Not everyone in Paris has enough room to store drills, saws, ladders and all of the other little “DIY” materials for the occasional brush with home improvements. So why not borrow or rent them? There are a few Bricothèques in Parisian community centers that rent materials to locals (so far, they’re housed in the “régis du quartier” of the 13th, 17th and 19th, and coming this year in the 11th, 14th and 20th). For more info (en français), read this article, this article, or ask at your local Mairie.
If you prefer to browse through a wider variety of objects available for rent close to you, check out the French version of Zilok, Zilok.fr (there are also US and UK sites….but Twickenham is a bit far to go to rent a hammer for the day). There are all sorts of handy things listed by individuals and professionals for rent, including vehicles, tools, conference rooms, luxury clothing, or electronics. It’s user-generated, so a bit like eBay, but you’re just renting the item. And if you happen to have a video projector, table saw, or sewing machine gathering dust, you can pimp it out on this site as well.
Nice to hear about renting tools. It's really a nice service. Thanks for sharing this post.