieter than a regular lawnmower, and if someone picks it up the blades stop in less than a second, so there’s no need to worry about kids playing with it and getting hurt.
www.robomow.com
3) Milwaukee M12 Drill ($79 -$149, varies by size) – This is a cordless drill that weighs less than 3 pounds, and does more than probably any drill you currently have in your toolbox. It can even break through concrete. When you’re doing home improvement, this drill can take a lot of the hard work out of jobs, and will allow you to do things you thought you needed to hire people for. It has a fuel gauge so you can keep track of how much time you have left before the battery dies, and since it is cordless you can easily bring it to the job site without dealing with extension cords. Since it is so strong, anyone can use it to drill holes in normally difficult areas.
www.milwaukeetool.com
4) Skil Self-Leveling Cross Line Laser ($89.98) – If you are looking to get perfect alignment on any home improvement job, this gadget is great. It shoots out a laser, giving you a perfectly straight line to work from. It can give you horizontal, vertical, and cross lines to meet your needs for the job. It runs on your basic AA batteries, so no need for fancy batteries or equipment, and it comes with a tripod to help you set it wherever you need.
www.skiltools.com
5) Dremel 7700 7.2V Cordless MultiPro Kit ($44.98) – The Cordless MultiPro is perfect for little at-home jobs. Part of its beauty is that it is cordless, so you can just grab it and go, without having to find a plug that will reach to where you are. It has two speeds, 10,000 rpm and 20,000 rpm, so you can pick whichever you need for the job. You can buy it alone, but I suggest buying the kit, which includes all of the attachments you could ever need. Some of the attachments include: a lawnmower and garden tool sharpener, sanding drum, mandrels, grinding stones, and more. You can use it to drill holes into walls or wood, or sand down something made of wood in your home. It can fulfill many of your home improvement needs, and keep your other tools sharp.
www.dremel.com
6) Cooper Lighting Might D Worklight ($49.99) – Forget flashlights; this work light will get the job done and put a flash light to shame. You can sit it wherever you are working in your home and it will fully light up the area without overheating. It is perfect when you are working on something under your sink, behind something, or anywhere that doesn’t get enough light for you to properly see. It’s equipped with 80 LED lights, but they never need to be replaced, and it even has magnetic strips so it can attach to most metal areas. The rechargeable unit is cordless, and it folds up so it is easy to take around with you. This light will make sure that whatever you are trying to fix in your home will be done right, because you will have a fully lit up view of the area.
www.cooperlighting.com
7) Neiko Stainless Steel Digital Caliper with Extra-Large LCD Screen ($15.99 to $25.90): If you want to have exact measuring in a small area this caliper what you have been looking for, and at a very reasonable price. It comes in 2 sizes, 6 inch and 12 inch, so you can pick the one that fits your needs. This is perfect when you need exact measurement for smaller spaces. The LCD screen that shows you the measurements is large, with large print numbers so it is easy to read. It’s made of stainless steel, and when you want to switch from inches to millimeters you only have to push one button. You can get your more precise measurements than if you tried to do it yourself, and get them done quickly so you can go on with the job.
www.toolplanet.com
8) KINTREX IRT0421 Non-Contact Infrared Thermometer with Laser Targeting ($48.45 on Amazon) – This thermometer is perfect for many home improvement jobs. If you are working on an area that could possibly be too hot, this thermometer can check the temperature without you having to touch it and burn yourself. Certain pipes, lights, wires, or car parts can be at too high of a temperature for you to handle, but this device takes out the guessing work. It is even great for jobs as simple as changing a light bulb to check if it’s cool enough to touch. It can record a temperature of up to 932 degrees Fahrenheit, and all the way down to -76 degrees Fahrenheit, and it takes on average 1 second to do so. Pretty impressive.
www.kintrex.com
9) iRobot Scooba ($300-$499.99, varies by model) – This is one of the coolest tech gadgets I have used so far. The iRobot Scooba will clean your floors for you! I know it might just make you feel lazy, but it’s actually a very useful tool. In many cases it will clean a floor in a much more sanitary way than most people do themselves. It takes out all of the prep working of washing your floor by sweeping up any crumbs or other items that might be on your floor; it then washes the floor and dries it for you. This helps to stop germs or bacteria that might build up on a wet floor, and allows you to walk on your floor right after it’s cleaned without having to wait for it to dry. You can use their Scooba Hard Floor Cleaner, or just use water or a water and vinegar mixture. This will help improve your home by getting your floors clean and sanitized, while saving you time. Their 230 model is their smallest yet, and can go into very small and tight corners, so it’s able to easily clean behind toilet bowls or sinks.
www.irobot.com
10) Ryobi Tek4 Lithium 4 Volt Stud Finder ($49.97) – If you need a stud finder, then look no further than this one. A stud finder if a device that will find the metal studs that lie behind your walls, without you having to guess or make pointless holes in your walls. Don’t let the semi-high price tag scare you off when you are comparing it to other stud finders. If you’re standing in Home Depot you will see ones that are much cheaper, but save yourself some time and don’t bother with them. I have bought 3 other, cheaper stud finders and had to return them all. This one did the trick, and it didn’t take long at all for it to detect the studs.
www.ryobitools.com
