Home Fixers

Due to extremely high winds, some siding had blown off the side of the house, 1 huge piece had blown off, a couple were just hanging, and one had ripped off. 10:45 Monday - I called the Handyman Connection and explained the problem, they said they would find someone who could do the work and call back within an hour. 11:10 - Dan called back within 1/2 hour and said he could come out between 1:30 and 2:30 for a free estimate 1:30 - Dan came out and looked at the problem, explained that he could put back up the siding that was not damaged and he would have to buy a replacement piece for the siding that ripped. He said we wasn't sure if he could find an exact match, but hoped he could find a color that was very close, and that he would be back either Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon to fix. 11:00 Tuesday - Dan called and said he'd be out between 1:30 and 2:30 that afternoon if that was good with me 1:30 - Dan came out and fixed everything as stated, he also reinforced/nailed down other areas of siding and facia that he noticed needed it.

I was quite satisfied with the job done and the price.

There was a skylight in our kitchen that had been leaking for about ten years. Every year we would have to re-seal it. A lot of water had leaked down the back of the drywall and then went into the side wall over the years. I finally decided to get rid of the skylight once and for all this summer. I found Handyman Connection on Angie's List and basically picked them for the good grades and reviews that were on the list. I called them and they sent someone out to give an estimate. The price seemed good considering all the drywall damage that was involved. I agreed to let them do the job. This job was actually done in two parts. I had planned to have a new roof (shingles) put on, and of course I wanted the skylight removed first. Handyman sent out a couple guys and they had the skylight out and the hole plugged in a day and a half. Then we had to wait a week and a half as that was when the new roof was scheduled to be installed. It was done by another company that I was familiar with. Three layers of shingles were removed down to the wood, with new ones installed. The only reason I mention the roof is that I had it installed to start anew and assure that the new repairs had no water issues as there had been extensive water damage. (plus it over twenty years old). At this point, I would like to commend Al Carotta, (the owner) Vern, Joe the roofing expert, and Dan the magic drywall man. Al personally came out and checked the skylight removal and repair before the new roof was installed. In addition, he sent out one of their top roofing guys just to make sure that I did indeed need a new roof. Al was always accessible and easy to get a hold of. He stayed on top of this job through the whole thing. After the new roof was on, Al sent out a guy named Dan to do the interior drywall repair. I have never in my life seen anybody who took so much personal pride in his work. You couldn't even tell where the repair was. It was a feat considering he was patching new drywall into sixty year old drywall. I was impressed. He was a very nice guy who was easy to talk to. He even taught me a couple of patching and painting tricks, as this is the point when I take roller in hand and paint the rest myself. He wouldn't even accept a tip when I offered it to him. I would once again like to thank Al and his colleagues for working around my hectic schedule and for all the attention to detail they paid during this difficult job. I would definitely hire them again.

Everything went very well. They were on time, did everything quickly, were polite, and everything turned out nicely. I thought the price was fair.

It was terrible. The first guy that was sent took short cuts. He didn't think it was necessary to fill in the drywall with filler since it was behind the baseboard and wouldn't be seen. The corner was not straight and it was all together a really bad job. I called Al and told him that and to his credit he acted quickly to get another person out to do the job.. The fellow he sent over did a very good job and the case was closed. But I got exposed to a business model I do not like. The handy men are all subcontracted. You get a generalist not someone who does what you need to be done as his regular work. As a result you can get very uneven levels of expertise. As in my case drywalling was not the regular job of either of the men they sent. It was just lucky that the fellow they sent out the second time was able to get the job done. Also I had to supply the materials used. That wouldn't be so bad if I had gotten a better price but I didn't. All in all it was a bad experience which I will not repeat again. My advise is to stay away from companies that subcontract. The workers have no allegiance to the company they work for or the customer.

Ron came and did an estimate. Looked reasonable, we agreed on a start date and a few days later he came out and started. He spent 2 days doing the work and then came back on Saturday and finished up we looked at every thing it looked great and I paid him and we agreed that he would be back to do more handyman jobs. My wife and I have started making a list of items for Handyman Connection to do in the near future. We will ask foe Ron.

The orginal appointment was for 7/10/10 at 2PM to replace the spigot on a shower, Dan called about 45mins before the call and said he could not make it. We rescheduled to Wed 7/14/10, he came and replaced the spigot and did not allow us to test saying the caulk needed to dry for 24 hrs. The next day, when we tried the shower, water no longer came up through the shower when diverted. We called Dan & Handyman and he came back that day and changed the spout back to the original. Don't understand why he didnt test or allow us to test.

I called the company on Friday. My call was returned within two hours and I set up an appointment for Saturday. The worker showed up at the scheduled time. He gave me an estimate and after I accepted did the work immediately. I was pleased with the service and the craftsmanship.

Telephone staff is friendly and helpful. Service person come out and provided a free estimate for the job. The service person was not a great communicator, but was very competent. Price seemed high for 55 min of work.

Prompt response to estimate request with good followup. Actual work was done promptly, was reasonably clean, and the job was done as requested. I was responsible for providing and staging all material (except for a few basics). Had a couple minor quality issues, but made good on repairing and managing them. Overall quality was reasonable, and price was good, worker was dedicated, focused, and accommodating. I did make additional request mid-job (soffit removal), which was estimated and added in without any trouble.

These guys do such a great job. Our deck looks great. If we got it stained it would now look like a brand new deck.

They did a great job and this time we worked with Hanz.

Joe was excellent with colors and brought in swatches for us to review. He helped go room by room to select colors and everything is perfect. We have vaulted ceilings in our home and he did a wonderful job with those. He also used top quality paint.

I emailed Handyman my project; they called the next day. Hans was sent out the next week, and he performed the work for us on the spot. Good job.

On time, quick and professional job.

Overall, the response time was great, good customer service. Overall, Work was good! The only complaint I have is that the serviceman used my Master bathroom without my permission - I think that was unprofessional.

I called Handyman and someone picked up immediately and was flexible in getting someone to come over and provide an estimate. Roy showed up at the exact time we agreed upon and was aware of the issue, I showed him the problem with the gutter & downspout and he provided an estimate 10 minutes after completing his inspection. When the work was complete, he walked with me while I inspected. He explained the previous installation had been done with short screws and he used long ones. He had fixed the problem and screwed in additional new screws on other downspouts that were loose. I'm very happy with the service, pretty painless, cost was OK too. Although, perhaps it may have been cheaper with a totally independent small contractor handyman.

We contacted Handyman Connection to see if someone could quickly come and give us an estimate for repairing the area under a window which was currently being replaced. While the window installers were replacing an entire bay window frame, we discovered that the area under one of the windows looked as if some of the wood framing had rotted away from water damage. We wanted the installers to remove the exterior vinyl siding and look closer at this area to see the further possible extent of damage and need for additional work. Unfortunately, the window installers were unable to do this. We wanted someone to take care of this immediately while the new windows were being installed or at least close to the project being completed. When we called Handyman Connection, they immediately identified someone to come and look at the problem and give an estimate. Mike arrived quickly, looked at the problem area and spoke with the two window installers still on the job. He discussed the problem and possible way to tackle it and left an estimate. We also got one additional estimate from another contractor. Handyman Connection and the other service both said they could do the work, though with the new windows, the extent of water damage would cease and there would be no additional problems. Mike, however, subsequently thought further about this and realized that even though that might be the case, there could be a possibility for mold damage down the line. He and Handyman Connection's main office both followed up to discuss this. We decided to proceed. Mike came the very next day and repaired this problem area under the bay. He removed the vinyl siding, replaced rotted plywood sheathing, put in fresh insulation and a water barrier, and reapplied the siding. We were impressed by his professionalism and quality work. We would definitely recommend both Handyman Connection and Mike, in particular.

we were experiencing a leaking pipe outside and our windows needed recaulking and some siding had gaps. everything went well and it was done quickly.

It was a small job and they did a fine job. I will use them again and I have a quote for additional work that will be done later.

Roy arrived when he said he would and was a very efficient and a hard worker. My only regret is that he doesn't do some of the other work that I need done!

When I called the Handyman Connection they immediately arranged for Art to come out and give me an estimate. I was hesitant about hiring anyone to perform services on my house since the company that installed my roof the previous summer was no longer in business. That company (Gandy Corporation) left a number of sub-contractors unpaid and created problems for dozens of their customers. When my "new roof" began to leak this past spring I was feeling very discouraged. I joined Angie's List to hopefully avoid future problems and have encouraged others to join since. When Art came out he gave me what I thought was a fair estimate. I was impressed that he went up on the roof to confirm what he thought was the problem. Other estimates I received were higher and some included maybe having to remove siding to find the source of the problem but no one went up on the roof to confirm their suspicions. When Art began his work the next day he discovered that the ridge vents were not only poorly installed but the wrong type for the pitch of my roof. He was done by noon and thoroughly cleaned up after himself. I am still waiting for that first driving rainfall to be fully confident - but Art has told me to call him if I have any further questions or concerns.

Good - The handyman returned calls on time and seemed very friendly and helpful. The price was fair copared with other estimates. Bad - The handyman seemed to be in a rush to complete work. When he was plastering the drywall, the ajoining dining room was not covered properly and furniture and rugs were splattered with plaster. When the holes for undercabinet wiring were put in the cabinets, the job was done very sloppy. The holes are visible and are very rough and not even. The bottom kitchen cabinets were not installed evenly which has created problems installing a countertop. It is two months later and he has still not returned to fix one portion of the job (a toekick) that was entirely left out when the work was originally completed.

Excellent experience! The job was done the next business day after the estimate was done. The worker was polite, on time, and did a fantastic job. The clean-up was superb, and I really appreciated the worker hauling away the debris.

I called Handyman Connection for an estimate on replacing 4 facets, 1 kitchen facet, 1 gabage disposal, 1 laundry facet, fix a shower leak on the 2nd floor, and patch the dry wall in the room below the shower. Pete came out and did a very professional estimate, with breakdowns for each item (which I asked for but not all companies provided that breakdown). The estimate was $1300 including a $100 discount for new customer. This was roughly in line with other estimates I received, though slightly above the average. Somewhat surprised by the high cost, I decided to try to take care some of the things I thought I could take care, and to leave the rest to the professional. I ended up repalcing 4 facets, the laundry facet, and the disposal on my own. I tried to replace the kitchen facet but the space is too tight under the sink and I don't have the right tool to loose things up. I didn't touch the shower leak because I really did have any idea why it was leaking. The leaking appeared to be behind the dry wall, dripping down to the 1st floor ceiling below. I then called Handyman Connect back and told them I'd like them to take care the remaining 3 items (replacing kitchen sink, fixing shower leak, and patching the dry wall). This is where the itemized estimates come handy. Handyman Connect said no problem, and I was able to hook up with Pete to schedule a time to do the job (which was about a week later). Pete then came on that day, drew up a new estimate for the 3 items (same estimate on a per item basis), and started working. He did a nice job. I was particularly happy that Pete was able to identify the shower leak problem and fixed it w/o having to break down some dry wall - which would be additional cost. After fixing the shower leak, I asked to not patch the dry wall for a few days so we can use the shower and convince ourself the shower leak really is fixed. This is because once the ceiling dry wall below is patched, I won't know it may still be leaking until the water penetrate the dry wall. Pete was kindly enough to agree to come back a few days later, and he did (BTW, the shower didn't leak again). I was quite happy with the whole experience.