Arun,
I am not a professional tradesman, just an enthusiastic DIYer. When finishing off my basement I learned an important lesson about power tools. But first some background.
My basement has a 9’ ceiling, so as basements go, it is nice and tall. The downside is that all my plumbing and even the electric for our septic was run under the joists instead of running through the joists. This initially posed a problem for installing a ceiling.
My solution was to attach 2x2 strips under the joists and just
skip a section where a pipe or electrical wire was in the way. I ordered a bunch of 2x2s, cut to length and then used a pair of battery operated drills—one a drill for drilling a pilot hole and another impact driver for drilling in the actual screw to hold up the 2x2.
Here is where I learned my lesson. I am prone to want the biggest, most powerful power tool on the market (or at least in my battery platform). Worse, when I get the batteries for these tools I am never satisfied with a 2 amp hour battery, I want the 4-6 amp hour battery! The bigger the better right?
It turns out not. These tools were totally unsuited for screwing in 2x2s overhead. They were far too overpowered and HEAVY in that overhead, awkward position. After only putting up a couple 2x2s I realized how impractical my big 18 volt power tools were. I went out to the
local Home Depot and bought a set of Ridgid 12 volt drills—one drill and one impact driver with charger and 2 batteries—mostly on a spontaneous impulse. They weigh about 1/3 the weight of the 18 volt hammer drill I was using prior. These two little drills were just what I needed—a pair of small-but-powerful, lightweight tools that wouldn’t be too awkward using directly overhead while standing on a stepladder.
In the end I learned that bigger is not always better and you really want the right tool for the job. These two little 12 volt drills are now my go-to drills for most of my around-the-house drilling tasks, I save the big drills for big jobs.
Eric
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