Get a price for your job

Describe it the way you would to a neighbor. A cracked patch of drywall. A door that won’t latch. A gutter you have looked at from the ground and have no interest in climbing up to. If you have a photo, keep it handy for when we call. And if none of the jobs on the list fits exactly, pick the closest one and put the rest in the notes.

• Have your address ready, or at least the neighborhood. Where you are in the county changes travel time and parking, and both of those show up in how we schedule a visit.
• Rough timing is enough. “This week”, “before the rain”, “whenever” all work fine.
• If it’s a rental or a condo you’re turning over between tenants, say so. It changes access and timing.

How does pricing usually work?

Small-job work is normally priced off a minimum charge plus materials. The minimum is usually a first hour or a half day, and it covers the trip across town. That is why the list matters more than any one thing on it. A loose towel bar, a door that won’t latch and a dead smoke alarm handled on one visit cost far less than three separate trips for the same three jobs.

How fast will I hear back?

Usually the same day. Send it whenever suits you, evenings and weekends included. And if it isn’t work we cover in your area, you’ll hear that straight away.

Do I have to go ahead?

No. Sending a job in isn’t a commitment to anything. Get a price, then decide. Plenty of people ask what something costs, sit on it, and book the work a month later.

What if it isn’t the right fit?

Tell us, and you don’t need a reason. We didn’t call you back when we said we would. The price came in higher than you expected. The conversation didn’t sit right. Say so and we’ll put it right, at no cost to you.

Who sees my details?

Only the people working on your job. Your name, address and number stay with us and the person coming out to do the work, and go nowhere else. You aren’t signed up to anything. Ask us to delete your details when the job’s done and we will.

My walls are plaster, not drywall. Does that change anything?

It changes more than most people expect, so put it in the notes. Plenty of houses here built before about 1950 are plaster over wood lath. A stud finder reads it badly. The surface is brittle around the edge of any hole, and a TV mount or a heavy shelf rushed into it can blow out a patch far wider than the bracket. Still a normal job, just a slower one than the same work in drywall. Say so in advance and we’ll have the right anchors with us the first time.

Do they need to be licensed?

It depends on the job, and the dollar figure is only part of it. California’s minor work exemption is Business and Professions Code section 7048. It covers work that’s casual, minor or inconsequential, comes to less than $1,000 all in for labor and materials, and doesn’t need a building permit. It doesn’t apply if the job is one piece of a bigger project, if the work is split into smaller contracts, or if the person hires someone else to help with it. The statute also withholds it from anyone who advertises in a way that might suggest to the public they’re a contractor. So the gap is narrower than it sounds. If your job is likely to run past $1,000, or needs a permit, or we’re not sure, we bring in a licensed contractor.

What if the job turns out to be bigger than I thought?

It happens, especially in older houses where one problem is hiding another. A soft patch of drywall turns out to be a slow supply-line leak behind it. You should hear about that while the wall is still open. Finding it on the invoice afterward is too late, so we agree the price again before the work carries on. If the job has grown past what the person on site is licensed to do, we stop and bring in a licensed contractor. We won’t push it through and hope you don’t notice.

Everything on it, not just the one thing that finally made you look this up. If you’d rather talk it through first, or you’re not sure whether your job is the kind of thing we handle, send it in anyway and say so. You’ll get a straight answer either way.