Andy Sjostrom Handyman Services

Andy and Tony did an incredible job framing and installing bifold doors across an entire wall of shelves. The floor and ceiling are both uneven, but they managed to get everything lined up and installed perfectly, and it looks great. (They also painted everything.) Andy also installed some insulation to help with the draft that was coming through a door leading to the crawlspace, which has definitely made the family room a lot warmer, and reattached a handrail to the wall that had been knocked out when we were moving furniture. Tony also fixed our front door so it would close more easily, and tightened up a wobbly bannister. I would not hesitate to call Andy again (in fact, I'll be calling him again soon) for any other projects I need. He really seems to know his stuff, comes prepared to do the job and does great work. He's a consummate professional, both in bidding and booking the work as well as actually completing it. He let me know exactly what he was doing and when, and gave me alternatives in a way that made sense to me. He's a perfectionist when it comes to the work he does, and it really shows. I will definitely use Andy again soon.

The proof of excellent workmanship is in the performance of the job under severe conditions. We hired Andy last fall to recaulk some windows that were quite drafty. When the job turned out to be more complicated than he'd anticipated, he still completed it within his original estimate despite the extra time it took. As I sit here in February on a day with a sub-zero windchill, I can attest that the windows he worked on are tight and the rooms are warm, even with the thermostat at 67. My wife no longer complains about arctic conditions in the bedroom, and we stayed comfortable through last week's blizzard. At the time that he did the work, we appreciated Andy's affability and dedication to doing the job right; and now, when it counts, we can truly appreciate the quality of the workmanship.

I moved into a house at the end of August and needed numerous tasks completed. Andy was punctual, prepared, and professional as well as friendly (even with one of my cats trying to serve as his apprentice). In October, Andy installed 110"W x 71"H and 39"W x 55"H Roman shades above my two living room windows. He asked questions about my preferences before getting started and measured with a laser leveler. He did the same with the window treatments in the bedrooms, and all look great. Andy is an expert at installing ceiling fans w/light fixtures. Both installations went smoothly. My four picture ledges required a great deal of measurement and subjective decision-making. Again, he asked my preferences before beginning. The ledges look great and are perfectly aligned. He easily replaced a dimmer light switch with a regular light switch and installed a door stop that could be used with both my front door and coat closet door. Andy uses his own screws, nails, etc., if he believes they are of higher quality than those that were supplied. He cleans up after his work, and makes sure you are happy with the results. I would not hesitate to use Andy's services again.

Very well. We had received a price quote from Andy on an earlier project (didn't use him due to price/project scope), but I thought he was knowledgeable and personable. Therefore, he's now my "handyman" for all household projects.

The rumors are true. I first heard about Andy from my neighbor, who was raving about her handyman. I made a mental note but had no present need. Then I read about Andy in the Angie's List magazine. Apparently, the best handyman in the Chicago area was in Oak Park. Andy's story was impressive -- a guy building clientele through quality service, recognizing that folks will come back to you if you address their concerns with both head and heart. We eventually had enough household issues to warrant a visit, including a pernicious and mysterious leaking problem in our ceiling. Andy was a pleasure to work with from the start. He first came over to estimate the work, and his estimate was accurate. He then carefully explained his plan for the work. As he got into some of the projects, he adjusted course when he recognized that more efficient solutions were available (after discussing the situation with me). I greatly respected that; it would have been easy for him to plow ahead with the more expensive fix we already had agreed upon. As skilled a craftsman as Andy is, he really delivered value in consulting regarding our leaky ceiling. Our house is a pastiche -- originally built in the 1890s, it had been renovated a couple of times prior to our moving in. As a result, we occasionally get "never seen that before" problems. We finally screwed up the courage to face the most daunting -- a curious drip pattern across three rooms. For Andy, it clearly is a professional challenge for him to nail down just what in the heck is going on. After investigating, he had some thoughts which made sense. Moreover, he knew the right people to help formulate the best hypothesis, e.g., an HVAC specialist and an energy auditor who, upon speaking with them, were equally jazzed about trying to solve the problem. It's scary when something of unknown origin happens to your house which threatens to not only dry up the repair budget, but spill over into some other budgets as well. I have appreciated Andy's calm, thoughftul demeanor and his genuine attempt to formulate a cost-effective, workable solution. This is an area where he can provide an important service to a homeowner -- as someone knowledgeable about the inner workings of a house who can put together an interdisciplinary team of like-minded individuals when one is needed. To be something of a repair concierge. We've still got a couple more chapters to go in the ceiling saga. But I feel a good deal better with Andy on it.

We are very happy with the final results--Andy was prompt and professional and did a very nice job. There were also a couple of other jobs for which he recommended other contractors, and they were excellent too.

Andy was great - as always. Responded quickly & on time. Got the job done perfectly.

Andy rewired much of my basement. While working he noticed that my house wasn't grounded, so he called a master electrician to come and ground the house. Besides grounding the electricity, they installed 4 outlets including running conduit and 3 overhead lights and fixed a switch. He also installed a new door knob/lockset on my powder room door.

I called Andy to take a look at a broken shower faucet handle. I thought the job was a lot more complicated than it was. Andy took a look at the hande, offered to fix it, but also told me that I could probably do it just as easily as he could. He showed me how to make the repair myself, and then wished me a good day. I've been less than impressed with other providers, but Andy will be first on my list in terms of customer service the next time I run into a project that seems over my head.

Andy was punctual and professional. He told me up front when I called that he might take some time to get to the job because of his schedule. I asked him to come look at the job anyway, which he did. He then hooked me up with a window company to replace the job, including sending them measurements and pictures via e-mail. Despite having come out to the house and taking measurements, Andy charged us nothing and even suggested I work directly with the window company to save money. He could have acted as contractor and taken a cut but he didn't. I really appreciated his honesty and professionalism. We will definitely use him for other work around our house.

Andy was great from meeting us to give an estimate through completion of the project. We have never worked with anyone who was more communicative about what he was doing and anything that came up during the work. He explained things clearly and answered all our questions thoroughly. He was considerate, professional and clearly and expert at what he had undertaken. All work was done in a timely manner. His work ethic is as amazing as the product he produced for us. Andy will be the first person we call when we have handyman needs in the future. Excellent.

Excellent work. He viewed the project and explained to me the different approaches and suggested the right one for the age of my house and the weight of the light fixtures. He went to the hardware store and got the extra parts needed to do the work. He was pleasant and approachable and thorough and I would use him again for small projects.

Without any charge, he's helping me to peice together all the work I need for my huge project. (See description in servies performed above.) I already feel I can trust him to be there when I need help or to answer questions. Once this particular project is done, I have other things that I know Andy can do and I will definitely be hiring him to do so. I'll let you know how it goes!

He put in some wood trim on our floor. He replaced the bathroom door with a new one. It costed us about $250. It went very well. He is very versatile in the type of work that he can do. He does things in a very time conscious manner. We will use him in the future.

I described the job and communicated with him all through email. He was very articulate and connected me with the right people. I got an estimate on the work and they're going to come out and do it.

I was very satisfied with them. They did various jobs for me. They were fine. I didn?t have any problems with them. I will use them again in the future.

Andy retuned my call the same afternoon that I contacted him and came by later that day to look at the job. When he called back to give me an estimate, he described the problem and offered his estimate. He was very flexible in talking about different ways to fix the problem in the most cost effective way. Not knowing how extensive the damage to the wood was, his estimate was dependent upon how much wood needed to be removed and replaced. In the end, the work actually cost less than I expected because the damage was not as extensive as feared - and Andy was honest about this. He was always very professional and cleaned up the work area perfectly. I would definitely hire him again and would highly recommend him.

Andy's price came in at more than I wanted to pay but was in line with two other quotes I got. Guess I'm cheap. Work was done quickly and very professionally. Good communications throughout process.

This was actually the second job for us. The first job was minor (replacing a roofing shingle over a hole near the garage eave and the trim around the garage service door), and I wanted to see how the second went before commenting on his work. He responded quickly when contacted. Very punctual. After removing the capping, he assessed the situation, made suggestions, and conferred with us how he planned to do the work, on which we agreed. He went to purchase the supplies, and finished in the estimated time. We're very pleased with the final results and will likely have him do more work for us in the near future.

He's great. I would call him back in a minute.

Andy was great to work with from start to finish, offering great suggestions and guidance throughout the process.

Andy did an excellent job. The fan looks and works great. He makes suggestions for repairs, but also told me when it would be better to call in someone else and said he had people he could refer me to. I feel very confident in the advice that he gives me and the work that he does. He was very professional and extremely neat including taking his shoes off every time he came into the house. He cleaned up everything. There would have been a fair amount of plaster dust from putting up the shelf, but I saw none after he was done.

Andy arrived when he said he would. He was personable, professional and did a great job on our projects. We are going to call him again on our next project.

Andy comes up with great solutions and goes the extra mile to make sure its right. He referred us to local glass company to reinstall a shower door that he couldn't get exactly right. He actually called the glass company himself while I was there to setup the appointment instead of adding another thing to my to do list. We had some other items he took care of a few weeks later that no other contractors could come up with a good fix for (sealing our warped front door). I am really impressed with the solutions he comes up with, he really thinks it through

The job was completed just as easily and thoroughly as anyone could have wished.