7 of the Most Useless Home Improvement Tools Ever

Unless you’re just changing a lightbulb, when you need to fix something around the house, you’re probably not going to do it with your bare hands. That’s why all homeowners should have at least a basic toolkit with a hammer, screwdrivers, wrenches, and a few other items.

And yet, there are actually some tools out there that, contrary to their stated purpose, make projects even more complicated. Just so you know what to steer clear of and save your money, here’s a list of some of the most useless home improvement tools we’ve encountered.

An automatic hammer

Do you find drawing your arm back and swinging it forward to hammer a nailhead just too tiresome for words? Well worry no more, because Craftsman’s Nextec Hammerhead Auto-Hammer claims to do the work for you thanks to a battery-powered piston that attacks those nails a mind-boggling 3,600 times a minute.

The problem? According to a review in Popular Mechanics, it took more than twice the amount of time as a regular hammer and didn’t even drive the nails fully into the wood. It also costs $51 on Amazon.com, or about 10 times the price of a regular hammer. You’re better off swingin’ it old school.

A ‘smart’ paint roller

The Wagner Smart Edge Roller bills itself as a way to make painting easier by skipping that pesky step of dipping your roller in paint. Just load your paint into the handle! It also supposedly eliminates the need for taping off where you want the color to end, because it has three “microbrushes” that allow you to paint a clean edge. But a slew of angry product reviewers beg to differ.

“Does not work,” “don’t expect even painting,” “added more time to my project,” “absolute junk,” and “total waste of money” are just a few comments left by reviewers. Nonetheless, if you feel like frustrating your next painting project, you can do so for $19.97 at Amazon.com.

A magnetic tool belt for your arm

The Tool Band-it is a magnetic armband that tools, nails, screws, and anything metal can stick to while you’re doing repairs. This is one of those tools you’ll use once and toss back in the shed and forget about. What if a tool slips off and hits your foot? Do you not have pockets? A box? Or why not just invest in a real tool belt? But if you want to live on the edge, you can get the armband for $13 from Amazon.com.

Star bit identifier

Your driver bits come in a box. The box is marked with the size of the bit. Why would you need an additional tool to tell you the size of the bit? Unless you have a whole box of loose bits, this is basically a useless tool for your collection. Nonetheless, if you’re still inspired to pick this baby up, the OEM star bit identifier is available for $8.52 from Amazon.com.

A faster adjustable wrench

This Craftman Mach adjustable wrench is supposed to employ a quick ratcheting system via a thumb slide to lock onto bolts for “5X faster use”—hence the “Mach” moniker. But reviewers say it works at nothing like Mach speed. (Besides, is wrench adjustment really that slow to begin with?)

According to ToolGuyD, “The wrench is thick, feels clunky, and it took me 10 tries to get it to work just once.” Most of the reviews on Amazon say it breaks easily and is basically a piece of junk. Break this wrench at Mach speed for $22.25 from Amazon.com.

A flowery hammer/screwdriver combo

Hammers are just so … plain. But they don’t have to be. They can sport flowers galore if you buy Papa John’s silk flower hammer, which is not only painted with flowers, but also has a screwdriver hiding in the base. We assume this Papa John isn’t also delivering pizza, just slightly sexist products. But hey, if you’re into this, it’s $10.67 from Amazon.com.

Magnetic stud finder app

So instead of buying an $8 magnetic stud finder, you can turn your $600 phone into one. Sort of. One user said she “got a higher reading when moving it over my dog than anything metal.” If you, too, want to scan your dog for hidden studs, check it out for free at the Google Play Store.

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