Construction tools: names, pictures and what each one is used for

Buy or hire, and how to tell

This is the only question that matters on the heavy end. A breaker, a floor saw and a mixer all cost more to own badly than to hire well, and hired kit arrives serviced with the blades and bits included.

The rough test is days per year. Anything you use more than about fifteen days a year is usually cheaper to own. Below that, hiring wins, and it wins even harder on anything with an engine, because the maintenance is somebody else's problem.

Buy the tools you use every day

Levels, hammers, tapes, a drill, a grinder, saws. These live in the van and pay for themselves in a fortnight.

Hire anything with an engine you rarely need

Wacker plates, floor saws, breakers, dumpers. Hire rates include servicing and consumables, and storage of a petrol machine is its own problem.

Buy access if you work at height weekly

A decent pair of trestles and a tower beats hiring for the tenth time in a year, and it means you can start when you arrive.

Hire the one big thing, then work around it

A single hire day with everything prepared beats three half days. Set out, break out and clear in one go.

Never hire consumables you use constantly

Diamond blades, breaker points and drill bits get charged at retail plus. Own the sizes you use weekly.

Getting it straight over long distances

A spirit level that is accurate over a metre tells you almost nothing over ten. Site accuracy comes from a different set of tools, and this is where most self build mistakes start.

The order is always the same: establish a datum, transfer it, then work to it. A laser level gives you a flat plane you can measure down from anywhere on the plot, which is how floors end up level and walls end up the same height.

One datum, marked and protected

Set a single reference height, mark it somewhere that will not move, and take every other level from it. Chains of measurements accumulate error.

A rotary laser for anything over a room

It sweeps a level plane across the whole site. Everything else is a compromise once you are outside a single room.

Check square with the three four five method

Three units along one side, four along the other, five across the diagonal means a right angle. It works at any scale and needs nothing but a tape.

Diagonals prove a rectangle

If both diagonals of a setting out match, it is square. Faster than checking four corners and harder to fool yourself with.

Profiles and string lines, not marks on the ground

Ground marks vanish the moment a digger arrives. Profile boards set back from the trench survive the dig.

Concrete and mortar without the panic

Concrete has a clock on it, and the clock starts when the water goes in. Nearly every bad pour is a tools problem rather than a mix problem: not enough hands, not enough barrows, or a compactor that turned up after the concrete went off.

So set everything out before mixing. Formwork braced, reinforcement supported off the base, tamping beam cut to length, floats within reach, and a plan for rain.

Have every tool laid out before the first mix

Once it is going off you cannot pause to look for a float. Rake, tamp, float, edger, all to hand.

Brace formwork for more force than you expect

Wet concrete is heavy and pushes hard. A blown shutter mid pour is unrecoverable in a way almost nothing else is.

Tamp to compact, float to finish

Tamping drives out air and brings the level up. Floating closes the surface. Doing them in the wrong order brings water to the top and weakens it.

Do not add water to make it workable

Extra water buys easy spreading and costs strength permanently. If it is too stiff, the mix was wrong, not the pour.

Cover a fresh slab

Concrete needs to cure slowly rather than dry fast. Sun and wind in the first day cause the cracking people blame on the mix.

Power tools that survive a site

Battery platform first, tools second

Pick one battery system and stay in it. Three chargers and four battery shapes in a van is how a working day gets lost.

Brushless matters more here than anywhere

Dust kills brushed motors, and site air is nothing but dust. Brushless tools last several times longer in this environment.

110 volt where the site demands it

Many commercial sites still require 110 volt through a transformer. That is a rule you will be sent home over rather than argued with.

Dust extraction is now a legal question

Silica dust from cutting and grinding causes permanent lung damage. On site work, on tool extraction and water suppression are expected rather than optional.

Match the bit and blade to the material

SDS for masonry, diamond for concrete and stone, abrasive for steel. Using the wrong one is slow at best and dangerous at worst.

The safety kit that is not negotiable

Building sites hurt people in four predictable ways: falls, dust, noise and things landing on feet. All four are cheap to prevent and expensive to repair, and three of them cause damage that never heals.

Falls first

Working platforms with edge protection, not a ladder and optimism. Most serious site injuries are falls from a height a person considered fine.

Dust masks that actually fit

An FFP3 mask against a beard or the wrong face shape leaks and protects nothing. Fit is the whole product.

Hearing damage is permanent and silent

Breakers and cut off saws exceed safe levels in seconds. Defenders live on the hard hat so there is no decision to make.

Boots with a midplate, not just a toe cap

A toe cap stops a dropped block. A midplate stops a nail through the sole, which is the more common injury.

Gloves for handling, off for machines

Blocks and steel need gloves. Rotating tools do not, because a caught glove takes the hand with it.

Mistakes that cost days

Setting out from an assumed square corner

Existing walls are rarely square. Check before you build to them, because everything after inherits the error.

Mixing before the formwork is braced

The pour will find the weak point, and you will be shovelling set concrete out of the wrong place.

Cutting concrete dry indoors

It fills the building with silica dust that hangs for hours. Water suppression or extraction, every time.

One tool for the whole job

A grinder will cut a slab eventually and destroy itself doing it. A hired floor saw does it in a tenth of the time.

Working off a ladder to save twenty minutes

The twenty minutes it takes to build the tower is the cheapest twenty minutes on the job.

No plan for the spoil

Every dig produces more material than expected, and a site with nowhere to put it grinds to a stop.

Frequently asked questions

What tools do I need to start on a construction site?

Boots with a toe cap and midplate, a hard hat, eye protection, gloves and ear defenders, plus a tape, a spirit level, a claw hammer, a utility knife, a chalk line and a cordless combi drill. Most trades add their own kit on top of that.

Should I buy or hire construction equipment?

Roughly, own anything you use more than fifteen days a year and hire the rest. Anything with an engine that you need occasionally, like a breaker, wacker plate or floor saw, is nearly always better hired, because the rate includes servicing and consumables.

What is the difference between construction tools and carpentry tools?

Carpentry tools are mostly about cutting and joining timber accurately. Construction tools cover the whole site, so they lead on setting out over long distances, concrete and masonry, access equipment, lifting and demolition. There is overlap in the hand tools.

What is a wacker plate used for?

Compacting hardcore, sub base or soil so it stops settling before you build or pave on it. Skipping compaction is why paths sink and slabs crack, and it cannot be fixed afterwards without taking the surface up.

Do I need a laser level or is a spirit level enough?

A spirit level is accurate over its own length. Once you are working across a room or a plot, a laser level gives you one flat plane to measure from, which is the only practical way to get floors level and walls the same height.

What is the difference between an SDS drill and a normal drill?

An SDS drill hammers as well as rotating, using a bit that slides in its chuck so the hammer blow reaches the tip. It goes through concrete and brick quickly, where a normal drill on hammer mode struggles and burns out.

Why is silica dust such a big deal?

Cutting or grinding concrete, brick and stone releases fine crystalline silica, which causes permanent lung scarring and is a known cause of cancer. You cannot feel the damage happening, which is why on tool extraction, water suppression and an FFP3 mask are expected on site.

What is the three four five method?

A way of setting out a right angle with nothing but a tape. Measure three units along one line, four along the other, and if the diagonal between them is exactly five units, the corner is square. It works at any scale as long as the ratio holds.

Can I use a grinder instead of hiring a floor saw?

For a short cut, yes. For anything long or deep it is a false economy, because a grinder cuts shallow, wanders, throws dust everywhere and wears out fast. A hired floor saw cuts straight, deep and with water suppression.

What is the difference between a tamping beam and a float?

A tamping beam is used first, dropped across the wet concrete to compact it and bring it to level. A float comes afterwards to close and smooth the surface. Floating too early brings water to the top and weakens the finish.

How much scaffolding can I put up myself?

Mobile towers are designed for competent assembly by the user, following the instructions and using the stabilisers. Tube and fitting scaffold is a trade in its own right and legally needs a competent scaffolder, not a confident builder.

What is the most useful tool people forget to bring?

A decent wheelbarrow and a shovel that suits the material. Every site moves far more stuff than anyone estimates, and a barrow with a flat tyre costs more time than any missing power tool.