Handy Men & Mrs Helper Kitchen & Bath

We had an excellent experience with Handy Men and Mrs. Helper. Faith was very easy to get in contact with and communicated well. Once we agreed on a time, Hank came over for the repairs. He got quite a bit accomplished in a short period of time and the quality of work was excellent. Hank was very easy to work with, explained things well and gave us suggestions to easily follow up on smaller items on our own. As other work comes up we won't hesitate to have Hank back to help.

The new lighting in the living room is great, and I wish I did this earlier. The drywall and door great. They were clean and professional.

The basement of our former home started taking on water during the storm that hit the Chicago area in April 2013, thus creating major problems for our tenants. We had been very satisfied with prior dealings with Handymen and Mrs. Helper, so we advised our tenants to contact them to troubleshoot the cause of the flooding. Even though the owners of the service company were out-of-town, they made arrangements for a sub-contractor to handle the problem. Less than 12 hours later, a very competent plumber showed up and determined that the existing sump pump had burned out and replaced it with a new one. The renter thought the plumber was excellent and was very happy with his work. As long-distance landlords (i.e., we live in Tennessee, but our rental property is in Illinois), it gives us tremendous peace of mind knowing that we [or our tenants] can reach out to Handymen and Mrs. Helper whenever necessary and count on them to get the job done right.

I am so THRILLED that I found this company, I have nothing but wonderful things to say about everybody I dealt with. I had a shower that leaked and damaged the ceiling below and I had recessed lights put in my kitchen. Faith and Rod came out on a Saturday just a couple of days after my first inquiry to take a look at what I needed done. I picked out the tile for the floor that needed repair, Steve who was to work on my bathroom and put in the recessed lights, picked up the tile and fixtures for kitchen, he gave me a call to let me know he was going to be 20 minutes late, which was nice. He worked all day on the bathroom kitchen. Steve also re-caulked and re-grouted the shower -- it is perfect. VERY HAPPY with his work, very nice guy, the work he did was excellent, I couldn't ask for any better. Faith and Rod hooked me up with the glass guy and I picked out the glass I wanted for my new shower. Glass came and was installed with my new tile, grout and caulk my new shower is beautiful. Steve worked with me on placement of the kitchen lights, he did a fantastic job. Virgo came out to paint my kitchen ceiling which included taping the areas where the new lights came in and also priming and fixing the drywall where I had the leak, finished in one day and it is the best painting job - it is also perfect, he was efficient, clean and very professional. He would be the one I would want to paint my house. The same day I emailed Faith and told her one of my drain pipes fell down and needed that put back along with checking the other ones to make sure that they were also secure. Steve came out after a job and did a quick job to put everything back together and came back to finish putting the sleeves on my new kitchen lights and secure the rest of the drain pipes, in the cold rain on a ladder. I am very,very pleased with this company, I know that I can count on them for honest answers and very professional work. I never once thought I was getting ripped off, I received phone calls with updates regularly or emails to let me know what was going on. I would with out a doubt highly recommend these great guys in a second. I am putting together my next list of things I need done, and look forward to working with Faith, Rod, Steve and Virgo again. Not just for the excellent work they did for me but also very nice people, I will be working with the company for a long time.f

The quality of the service we received was simply terrible. We were charged $80 per hour which is high but not excessive if the tradesman is good. We did not receive an written estimate up front and that should have been done by them but is a mistake I will not repeat with the next company I deal with. Jason performed the work and not only was the work he performed really poor quality, he billed far too many hours, and to add insult to injury, over-billed the materials for his work. While removing the broken marble tiles, he crack 2 or 3 additional tiles that were fine before hand. This can happen (but shouldn't happen often if you are good, and at $80 per hour you should be good), but to make matters worse, knowing we had a limited number of replacement tiles, he didn't start replacing the worst tiles first and so we ended up running out of tiles and couldn't replace all the cracked tiles. He said he would have to come back and finish the job the next day because he needed a water saw to cut the tiles. Doesn't a professionalism tile man who knows he is doing marble and ceramic work bring appropriate tools to the job? What really irritates me is he didn't use the saw to cut most of the tiles and instead manually broke of the corners and now we have unsightly crooked edges and large gaps compared to the rest of the floor where the job was done correctly. This is simply unforgivable. I took pictures oh his work and emailed them to my brother (a professional granite and tile man in Nevada) and he said he used "tile nippers" (pliers for tile) to chop the corners instead of using a water saw. He said to do that on marble tile is unbelievable. He said "Only a butcher would do that." The work on the ceramic tile area appears to be fine so far. The work filling in some gaps in the master bath grout was done terribly. The color did not match at all. While he did ask my wife if the color looked OK in the small sample he showed her, when it was applied to the floor it looked bad. I am paying $80 per hour and expect him to be able to do a decent job matching grout colors. The grout color was much darker and had a tan shade to it that was not present in the grout in the rest of the bathroom. I complained to Handyman about the poor color match and Jason came back in to fix it on Saturday. I had him blend some colors and ended up with a decent match. He then dug out the old grout and with a hand v-notch tool and replaced the poorly matched grout. Unfortunately, in the process, he gouged another 3 tiles where his tool jumped out of the grout area and made deep, long, and highly visible gouges in the tiles that couldn't be seen by me when he did them because the grout has to be dry before you can clean the tiles. I am quite certain he knew he damaged the marble tiles in the master bath and knew I wouldn't be able to see it until the tiles were cleaned the next day and then he would be long gone. Also in the master bath, there is a marble counter-top for the sinks that was very dull. My brother (again, granite and marble installation business in Nevada) looked at it during his last visit and said that it would need to be machine polished with a diamond pad as it was etched. When I had Jason look at the counter, I told him my brother thought it needed to be machine finished but said he thought he could polish it so without so I said OK if he wanted to try it. (This was obviously discussed before I saw the terrible work he did in the other areas). He apparently just put some type of "wax" over it and it looks no better than when he started so more of my money was wasted on that, even though I told him I doubted it would work. I was not charged for the additional time to attempt to correct the bad grout job in the master bath, but I sure didn't expect he would cause even more damage. He did fix a grout problem in an area that already failed from the work he did a few days earlier that involved one of the broken tiles that couldn't be replaced because he damaged additional tiles trying to fix the floor the first time. Finally, I was charged $90 for materials. I was never given receipts for the materials but he did leave two small grout bags. I supplied all the tiles so this leaves only the grout and whatever failure wax or polish he tried to use on the master bath counter-top. The grout costs $10-20 for a 5 lb bag. He should have had grout on his truck and not charged me for a complete bag that I will never use, and the time to go purchase it. What about the other $50-70 in materials? This man was a hack/butcher that did a terrible job and I believe overcharged me on purpose as I live in a very nice area. I specifically told Faith at Handyman that I wanted her best tile man and waited a few extra days to get their best guy for the job. This was a disaster and so far past any reasonable work that I am not even willing to have her even attempt to fix it. I feel I have been taken for over $1,000 (the ceramic work was good) and will never use this company again.

Faith and her team were awesome. The workers arrived on time and were very efficient and kept the work area clean. They completed the job in 4-4.5 hours. I am very happy with the results and would use Handy Men and Mrs. Helper again with other projects I have around my home. No complaints here.....

Before calling H&MH for an estimate, we worked with and decided not to use two other Angie?s List A-rated remodelers, including one we had used previously with very good results on a smaller project. There was no meeting of the minds. We told them what we wanted and asked for an estimate. Each was slow to provide the estimate, gave sketchy project proposals, and missed important details of what had been discussed. (One contract specified substantial change fees for any revision once the project started. A vague estimate that doesn?t contain everything you asked for is conflict waiting to happen with a contract like that.) We asked for advice on products and materials; they seemed reluctant to respond. They wanted us to get our fixtures (such as faucets and vanities) from locally well-known, list-price bath showrooms. We asked for contractor?s discounts from the showroom list prices; none was offered. The fixture prices were sky-high?I suspected some sort of fee-splitting arrangement between showrooms and these contractors--and some showroom-recommended fixtures earned poor customer reviews on amazon.com. We were so discouraged that, truly, we almost gave up on remodeling our two bathrooms. But then we found H&MH on Angie?s List. H&MH gave us a far more detailed estimate than we?d gotten from the other two contractors in only two days with everything we wanted. Rod listened! We got lots of helpful advice on products and materials. They suggested using amazon.com or other online retailers (or anyone local we wanted) for fixtures and materials. We got a 30% contractor?s discount on tile from a good local tile store and ordered the countertop through a local big-box store. Getting stuff this way worked great. The selection for fixtures available online is much bigger than what showrooms offer, and you have the benefit of customer feedback. We got highly-rated, solid fixtures that felt more expensive than they were, delivered inside of one week with no unscheduled delays or wrong or broken merchandise, problems that the other contractors warned would happen if we tried to get fixtures online instead of through the showrooms. I?m sure online delivery screw-ups happen; problems can also occur ordering from list-price showrooms. Be careful who you order from online, and it will generally go very well. H&MH showed up consistently as promised and stayed on schedule. There was only one installation glitch, a leak, and the installer came back and fixed it not in two weeks, not in two days, but in two hours (and he lived 40 minutes away). The service has been outstanding. Play fair with H&MH, do your homework and everything H&MH asks you to do, and you will have a win-win experience. We will continue to use H&MH in the future and recommend them to friends and family.

I have used Handy Men and Mrs Helper several times in the past and when I found out that they also had painting services, I contacted Faith on 2/19. She put me in touch with a painter called Maciej. He came out to my house on or about 2/21, took a look, and provided an estimate for the work to be done. I contracted with Handy Men and Mrs. Helper and within a day the paint job was scheduled for the week of 3/25. On the first morning, Maciej and his crew of four, arrived at my house on schedule at 9:00 a.m. and immediately started laying down drop cloths over all of my carpets. They then proceeded to patch all of the many nail holes and cracks that I had in the house. They also started painting the doors and wood trim around the doors. They finished work around 3:00 p.m. On Tuesday, 3/26, Maciej and his crew arrived on schedule at 7:00 a.m. and started covering everything with plastic drop cloths. There wasn't a single surface in the house that wasn't covered in plastic. They proceeded to sand all the patches, and where possible, began painting. They worked all day Tuesday until 5:00 p.m. On Wednesday, 3/27, the once again arrived on time and continued painting walls and painted all the wood baseboards. They were finished with all painting and cleanup by 2:30 p.m. I can't say enough about Maciej and his crew. They were courteous and experienced and you could tell they knew what they were doing. They were wonderful and did an excellent job of painting. I had no idea what painting a house would cost these days because I hadn't had my house painted in 20 years so I was a little shocked when I got the estimate. However, the cost was worth every penny. My house looks brand new. I would strongly recommend Maciej and his crew. And of course, I would highly recommend Handy Men and Mrs. Helper. They aren't particularly cheap but using their services is well worth the expense. They higher experienced professionals who know what they are doing. If you want a handy man to do some electrical work, they send you an experienced electrician. If you want a good house painting job, they send you experienced, qualified painters like Maciej. You can't beat their services.

They came out to provide an estimate the same day that we called. We were lucky enough that the scope of our job fit into an immediate gap in their schedule, so the job started one day after we agreed on the estimate. Upon their arrival the first day, they came in, tarped the entire work area and divided the work area from the rest of our home with plastic. We were still able to use the kitchen and most of the family room during the project. Day one: wall was removed, support beams installed, electrical was removed, and niches and doorway were framed out for drywall. At the end of each day, they vacuumed, removed work materials, and straightened the work area. Day two was a Saturday- they started at 9am and were out by 1pm. Day two work: electricity was moved and finished, outlet was wired, drywall was installed, taped and mudded. They asked if we would like them to remove all tarps, plastic and tools for rest of the weekend and again vacuumed and removed work materials and straightened the area. Day three (Monday): Drywall was finished and primed, base trim and french doors installed. The area was vacuumed, all work materials removed, plastic and tarps removed as well. We opted to dispose of the garbage ourselves, so they made it very easy for us by placing everything inside of industrial waste bags inside of our garage. It was a pleasure having contractors in the house who were clean and professional as well as being skilled at what they do. They also did not use explicit language, or play loud music but were very businesslike in the way they went about their work. We will absolutely use them for our future projects as we have our ideas and lists already in progress. All of our family and friends were impressed and loved our remodel and several have requested their name and number, which we gladly provided for them.

No issues on the work completed. Apprceciated the professional, and pet friendly worker.

Faith, Rod and Tim are great to work with and very helpful with ideas I didn't think of. I liked the structure with being able to control costs by having the customer buy the supplies and the company providing the labor as it make sit more manageable. Tim came back out after we tried to the use the shower the valve needed to be adjusted to allow use of hot water. I am taking a break of having work done, but when I start on my list again I will be called Faith.

Showed up on time. Did work as described.

This is our second time with Steve as our repairman. As always he is polite and professional. Took great care in removing shoes to protect our wood floors and carpet. He is always on time and always calls the night before to confirm the appointment.

It went very well. Tim was able to lay the ceramic tile and install the toliet in two days. When I misunderstood the amount of tile and grout would be need, Tim had go back to Menards and get more. When the toliet was leaking, he came back and fixed it, I could not be more pleased at the job done.

The painters (Rein and Virgo) arrived on time, worked quickly and we are very pleased with the results. And dealing with the owners was very hassle-free.

Great. They were neat,punctual, and great to work with give suggestions.

The whole project took seven working days. Each day had a definite goal. I loved to see the progress done after each day concluded. They explained what they found that had to be corrected and was not in the original estimate. I paid the additional expense willingly. They wanted to do the job right and I did too. I have a very old house.

Once we touched the quality of Handy Men & Mrs Helper's work, we could not go anywhere, doesn't matter if it is a USD 15,000 major repair to the house job or USD 80 lock repair or somebody to plow your drive or clean your yard or somebody to clean your house, they always have somebody who is so professional. You want to open the door. The owners show up and they brought us flowers, they make us want to cry, they are that good. You will never find more wonderful source of help better than Handy Men & Mrs Helper. You will never do better. They are so responsive, they contacted us and asked what we needed and they do it as quick as possible. With the lock repair, they were there on the first day, they were super prompt.

After leaving a message inquiring about their availability, Faith returned my phone call quickly, was informative, and set up my appointment in the time frame needed. Our Handy Man (Tim) was professional, extremely helpful, friendly and informative, and we were very very happy with the service he provided. It was an absolute pleasure to have this company service our needs, and we would highly recommend them to anyone needing someone experienced to address a wide variety of repair needs.

The gentleman that came out was very nice and explained everything. He showed me what he was doing. The lady I talked to at the company was also very nice and followed up with me regularly. They did a good job and their price was comparable with other similar companies.

Repair in general went well. Two issues.... Contractors did only job requested....asked to reuse as much of the molding as possible...was not consulted when some molding should have been replaced with new. Second example....a section of the wall...I had them replace the insulation with upgraded insulation...but the section next to the replaced section needed to be sealed...they did not do or ask to have done. I was always available Either in person or via phone for questions. Secondarily...they removed a very expensive motorized shade and broke it when they removed it. I understand breakage...but I do not understand that I was not told of the breakage...and only found out when I went to put the shade back in place. Did they know they had broken it...yes because they shoved the broken piece back inside the shade...but only the piece intact...the broken pieces were gone. After I complained I was contacted...but too late as far I was concerned.

I can only say good things about Handy Men & Mrs Helper. I had tried contacting several other handy man companies on Angie's List but nobody would call me back. Handy Men & Mrs Helper was going to be my last attempt at finding somebody. They answered my inquiry immediately, did not complain about the type of tasks that I needed done, and sent out a handyman the very next day to take care of my needs. I already have plans for additional work for Handy Men & Mrs Helper in 2013. They're the best in the business!

We have been very pleased with the services we have received from Handyman and Mrs Helper. We used them on two occasions. The first time was for Handyman help around the house such as fixing numerous light fixtures, baby proofing the home, fixing locks and installing new shower heads. The second time we used the service was for interior painting of a dining room, den and laundry room. With each experience the company was quick to respond, pleasant to work with and each individual worked in a timely and professional manner. We will continue to use Handyman and Mrs Helper and would recommend them to others.

We had another positive experience with Handyman and Mrs. Helper. I had a few questions about how to proceed with replacing our countertop that Rod was very willing to answer before I even committed to hiring him. We were able to schedule the work for the following week. Hank arrived on time and worked diligently to get the work done. He was simply removing our old counter top and replacing it with a new one, but it involved removing our sink and disposal, cutting the new counter top to fit our counter space, and replacing the sink/disposal when he was finished. The job was done in a reasonable amount of time for a fair rate. It was a good experience all around.

Did you ever have a remodeling job go perfectly from start to finish? Me neither, but this experience was probably as close as it gets. Handy Men & Mrs. Helper is a top notch operation from start to finish. The estimate meeting with Rod was educational and productive. I expressed the general idea of what I wanted to accomplish and suggestions were made for ways to achieve my goals within budget. The estimates and contract were supplied quickly and they were accurate and fairly priced. The remodeling job went quite smoothly. Tim did the bulk of the labor, and he was reliable, cheerful, friendly and respectful as well as being a heck of a hard worker. I laid out general ideas for the tub tiles and he figured out a way to make my pattern fit into the space. He also solved the jigsaw puzzles that were my three sink backsplashes. A few things that I asked him to do made him pause, and then politely suggest that there might be a better way to approach the request. Turns out he was always right. He was able to identify and upgrade bad installations performed by previous contractors. This was a new experience for me. Normally remodeling is quite a stressful experience, but with this company I had complete peace of mind that everything was being taken care of. That's priceless. These are the kind of people you don't worry about leaving alone in your home while you have to go out for a while. I was not the easiest customer to deal with. I undertook this job on short notice and didn't have a fully formed plan. This contractor took it all in stride, reducing the contract amount for work not performed and revising the contract when I added quite a bit of work at the last minute. I know they were on a tight schedule to start the next job but they hit it hard to get my extra requests completed on time so they could respect the next customer. Remember I said that the work was not 100% perfect? There were a couple of small issues with the paint and the sub contracted bathtub refinishing. Well, one measure of a great contractor is that they help you identify those problems and immediately work to correct them. This was cheerfully accomplished. I'm confident that everything was performed to my satisfaction but if problems crop up, they will stand behind their work. I was clearly informed at the beginning of the process what materials were included and what I would need to provide myself. The estimate did not include the cabinets, plumbing fixtures, toilets, cost of the doors and trim, light fixtures and things of that nature. Paint was provided at their cost and added to the final balance. They drove to the retail locations and picked up large and heavy items, and delivered them to the job site. There were no surprises and the work was completed on schedule. The quality and workmanship was beyond my expectations. Somehow all of that construction debris was neatly piled into one side of my garage leaving a clear path for my wheelchair bound mother to roll through to the driveway. I will have the debris removed at a later date because I want to clean out the basement, too. The debris removal is subcontracted. Overall a very positive working relationship, would highly recommend.