Just purchased our first house - Looking for a good reliable drill

Posted 30th Jan 2023

Hi all

Sorry if this has been asked a million times.

We just purchased our first property woo. I'm looking for a drill for everyday use for things around the house. At the moment It would just be for drilling holes in walls to put up shelves, pictures frames etc. In the summer months I'd like to try make a little area for my BBQ and Pizza oven out of wood pellets to.

I know the brands etc but any specific models, drill attachments etc would be incredibly helpful as I know nothing about any of this haha

18 Comments

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30th Jan
I wouldn't bother with batteries personally unless you're using it regularly. A corded drill is also a fair bit cheaper.
30th Jan
Bosch Brushless Combi Drill & Impact Driver Set 18V 2x1.5Ah - £84.31 with code (UK Mainland) @ iforce_marketzone/ebay | hotukdeals

Bosch 70-Pieces X-Line Titanium Drill and Screwdriver Bit Set (for Wood, Masonry and Metal, Accessories Drills) : Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

Congrats on the house. (edited)
30th Jan
A combi drill is okay for most jobs when you just want a ‘do everything’ drill, but its not great at anything specifically.

Trades will typically have a big SDS drill for making holes and an impact driver for putting fixings in. Maybe a compact 12v for kitchen fitting etc.

This is just my opinion, but if you’re starting out and you think you may expand your tool collection in the future its worth going for a brand with a wide selection of tools on the single battery platform. It is annoying having lots of different batteries and chargers and none of them are compatible.

Some fanboys will say, get Makita, Milwaukee, or Dewalt, or Ryobi or whatever. There’s not really a huge difference especially at the basic DIY range. Go for one that has a good range of tools that are VFM and you can expand if you want to in the future.

If it were me, I would probably choose Makita as their garden tools are compatible with their LXT batteries and are very reasonably priced.
Author
30th Jan
I had been thinking of either this Makita DHP453F001 18V 2 x 3.0Ah Li-Ion LXT Cordless Combi Drill | Combi Drills | Screwfix.com

or this

Einhell PXC 18V Cordless Brushless Combi Drill 2 x 2.0Ah - £69.33 using promo code delivered @ Toolstation | hotukdeals
30th Jan
Lidl sometimes sell drills and come with a 3 year warranty. Acceptable quality for general DIY. (edited)
30th Jan
we have a bosch cordless which works really well for most things.

It is really helpful to have a drill which you do not need to plug into a wall socket / find an extension lead etc

However, for drilling hard metal / brick you would probably be better off with a mains drill.

We have both - the cordless one is the one that we use for most things and we use a mains one for hard materials.
30th Jan
Any corded drill will see you through. But if you want convenience and some future toys that are compatible the m12 series from Milwaukee are great, and the batteries fit into all sorts of tools! Great for Xmas gifts etc!!
30th Jan
We bought a combi twin set from wickes, wickes own brand, cordless with 2 batteries and a charger, £90 back then, does everything in the house and has done multiple things outside such as decking, impact driver with a drill just makes life so much easier when putting things up and as a casual diy these do the job perfect and still going strong 5 years later

We got a Bosch bit set for the impact driver and a Bosch drill bit set, works perfect (edited)
30th Jan
Bought a combi drill & driver cordless from Aldi. About £100 as I remember. Really surprised by the quality and find them incredibly useful. Would add I also have a corded hammer drill for the heavy stuff. The cordless drill does have a hammer setting but you just can't compare it with the corded.
30th Jan
I would say go Lidl cordless. Their tools are decent and others at this price point rarely come with a 3 year guarantee like theirs do. You will be able to add to the range as you need it. Often their tools sit for sometime before running out of stock and get discounted. Worth keeping an eye for this. They do bit sets at very competitive prices also. I've not used their drill bits, but have used other tool accessories and they were very good
31st Jan
Be sure to get one with a keyless chuck. That way you won't ever have to worry about losing the chuck key!
31st Jan
Old Bosch corded hammer drill here, only mains power will tackle our hard brick walls. Handy Bosch cordless drill in the toolbag for all the small jobs.
31st Jan
It too sure if any of this is relevant but I have a corded Makita impact drill for those really tough jobs, it’s not SDS but really does make making holes in say concrete super easy. Also have a Bosch and a Black & Decker cordless, non hammer for odd jobs in and around the house.
31st Jan
We have a Ryobi cordless drill that we bought when we built our house extension 20 years ago. It came with 2 batteries so you never have to wait for it to recharge and it has been man enough for some really heavy jobs. We love it so much that we bought each of our kids one when they left home. Whatever you buy if it is cordless make sure it comes with 2 batteries.
31st Jan
Have a look on the toolstation site or local store. Some good offers on power tools, inc dewalt, milwaukee, makita etc. They are 20 year old this year. So have some very good deals.