Los Angeles County, California
How our home repair service works
Here is how a job gets from your list to done. A person reads what you send and comes back with a price for the visit, and nothing is scheduled until you have agreed to it.
The price in writingAgreed before anything is scheduled
One visit, several jobsThe drive costs the same either way
No surprise when we arriveThe number holds unless the wall says otherwise
Across Los Angeles CountyFrom the Valley to the South Bay
Start with a real job, not a category
Handyman is a job title that covers hundreds of unrelated tasks, and a blank box asking you to describe the work helps nobody, because a job nobody can picture is a job nobody can price. So we give you a fixed menu of twelve instead: mounting and hanging, drywall and ceilings, doors, faucets, toilets and disposals, fans, lights and switches, gutters, carpentry and trim, painting and touch-ups, floors and stairs, furniture assembly, grab bars and home safety, and windows and screens. Pick the one that fits, answer two or three questions, and your job arrives specific enough to price.
What happens after you send the job in
- Your job arrives with the details you gave us. What, where, roughly when.
- A person reads it. If something important is missing, we’ll text or call you first.
- We work out what the job needs, down to what your wall is made of.
- You hear from us directly, usually the same day.
- You agree a price before any work starts. Nothing gets scheduled until you have.
Why the trade and the neighborhood both matter
The trade comes first. Patching lath and plaster in a 1920s Craftsman is a different skill from hanging a TV on studs. A lot of the older housing stock here is plaster over wood lath, which reads as solid to a cheap stud finder and blows out in a dinner-plate-sized chunk if a lag bolt goes in on a guess. So the visit is planned for that trade and that wall before we arrive. Where you are counts too, because Highland Park and Torrance are an hour apart on a bad morning. Timing is the last piece. Tell us roughly when you want it done and we will work to that.
Why it pays to bundle small jobs
Almost all handyman work carries a minimum charge, because crossing Los Angeles County costs the same whether you need one shelf hung or six. A single loose cabinet hinge is an expensive visit. A loose hinge, a running toilet, a dead smoke alarm and two pictures hung are a sensible one. Walk the house before you send the list and write down everything, including the things you stopped noticing months ago. Adding a job to a visit costs far less than booking a second visit. Put three or more on the same visit and the offer for three or more jobs on one visit comes off the price as well, for as long as it runs.
Licenses and insurance
Where the work requires a CSLB license, it is not a handyman visit, and we say so before anything is booked. You can look any license number up on the CSLB website in a minute or two. Do it, because licenses lapse and the lookup shows you the date. Ask about insurance on your job as well. Ask what happens if something is not right a week later. Get those answers before you agree a price, not after the work is done.
When a job needs a licensed contractor
Most jobs on our menu are small enough on price. Mounting a TV, patching drywall, swapping a faucet, assembling furniture, clearing gutters before the October rain. Whether the exemption covers your particular job is not something a web page can settle, so if you are not sure where your job sits, ask us before anything is booked.
Some jobs are clearly going to reach $1,000, or need a building permit. A whole-house interior repainted, a fence rebuilt instead of repaired, several doors replaced in one go. Those need a licensed contractor, and we say so before anything is booked. If a job grows once we have seen it, we’ll stop and tell you before we go any further.
One more thing. In pre-1978 homes, sanding into old paint can disturb lead, and that carries its own rules. A lot of LA housing is that old, so we factor in your home’s age.
What the price should cover
Get the number before anything is scheduled, and get it in writing. A price should hold unless the job turns out to be different from what you described. A wall that’s plaster, not drywall. A shutoff valve that won’t close. A leak behind the vanity that has already softened the floor. When that happens, we stop and tell you what changed, instead of pressing on and handing you a bigger number at the end. Ask as well whether materials are inside the price or billed on top. Both are normal, and only one of them is what you assumed.
If it isn’t working out
Tell us. The price felt off, the timing doesn’t work, you’ve changed your mind. Whatever it is, you don’t have to justify it. Nothing is booked until you say so, it costs you nothing to change your mind, and you’re never obliged to go ahead after we have looked at the job.
What happens to your details
Your name, address and phone number are used to get your job done. We keep them while the job is open and while any question about it is still live. Want them deleted once the job’s done? Call (310) 857-2520 and we will. The privacy page has the rest.
Where we work
Across Los Angeles County
What the walls are made of changes street by street in this city, and it changes the job.
Send us the list
However long it is. You get a price for the visit before anything is booked.