I built Patio to make DIY more accessible and sustainable.
It’s a community-powered platform where you can:
Rent tools from people nearby
Learn DIY through curated tutorials and guides
Find or list surplus materials to save money and reduce waste
Browse home improvement news in one place
It’s early, but live — would love your feedback on the experience, especially around search, learning, and marketplace usability.
Thanks! — Julien
I do a lot of DIY and tend to acquire a lot of the tools I use if I think they are generic enough or I’ll repeat a similar job in the future but there’s also jobs I do where I’ll happily borrow from a friend. For example, I just built a small privacy fence that needed 5 posts cemented in. For that, I wanted to use a post hole digger. It’s very unlikely I’ll build another fence any time soon and a post hole digger takes up enough space that I don’t want to buy one and keep one. It’s also like $50.
If I didn’t know a friend who just built a new fence and had one but had an option of renting one from a guy down the street for $10, that’s what I’d do. And I’d be so happy I didn’t just spent $50 and then have to either store a tool that’s never used again or try to sell it.
I think DIY is growing, it’s a great way to save money and it’s only becoming easier with YouTube to help you through most any job. Good luck with the site!
Unfortunately, not every city or neighborhood has a tool library yet. That’s one of the reasons we built Patio — to make tools more accessible wherever you are. We’re also working with tool libraries to feature their listings and provide tools to help manage inventory, grow memberships, and reach more people.
If you’re interested in collaborating, feel free to reach out at julien@patio.so — would love to chat!
We’re also adding ways to flag higher-risk tools, so if you’re just starting a library, you can focus on safer, high-demand items first. Really appreciate you bringing this up — both access and safety are key to getting this right.
I do worry about failure of the cutting disk if it was abused so maybe you have to sell people a new disk as part of the rental.
None of them would want to not own tools they use even semi regularly and for insurance purposes (and peace of mind) they would almost certainly have to hire tools they don’t own from a rental company and they will just pass the rental cost on to the client.
Most consumable parts can be excluded from lending. Batteries are trickier.
Tangent on DIY... I keep trying and keep needing to call in a professional eventually when I get out of my depth or break something worse. Or youtube isn't quite right.
Youtube seems to only have stuff that's recent. If your model isn't in the last 5-10 years or built that recently. Like I was trying swap out some light switches, on youtube it looked easy, the actual box in the wall I have looked different i guess because it was wired almost 40 years ago now.
What would be an amazing resource is someway to ask a pro for like 10 min so I can go do it my self with some clear personalized instructions. That would probably be expensive since labor is the expensive part of almost every job though.
We’re actually working on a way to get quick guidance, just enough to help you finish the job confidently without hiring it all out. Stay tuned — we’re launching something soon to help with exactly that!
We’re also going a step further with our quiz section — think of it as Duolingo for home improvement. Instead of just watching tutorials, you learn step-by-step through interactive quizzes across topics like plumbing, electrical, carpentry, and more. It’s early days, but the goal is to make learning and doing as seamless as possible.
I wish you luck!
Totally agree that in rural areas, direct relationships with neighbors are often the go-to. One thing we hope Patio can help with even in those settings is simply making it easier to know who has what — sometimes your neighbor might have the exact tool you need, but you'd never know to ask. By listing tools, even if it's just to lend or rent for free, it helps avoid unnecessary purchases for tools you’ll only use once or twice.
And like you said, the tutorials and DIY “recipes” are useful anywhere — that’s a big part of our mission too. Thanks again for the kind words and support!
My initial reaction at being dumped on the "Explore" section was "this is just a spammy pinterest style link aggregator thing".
Our goal is to build a platform where people can learn, educate, rent, and share tools within a community that loves DIY. The “Explore” section is part of our effort to surface great tutorials and ideas, but we hear you — the rental experience should be front and center.
We’re working on making that more clear from the start. Thanks again for the insight — it really helps us improve.
Seeing the rental and more community features would be best, then when you like the concept/community it makes sense to get invested in the posted articles because you've seen the site is active with people.
Love the idea, I really hope it all takes off!
We’re working on bringing the rental and community features to the forefront so it’s clear from the start what Patio is about. In a world flooded with AI content, we get that leading with articles can feel impersonal without context.
The goal is to build trust through people and tools first — then let the content support that experience. Thanks for the kind words and thoughtful feedback!
Patio is a community-driven platform that helps people rent and share tools locally while also discovering DIY tutorials and resources. We focus on trust with verified profiles, user reviews, and local connections.
We're also working on adding insurance options to better protect tool owners and renters, along with features like ID verification and deposits to reduce risk.
If you’re interested or have ideas, feel free to reach out at julien@patio.so — would love to chat!
You're absolutely right about the nav getting lost — we’re working on improving the contrast and layout so it’s clear from the start that Patio is more than just content aggregation.
In addition to tutorials and articles, Patio includes a marketplace where people can rent tools and share or sell surplus building materials. There’s also a quiz section designed like Duolingo, where users can learn DIY skills interactively — from electrical and plumbing to woodworking and more.
Were you on mobile or desktop when you noticed the issue? That’ll really help us improve the experience. Thanks again for the great insight!
But how do you counter fraud and theft as this scales? Or is the earnest placed onto the host of the tool to protect their property.
As for fraud and theft, that’s a key challenge as we grow. Right now, we focus on building trust through verified profiles, user reviews, and local connections. But we’re also actively working on adding insurance options, deposits, and ID verification to better protect tool owners.
We believe people should feel safe sharing their tools — and we’re designing the platform so that responsibility doesn’t fall solely on the host. More to come on that soon!
I kid, I kid, looks good though, how many users do you have already? I assume you need quite a network effect to be able to borrow tools for example.
You’re totally right: the rental side definitely benefits from network effects, which is why we’re building more than just a rental marketplace. Alongside that, we’ve launched DIY interactive duolingo style quizzes, project ideas, and launching material surplus and tools marketplace — so there’s real value for users even before there’s a large local inventory.
As for users, we’re still early but growing steadily — especially in communities wanting to connect around shared DIY interests. Appreciate the encouragement!
Right now, we’re working on adding features like optional insurance, deposits, and ID verification to help protect both owners and renters. The goal is to make sure there’s a clear, fair process in place when things go wrong — especially with high-value tools.
Ultimately, we want to build a platform where trust is backed by real safeguards, not just good intentions. If you’ve got ideas or want to chat more about this, feel free to reach out at julien@patio.so — always open to feedback!
I also abandoned the equivalents of eBay and PayPal decades ago for similar reasons, and in fact neither company has produced acceptable solutions IMHO.
Totally agree with you. Public libraries and tool libraries are doing great work, but they often have limited inventory or older tools, and can’t always meet the variety of needs people have for DIY projects.
That’s exactly what we’re aiming to complement with Patio — by tapping into the tools already sitting in people’s garages, we can expand access, improve variety and quality, and make it easier for folks to find what they need without having to buy new.
Thanks again for the encouragement — it means a lot!
target neighborhoods, you should be able to walk to get tool. Have one house designated tool center, somebody signs up in neighborhood to be tool distributor gets some percentage money fees of everyone that joins - there are all sorts of issues in this of course, am just giving high level overview of thoughts I put in it.
This would mean that company would also distribute tools to target neighborhoods. Thus disrupting the traditional tool selling / hardware industry.
There are other business possibilities later on down the line opened up by this model that I won't go into here.
Part of this was based on things I noticed about home ownership in Europe, that is to say people who live in houses instead of apartments and their needs. Thus relatively affluent people and communities.
The neighborhood-level model is especially compelling — tools within walking distance, built-in trust, and someone local acting as a tool steward or mini-hub. We’ve been exploring similar ideas, including ways to support individuals or organizations that want to take on that role.
Disrupting the traditional tool ownership model while creating new local economies is exactly the kind of long-term potential we see here. Would love to hear more about your original thinking — feel free to reach out at julien@patio.so!
But I just don’t see it from the tool owner’s perspective. My suburban aunt has two chainsaws sitting in the garage that she doesn’t use anymore. An extra $150 a month isn’t enough to deal with the hassle of coordinating meetings, dealing with damage, etc. And she definitely wouldn’t be giving a free tank of gas, PPE, etc like Home Depot does. She would gladly drop it off at a local spot, make passive income, maybe go grab it herself once a year when she needs it.
Ps - great website design. Looks beautiful on mobile and works really well. What are you using on the frontend?
The FE us using React and styled-components. We're not using components-library, pretty much everything is customized for our needs.
I like the idea of sharing (and freely do with friends already), but as a busy person and pretty avid DIYer, I don’t see the benefit of trying to undercut HD’s tool rental (which is convenient, open lots of hours, rarely any wait and never a no-show, and I’m often buying something there anyway when tackling a project that I’m short a tool for).
AirBnB and even Turo make sense because of the value of the item. “I’m going to coordinate a time to spend 15 minutes picking up and coordinate another time to spend 15 minutes returning a hammer that I can buy for $9 on Amazon with same-day delivery or ‘free’ tomorrow delivery” doesn’t have nearly the same appeal.
If somebody damages your expensive tool, or you are injured by their faulty tool, and they refuse to compensate you, what do you think should happen?
In a world where things can go wrong and legal issues can arise, it’s important to have safeguards. We're currently working on adding optional insurance, ID verification, and deposits to reduce the risk on both sides. The goal is to make sure there’s a clear process if something gets damaged or if someone gets hurt — without immediately resorting to legal action.
Ultimately, we want to support a trusted community, but we also know that trust needs real protections behind it, especially in a culture where liability matters.
We’ve heard the same concern from a lot of people, and we’re working on solutions like optional insurance, ID verification, and clear guidelines to help reduce that risk for everyone involved. The goal is to make borrowing tools feel as natural and safe as borrowing a cup of sugar from a neighbor — but with real protections in place when it matters.
And yes — your example is exactly the kind of use case we’re building for. Tools like planers and jointers are expensive, bulky, and rarely used often enough to justify owning.
I loved it. I put all my own tools up on it for anyone to use. A few people borrowed my drill once it twice. I borrowed a ladder from someone. Some people even had their kayaks on there, as they lived near the river.
I loved the free aspect because that just made sense. We're in a dense urban neighborhood, why do we really need an impact driver for ever single house, or a wheelbarrow, or an oscillating saw? If I know my neighbor wants one, I'm glad to lend it. The world needs less consumption and more sharing.
In most neighborhoods, there’s really no need for everyone to own the same tools, especially for things you use once or twice a year. That mindset of sharing over consuming is exactly what we’re trying to support with Patio — whether it's lending for free, renting, or just making it easier to know who has what nearby.
The more we can encourage that kind of local connection, the less we all need to buy — and the better it is for everyone.
If I relied on the tool library for those, they'd be checked out all month when I most needed them to put on or remove winter tires.
For items that I use once per month, I still keep handy, b/c driving 20+ minutes is just not worth it.
Their tools are also in good condition and there are volunteers that maintain them. They also help with bike repairs too.
Specifically, I am a member here: https://seattlereconomy.org/
With Patio, we’re looking to support and expand that model, especially in areas without a local library, and provide tools to help existing ones grow and serve their communities even better.
I just think it’d be great to teach people how to hang a shelf or clean the filter in a mini split, fix a flat tire on a car, etc. All the stuff I have to regularly do for people now. I may sign up to do some instructor led classes.
I love the idea of a tool library, I own more tools than I can use at this point.
However I think if I could get paid a monthly service fee to list my tools I’d do it, otherwise the replacement costs for people misusing or losing the tools would make it not worth it. A single socket goes missing and suddenly it’s $30 to replace, wipes out the sharing incentive.
For tool rental, the first thought in my mind is that you’re going to be competing with hardware store giants like Home Depot or your country’s equivalent: many places already exist that already rent tools and equipment and they aren’t hard to find on the Internet. There are also a lot of local community options like rental libraries.
The feed isn’t meant to be just another Pinterest-style scroll — we’re curating high-quality DIY tutorials, guides, and projects to help people learn and take action. We also recently added an AI-powered search so you can quickly find relevant content by asking real questions, like “how do I replace a light switch?” instead of just browsing categories. That said, we know the feed needs to feel more purposeful, and we’re actively improving that.
On tool rentals — you’re absolutely right that big stores and tool libraries exist. We’re not trying to replace them, but to fill in the gaps: making it easier to find tools nearby that might not be available otherwise, support neighbor-to-neighbor sharing, and help smaller or underserved communities. We’re also working with tool libraries to modernize their systems and increase their visibility.
Really appreciate the honest feedback — it’s exactly what helps us get better.
We're designing mobile-first, since most of our early users are on phones, but we're actively working on making the desktop experience much clearer and more intuitive too. Really appreciate you pointing this out — it helps us improve!
Flipped around a bit, looks great. One question I have is how will users know what a fair price is?
On the legal issues. Maybe making loaners attest the tool is in good condition and the renters sign a waiver? Untrained people are terrifying with power tools, I would be hesitant to take on the liability of someone losing an arm for $50.
Totally fair question on pricing. We’re working on adding pricing suggestions based on similar tools nearby, so users have a better sense of what’s fair without guessing.
On the legal side — yep, we’re exploring tool condition checkboxes, waivers, and optional insurance to help protect both sides. Power tools come with real risks, and we want to make sure there's enough structure to keep things safe and clear for everyone involved.
- Cost to rent or borrow?
- Consumables (people expected to supply their own?)
- Liability? (Think angle grinders, power saws)
- Education of intended borrowers?
We’re working on tools to help launch local libraries: policy templates, waivers, safety guides, and yes, even subscription options (e.g. $X/month for unlimited borrowing) to keep things simple and sustainable.
You’d be able to set rules around pricing, consumables, and tool access — and we’re adding features like liability waivers and hazard flags to help reduce your personal risk as a host.
Would this solve most of the questions and concerns?
Localization is high on our list. We're working on ways to adapt learning content by region, so users see tutorials, terms, and standards that actually make sense for where they live. Thanks for pointing it out — it's a big part of where we're heading.
However, my viewing is mostly random so if you could make a curated list of topics, with links to videos, I'd prefer that.
(I only buy tools I have an immediate need for, otherwise I'd fill the house with tools.)
I now live in NYC, and my local Home Depot rents out power tools for $20-30/day. The typical tool would pay for itself in 2 days at these rates, but it's still worth it to me as these 2 days are often 2-3 years apart and I'd rather not store these tools in my cramped 1BR.
What I would love is a community-run tool rental service where we can donate a tool + pay a nominal membership fee, and borrow tools for free. I am happy to donate a $120 circular saw/impact driver if I can rent 10x different tools once each for $5/mo for the next year. The closest thing I have now is my local hackerspace, which is great, but I often have to work on my projects at the space, which limits the kind of home DIY I can do.
You can see the requirements they needed to keep it going here: https://sharefrome.org/save-SHARE-together/
Edit: in the same vein, Minneapolis also has a Toy Library that is pay what you can for annual membership and absolutely stocked with toys for every age, and includes outdoor stuff like trampolines and bikes (small sizes) and board games and such. Very worth it for kids that only maintain interest for 2 hours and helps them learn how to give up a toy before getting a new one (similar to adults learning to return a tool…)
You have managed to make my cynical self smile, and also miss when I lived in Montreal.
0x53•1d ago
Some ideas: - I would focus a lot of effort on making it incredibly easy and intuitive to list things. This is one of the primary barriers to me when using these types of apps. - maybe future idea would be to list things from Home Depot or other stores to expand the number of rentals that are available.
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The main downside for me is returning the items in the window they're open.