Show HN: Patio – Rent tools, learn DIY, reduce waste

Many years ago there was NeighborGoods, a site that facilitated free loans of tools from neighbors. (Possibly they had paid options, but I only remember the free part myself.)

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.

itake · 3 months ago

Seattle has a few non profit tool libraries. Membership is $60/yr. Instead of buying a $200 bulky tool I use once every 5 years that I have to keep sharp and maintain, I just go there.

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/

dugmartin · 3 months ago

Our local library is starting up a tool lending section. They also have "fix it" days every few months run by volunteers where you can show up with something to fix and the volunteers will work with you to fix it.

GouacheApp · 3 months ago

That’s awesome — Seattle’s tool libraries are a great example of how well this model can work. That kind of affordable access to well-maintained tools makes a huge difference.

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.

burger_moon · 3 months ago

This is awesome. My partner runs events in Seattle and has talked about how there is a big need to do classes on teaching basic household handyman things but also her thing is turning events into social mixers for singles.

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.

jer0me · 3 months ago

The Berkeley Public Library has a tool lending branch: https://www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org/locations/tool-lending...

GouacheApp · 3 months ago

Curious though — when you were lending or borrowing items, did you ever run into any issues or friction? Things like no-shows, damage, or unclear expectations? We’re trying to learn from real experiences to make it smoother for everyone.

SamBam · 3 months ago

Interestingly when I try to give things away for free on Craigslist (yes, I'm old, I still use CL) I am frustrated to no end by no-shows. I've occasionally charged $5 just because that seems to filter out people who will actually come.

But I don't remember that being an issue with NeighborGoods. Maybe it was the community nature of it, that you really felt like you were borrowing from a neighbor, instead of just getting some free stuff to re-sell.

I never dealt with damage. I think actually IF I were charging per hour, I might care more, because then it feels like a business transaction. If I'm putting stuff up for free, then it's because I'm willing to lend to neighbors. (Obviously I'd feel different if someone broke my $400 drill press or something.)

GouacheApp · 3 months ago

Absolutely — couldn’t agree more.

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.

J7jKW2AAsgXhWm · 3 months ago

Tool lending library is the best I’ve found so far for tools. The best part is not having to store all the tools.

jogjayr · 3 months ago

I like tool libraries. I belong to one myself. But I also own some tools, like a car jack and and torque wrench, even though I use them exactly twice a year.

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.

I like the idea. The rental section has a lot of potential imo. It makes me wonder if there’s room for the personal property rental business in tools like there is for housing and cars.

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!

angry_moose · 3 months ago

Tool libraries are starting to take off. Ours is $35/quarter and gives you free access to their full library:

https://mtl.myturn.com/library/inventory/browse

tlavoie · 3 months ago

Any thoughts on how you'd decide what tools to rent, or which might be considered too hazardous? For example, I see you have angle grinders, but I'm not sure I'd want to start there if beginning a tool library.

GouacheApp · 3 months ago

That’s awesome — $35/quarter for full access is such a great deal, and tool libraries like yours are doing amazing work for local communities!

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!

rkuodys · 3 months ago

How do you protect agains "professionals" abusing the system. So maybe thats not relevant in USA but I see potential in our communities that smaller repair shops or construction contractor would come and use tools disproportionally to their input. That's especially relevant with consummable parts like blades, files, etc

GouacheApp · 3 months ago

Really appreciate you sharing that example—it perfectly captures the kind of use case we’re building Patio for. DIY is awesome, but yeah, not every tool needs to be owned, stored, or bought new. Renting something like a post hole digger from a neighbor for a few bucks just makes sense. That’s exactly the gap we’re trying to fill—making borrowing as easy as buying, and helping people save space, money, and waste. Thanks again for the encouragement!

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tayo42 · 3 months ago

> 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.

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.

GouacheApp · 3 months ago

Totally get that — YouTube is great until your setup doesn’t match, especially with older homes. That missing link between general advice and your specific situation can be frustrating.

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!

imtringued · 3 months ago

justanswer.com, but as you said, it is quite expensive.

keerthiko · 3 months ago

I used to live in Berkeley, CA circa 2013. They had a tool library, which was part of the local public library system, and tools were free (!) to rent. I miss it everyday, as it was a godsend for broke new grads who still wanted to do some quick but heavyduty DIY.

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.

gazook89 · 3 months ago

Minneapolis/St Paul has at least one tool library (with multiple locations). MN Tool Library. Mentioning it in case someone in this thread is interested and lives nearby. Worth it, especially if you know have projects coming up. Lots of tools, indoor and outdoor, and some space for using the tools at their space , and lots of know-how from the staff/volunteers.

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…)

Thanks for taking time to share it!

jzelinskie · 3 months ago

The Brooklyn Public Library in Green Point has a tool library, although it isn't very large if that's close to you at all. I'm not sure if it's available at any other library locations but the one in Green Point is fairly new and has great programming.

Thanks for sharing this! I think we'll add a list of existing tool library so it will be easier to find the ones near you.

frenchman_in_ny · 3 months ago

We have a large ~20K person BuyNothing community in my area (also NYC), and a few of us have thrown the same idea of a tool library around. We always hit a wall on the discussion of liability & liability insurance. Any ideas on how other organizations solve this?

Oui, la question de la responsabilité revient souvent. Certaines communautés utilisent des décharges de responsabilité, systèmes de dépôt, et/ou assurances.

On aimerait vraiment collaborer avec votre communauté pour comprendre les besoins et mettre en place quelque chose avant le lancement de notre service de location. N’hésitez pas à me contacter à julien@patio.so si vous voulez en discuter !

That's a really good idea. A community-run tool library with donations + a small monthly fee could be a game changer, especially in dense cities. It makes DIY more accessible without the cost or storage hassle. We'll certainly think about how this model could be implemented!!

mttch · 3 months ago

There was one running in Frome, UK but unfortunately these community things are hard to keep going and it has now closed. The issues are cost of storage space, insurance, staffing etc.

You can see the requirements they needed to keep it going here: https://sharefrome.org/save-SHARE-together/

fhackenberger · 3 months ago

There's a successful one running purely on donations in Berlin: Resi https://www.resi-ressourcen.org/

zanecodes · 3 months ago

We have one in Baltimore which also offers classes and workspaces: https://toollibrary.org/

blacksmith_tb · 3 months ago

Portland OR has a system of free-to-use tool libraries (you pay 'library fines' if you return tools late, but checking them out is free), each quadrant of the city has one (and you can only use the one in your section of the city). For example[1]

1: https://www.neptl.org/membership/

I feel like you need to make sure the rental side is the first thing people see.

My initial reaction at being dumped on the "Explore" section was "this is just a spammy pinterest style link aggregator thing".

Totally fair point — and really appreciate the honest feedback.

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.

ThePinion · 3 months ago

Just to piggyback off this I had a similar thought. I read your post about the tool rental, got to the page and immediately saw random articles which unfortunately this AI age has got me to distrust that things are human written/curated when just presented with no context.

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!

pruetj · 3 months ago

bryanrasmussen · 3 months ago

I thought about making something like this some years back, my ideas were as follows:

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.

sokoloff · 3 months ago

Maybe this home that’s designated as the depot could be staffed regular hours and have giant orange letters on the outside so people could find their nearby Home Depot more easily.

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.

We're not trying to fully replace that, but offer a more local, sustainable option for tools and surplus materials. It won’t make sense for a $9 hammer, but for the expensive, rarely-used stuff, sharing can save money, space, and reduce waste. Same thing as the 6 drywall panel that would end up in the bin that is now covering my living room. A depot could help with the pickup hassle too.

Thanks a lot for sharing all of this! That’s a really thoughtful approach — and very aligned with how we’ve been thinking about it too.

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!

nswizzle31 · 3 months ago

A local hub to go get tools is the only way this works, in my opinion. Your current offering is obviously compelling from the renter’s perspective. I am renovating a cottage and would love to go pick up a chainsaw, brush cutter, etc for half the price of Home Depot (they have everything and great service).

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?

I and a few others in our community would love to start a tool library, so would love to have a good set of initial policies, software, tutorials and such to start from. For example:

  - Cost to rent or borrow?
  - Consumables (people expected to supply their own?)
  - Liability? (Think angle grinders, power saws)
  - Education of intended borrowers?

I'm willing to host a sea-can and act as librarian, but also unwilling to be sued because some ninny lopped off a thumb, or lost an eye to carelessness.

That’s awesome — and exactly the kind of community we want to support.

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?

It might! I imagine we'd still want to run example forms past a lawyer, that sort of thing, but better than starting from scratch.

WalterBright · 3 months ago

I regularly buy tools from the thrift store. I recently bought a belt sander for $15, a rake for $7, a multimeter for $15, a chainsaw for $10, all in good working order.

(I only buy tools I have an immediate need for, otherwise I'd fill the house with tools.)

Yes, thrift store rocks but it's also easy to stack up tools we only use occasionally, they add up fast. We're planning to offer the same kind of base tools for free rental through the platform.

tomcam · 3 months ago

What happens when an expensive piece of equipment is damaged and the guilty party refuses to acknowledge it?

Great question — this is one of the biggest challenges in peer-to-peer rentals, and something we take seriously.

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 abandoned exactly the business model you are pursuing because I couldn’t figure out a solution.

I also abandoned the equivalents of eBay and PayPal decades ago for similar reasons, and in fact neither company has produced acceptable solutions IMHO.