10 Ryobi Tools That Will Come In Handy For Flipping Houses

One of the most important factors in house flipping is budget. If one is capable of performing repairs and renovations, costs involved in hiring outside contractors and professionals can be kept to a minimum. The money saved in doing so ends up going a long way toward making a profit on a flip. But what about the tools involved?

When the list of necessary equipment is being made before a flip, the flipper's own tools are a given. Most flippers have a set of equipment ready for most problems and tasks that pop up during the job. But there are always more tools out there, and Ryobi is one of the biggest toolmakers in the game. There are a number of reasons to go with the bright green brand — its tools are affordable, reliable, and available at one of the most widespread home improvement stores in the U.S. If a problem with a tool arises, the solution is often as simple as taking the tool to the nearest Home Depot and exchanging it within the first 90 days of ownership under warranty. Most of the tools on our list are covered by Ryobi's three-year limited warranty on ONE+ tools as well.

While we are assuming that our readers have the basics covered, we'd like to suggest some tools that may come in handy for that next flip. They aren't mandatory, but they can go a long way in making the work easier, faster, and more comfortable.

If there's one constant in renovation, it's the humble caulk gun. Some form of caulk or adhesive is used in nearly every room of a house, for everything from draft control to waterproofing. And after manually pumping tube after tube of the versatile product, fatigue will set in, and those perfect beads one was producing at 6AM become lazy smears twelve hours later.

For those days when your grip is failing before you even make it to the job site, consider this 10-Ounce Caulk and Adhesive Gun from Ryobi. The 18V pistol provides relief and consistency for any project, as it has a variable speed dial, 500 pounds of push force, and the ability to dispense over 200 10-ounce tubes of product on a single battery charge. The auto-retract feature all but eliminates build-up at the tip of tubes, but when it doesn't, the gun is powerful enough to unclog most jams. Its price is also incredibly reasonable, just $60 for the bare tool at The Home Depot.

Forum users on Reddit and elsewhere swear by battery-powered caulk guns in general, and this Ryobi ONE+ gun in particular, as fantastic additions to their toolboxes. Whether one is looking at a small-scale job with thick epoxy or hundreds of feet of baseboards to caulk, the Ryobi ONE+ Caulk and Adhesive Gun can be a life-saver.

There's no "right season" to start work on flipping a house –- often, it's whenever that house you've been eyeing finally hits the market. That can mean working during the hottest parts of the year, often in a building with minimal ventilation and no power. Ryobi manufactures its fair share of large air cannons for both ventilation and a welcome breeze — but we're going to focus on a smaller, more personal item.

When it comes to personal relief from high temperatures, a mister can provide far better relief than a fan alone. The Ryobi Whisper Series 7.5" Bucket Top Misting Fan provides the benefits of a mister and a fan -– it's a small personal fan that doubles as a mister, and is designed to mount right on top of a five-gallon Homer bucket. The integrated hose can be dropped into the bucket or attached directly to a garden hose to provide up to 14 feet of mist for over five hours on a fully-charged ONE+ 6.0Ah battery. As part of Ryobi's Whisper series, this fan is also 44% quieter than similar Ryobi products, allowing users to hear over the fan even if it's just a couple of feet away.

At just over $70 for the fan at Home Depot, it can be a hard sell for the tightest of budgets. But the Ryobi Bucket Top Misting Fan is a tool that will come in handy time and time again when one is working in a hot, gutted house in the middle of July.

Concrete patios or composite decking can be trouble spots in a flip. Often they are not in bad enough condition to warrant a complete teardown and replacement, but are still an eyesore in need of a deep cleaning and some repair. And while a power washer and a few buckets of stain are often all one needs, sometimes a more delicate approach is required. But getting on one's hands and knees with a scrub brush for hours at a time isn't the only solution.

The Ryobi 18V ONE+ Outdoor Patio Cleaner makes hand-scrubbing a thing of the past. This unique addition to Ryobi's lineup is a rotating brush with stiff bristles for cleaning, making dirt and grime disappear. It's great on patios, driveways, walkways, pavers, decks, and garage floors. The included nylon brush rotates to loosen and remove debris, and using the tool with a cleaning solution and water is okay because it's waterproof. There are also available heads for deep scouring and for use on wood decks.

The design of the tool allows for comfortable usage, with a secondary handle and telescoping pole allowing for an easy grip on the lightweight scrubber. Priced at under $100 at Home Depot, it's an investment that will save time cleaning up outdoor areas again and again.

Landscape work can be one of the more easily overlooked parts of flipping a house. The yard is often in as bad, or worse, shape than the house itself, but experienced flippers know that the outside of the house gives an important first impression to potential buyers. And even though landscapers are often hired for most of the larger jobs like sod-laying and garden-building, it's often more budget-friendly to take care of lawn maintenance oneself, especially when the work is done and the home is on the market. The increase in curb appeal that a well-manicured lawn provides cannot be overstated.

The Ryobi 40V HP Brushless 15" Carbon Fiber Shaft String Trimmer has a number of improvements over Ryobi's older models. The carbon fiber shaft significantly reduces the tool's overall weight, minimizing fatigue. As a kit with a battery and charger, the tool runs about $180 at Home Depot.

The included 40V 4Ah battery provides over 72 minutes of runtime while providing more power than a 25cc gas-powered trimmer. Additionally, Ryobi's EXPAND-IT lineup offers multiple attachments that can turn the string trimmer into a pole saw, edger, gutter blower, and more — all handy tools to have available in the house-flipping business.

Powered by up to eight 6Ah or 12Ah 18-volt batteries, the Ryobi 18V ONE+ 1800-watt power station is a silent alternative to noisy, emission-producing gas generators — the kind one should never be using indoors in the first place. The power station provides up to 3000 starting watts of power and 1800 watts of continuous power. Using eight 12Ah batteries, the station generates enough juice to run a full-sized refrigerator for up to 28 hours! It also serves as a sequential charging station that can run off a wall outlet, car adapter, or solar panel, and allows monitoring of power output, and battery level via a handy phone app.

Gas generators often produce "dirty" energy, making them less desirable for powering sensitive electronics like cell phones or laptops, but the Ryobi Power Station uses pure sine wave tech to generate clean energy. The unit has three standard 120V AC outlets and a pair each of USB-A, fast charge USB-A, and USB-C outlets to provide DC output, all in a portable device with a built-in handle and LCD screen to monitor battery life and charging.

Gas-powered generators are not likely to be completely replaced anytime soon, and a reliable source of power is often a requirement during a house flip, even if one is primarily using rechargeable power tools. However, Ryobi's 18V ONE+ 1800-Watt Power Station provides a different power solution than those noisy power plants, and with a Home Depot price tag of $650, it's comparable in price to many well-reviewed gas generators.

Electrostatic sprayers have been around for a while now, but they became especially popular during the pandemic because of their ability to cover large, intricate areas with disinfectant quickly. The sprayer works by applying an electrical charge to aerosols as they pass through the tool's nozzle, improving a cleaning solution or chemical's ability to adhere to surfaces while also reducing the amount of chemical required.

However, these sprayers can be used for a number of other applications, as well. Applying antimicrobial sprays to moldy areas prior to cleaning or demo work can improve air quality and lessen risk. Pesticides can also be liberally applied prior to working in dark or musty areas to limit the amount of critters one may encounter, and landscaping applications include the application of herbicides to limit unwanted plant growth.

Ryobi's ONE+ 18V Cordless Electrostatic 0.5 Gallon Sprayer handles all these jobs in a versatile, lightweight package. The tool has a range of from two to ten feet, and can spray up to 30 gallons on a single battery charge. Three different droplet sizes are available at the twist of the spray nozzle collar, and the tool is compatible with dozens of cleaning solutions from a number of manufacturers. The included half-gallon tank provides a good balance between capacity and handheld weight as well, keeping even a full sprayer under ten pounds.

Priced at $100 at The Home Depot, it's another versatile Ryobi tool that fits into the ONE+ system while also proving its value to house flippers with a number of practical uses in and around the property.

When you're flipping a house, it's important to save money wherever possible. A frosty beverage on a hot summer day is as much of a necessity as a sledge hammer in the demo phase of the flip, but when the power hasn't been turned on yet or the appliances haven't been delivered, it doesn't make sense to run to the gas station every time one gets a little thirsty — that's a waste of time AND money.

With that in mind, here's a tool many of us would never even have thought exists – a portable power cooler. Ryobi's 18V ONE+ 24-Quart Hybrid Power Cooler has enough room for 40 cans, and the ability to hold temperatures as low as -4F for 35 hours with a pair of 8Ah batteries. It's even got a built-in bottle opener, and a USB-A port to charge small electronics. As a hybrid model, the cooler can also be plugged into a wall outlet or generator, and includes a car power port adapter as well.

The Ryobi Power Cooler has a pretty steep price tag — $500 at Home Depot. But when one considers the versatility of a cooler that can keep an entire day's worth of food frozen solid, while still being portable enough to take to the beach after the work day is done, it might just be worth it. After all, one needs to be comfortable when putting the hours in or the whole process of house flipping can quickly become a miserable endeavor.

An oscillating multi-tool was a late addition to the author's personal tool kit, and one they've often regretted not purchasing sooner. For a house flip, this versatile little gadget is a blessing, making otherwise tedious tasks like stripping window frames, removing old grout or construction adhesive, cutting PVC pipe, and trimming baseboards quick and easy.

The Ryobi 18V ONE+ Brushless Multi-Tool does all the things one expects a multi-tool to do, but has enough bells and whistles to stand out among the pack. Updated with a brushless motor, this tool cuts 80% faster than its predecessor while also providing 2.5 times more cuts on a single battery charge. Its 3.8-degree oscillation angle allows for 30% faster cutting speeds, but the tool also incorporates an adjustable speed dial for sanding or cutting a variety of materials.

A slide-on power switch eliminates the need to hold a trigger down during work, and there's even a built-in LED to help illuminate dark areas while getting things done. It's also compatible with most other manufacturers' multi-tool accessories, in case one has some leftover parts from that cheaper model that burnt out.

With a variety of uses and a ton of available accessories, the Ryobi Multi-Tool is a great addition to any flipper's tool kit, and at $130 at Home Depot, it's practically a must-buy — especially if one is already invested in the ONE+ battery system.

One would be shocked at the number of times one measures and re-measures areas during a flip. Whether you're trying to measure a room quickly to place a flooring order, or making sure those new cabinets or furniture fit in the available space, the old tape measure is usually the default tool. However, Ryobi makes a handy little device that can save a ton of time while also offering incredible precision.

The Ryobi 65' Laser Distance Measurer is able to instantly measure up to 65' at the press of a button, with a +/- 5/64" accuracy range. Designers were smart enough to incorporate the unit itself in its measurements, allowing users to wedge the tool in cramped areas and still get an accurate reading without having to remember to add the length of the tool to the total — a measurement your author frequently overlooks. The pocket-sized measurer also has the ability to lock in a previous measurement, perfect for calculating square footage by locking in, for example, east/west measurements before measuring north/south. The time saved reeling in and reading a long, thick 65' tape measure, as well as the extra hand often needed in measuring longer distances, is well worth the $45 that Home Depot asks for this convenient measurer.

One reality of house flipping is that you're trusting a lot of value to be stored in the shell of a home — many flippers have lost thousands of dollars in tools because they never considered that even though they locked the doors for the night, that sheet of plastic or plywood over the basement window isn't exactly a theft deterrent. If one has the ability to take one's tools home, or even just store them in a vehicle or locked shed at the end of the day, one should.

Ryobi's rolling tool storage solution helps make that task far faster and easier. The Ryobi Link Rolling Tool Box features plenty of storage for bits and accessories, and the top integrates a Lego-like surface to solidly connect additional boxes onto this rolling storage unit. The company produces boxes of various sizes, from regular top-locking totes to setups with drawers for smaller hand tools or accessories. The full Ryobi Link system also offers plenty of garage or basement storage solutions, making one seamless storage system for all those Ryobi products we've listed today. The Rolling Tool Box, which currently costs $90 at Home Depot, is a great place to start if one is looking to establish a mobile storage system for house-flipping security.

While Ryobi does indeed offer hundreds of tools for a variety of trades and applications, we at SlashGear attempted to make our "flip list" unique by offering a selection of tools the traditional house-flipper may not have considered. In the assembly of this list, SlashGear assumes the reader has the basics needed for the job — tools for electrical work, demolition, assembly, painting, sanding, plumbing, and construction.

The author has used a number of these tools, alongside the aforementioned basics, in the flipping of three properties. Two were in Illinois, where he learned on the job with his dad and uncle as a teen and in his early twenties. Those lessons proved useful when purchasing a home in Colorado a decade later, when a foreclosure became an opportunity to show off those house-flipping skills to his new wife — after all, what's a renovation but a house flip that simply hasn't been put on the market yet?