ACE Handyman Services of Greater Boston

I called Handyman Matters and they answered the phone immediately and explained their service. We set a 1/2 day appt the following week at a time that was convenient for me. The handyman called in advance of his on-time arrival at my house. We reviewed and prioritized the projects I wanted to complete. Some projects required him to make a quick trip to the hardware store (which he did without complaint). He completed all projects within the agreed upon time frame.

I think it was an above average experience but I did think they were a little pricey as they were $75 an hour. They didn't end up fixing something right. They did come out to fix it but it took a lot of calls, six weeks and I had to pay the travel charge for them to come back out to fix it.

It was a good experience. They came promptly and worked out a reasonable way to do the job the way it needed to be done. I would use them again.

We were very happy with the quality of work that was done. Very professional, showed up on time, etc. But, there was one thing we needed done-- putting weather stripping on a glass sliding door. We were told that this would have to be special ordered and that they would have to come back. After two phone calls to check on the status (the first about four days after the work was completed, and the last call this past weekend), no one has called back. There has been no communication whatsoever. I would use this company again, if they return our calls about completing the previously discussed work and would not if they never call back about this job.

The person that came was very friendly. He caulked around the tub on the bathroom floor stopping the leak successfully. The attempt to glue to piece in the dishwasher was not successful. It came off within a day. He took some model numbers off the fan to get some parts and we never heard from him again. I was under the impression that he was going to get the parts and come back to fix the fan but he never followed up. I was disappointed that he never came back. I would not use them again.

He was around for six or seven hours chipping away at concrete moving large amounts of it until he got to the base. He did a very professional job of setting the form and pouring the concrete. He came back after lunch and put on a skin coat. He cleaned up after himself.

Job went well. Did bulk of job on 11/11/08 and finished the painting on 11/14/08.

Bob was easy to reach and to set up appointments with. He sent Chris who was great. Chris did everything fast and efficiently without seeming to be in a hurry. He arrived on time, was very pleasant, helpful, and easy to talk to. He was happy to re-cycle some materials I had here for some of the shelves and brought the rest of the supplies I needed. He cleaned up after himself and removed whatever I wanted to get rid of. He obviously knows what he's doing and I would definitely ask for him again. I'm very happy-great job!

Came on July 17/18th as scheduled. Did a fine job on the sink caulking. Made an ugly mess of the front door. Did not fill all the holes in the basement ceiling, did not plaster many of them as agreed but instead filled them with contractors foam, left a mess of foam splatters and sharp plaster lathe clippings to clean up. Charged 50% more than bid for awful ceiling repairs. Repeated, polite, requests to refinish the front door frame were met with endless delays. They came back twice to repaint the frame, the last on Sept 9, but never got it right. It turns out the filler they used to repair the frame never hardened, and so the paint would sag and discolor. Took another stack of emails and 6 weeks to get a refund for the door. A real pain in the neck. They have never responded to my complaint about the ceiling.

It went great - from the time I called the Handyman Matters to when the job was finished was about one week - the work was done really well and at a reasonable price.

The wall job went well. They clean up after themselves and the finished product looks great. The price was pretty good as well. I was not as pleased with the shelf project. I had the same problem as I see in other reviews - they offer to pick up materials, but you have no idea it's getting marked up or costing you $75/hr to shop. The shelves also didn't come out as I had wished. I ended up not having them finish painting them because it was getting so expensive for the project. I probably should have given them better feedback at the time, but they were really nice guys so I overlooked things. My fault on that one! Overall, I think they do good work, but may be a bit expensive.

Our large front door on a 150 year old brownstone in the Back Bay would not close properly. We thought it would be a big expensive job. Our inquiry was received politely and professionally, and we had very prompt courteous service. Best of all, they found that resetting the door by redoing the hinge connection to the jamb with longer screws did the trick. Well done and cheap!

I called Bob at Handyman Matters to schedule a handyman to come to my house to do about 12 minor things in my home. Chris Merrill came and knocked out everything in 2 hours. He is good, and he is very efficient. He did the following: install a kitchen cabinet hinge, fix our basement door knob, touch up the ceilings in my room and my son's room (because of peeling paint), put in new towel rods and a toilet seat in my bathroom, and hung a few little things around the house.

The handyman arrived in a timely fashion. I showed him what needed to be done and he got right to work. He was very polite and friendly and the work took less than an hour. The overall experience was very positive.

Compared to other quotes we've had they had the product we needed. They had the right window that would keep the water in the shower. They did a very good job installing it.

He arrived on time, but mis-measured the threshold so had to make a second trip back to home depot to get another piece. When finished, he helped me reposition the doors weather stripping to match the new threshold, and recommended a finish for the threshold. The day he came it was raining, so he had a tough time working in between downpours, but stayed with it. The only thing that bummed me out was that I mainly called for the door jamb, which we didn't end up touching. I could have done the threshold my self and paid for parts only, which would have been much cheaper. C'est la vie, I guess. Overall, a good job!

Work proceeded very smoothly. The handyman they sent, Chris, worked conscientiously from morning till night. He made sure all the jobs were done to my satisfaction. He fixed our garage door opener which we had been told by another company couldn't be done, thereby saving us a lot of money. Also managed to find a remote that worked with it since we no longer had the old ones. He seemed very knowledgeable about just about everything that needed to be done. He worked with little supervision and was sensitive about not being intrusive. He was also happy to answer any questions and quite pleasant to be around. He was also a very neat worker and always cleaned up after himself, even if he couldn't finish the job until later. He also showed up on the day and time that he promised. I have hired a lot of handymen over the years, but rarely have I been satisfied with the work, due to incompetence, sloppiness or worse. I was very pleased with the quality of work and professionalism shown by Chris. I would definitely use him again.

Bob arrived on time for the estimate. The estimate was accurate. The work started and finished on time and was neatly done. The area was cleaned up each day. After the job was finished all trash was removed and the area swept clean. All excess materials were left in a designated spot.

The workers were diligent, hardworking, knowledgeable and did a good job!

It was ok and I'd probably use them again, especially because I'm a little wiser on how they work. The rates are reasonable (I think it's $75/hr) and they really do a bit of everything which is helpful. I was disappointed in a few things though. 1. I was told they charged $50 for them to send someone over to do the estimate, but if you hired them to do the work the $50 was reimbursed. Long story short, I had them do the work and didn't get reimbursed the $50, even after two follow-ups asking about it. 2. They offer to pick up any materials needed to do the work, but they mark up whatever they buy by 10%, plus you are paying the $75/hr while they shop. They mentioned this when I called which is why I planned on buying everything the handyman needed so he wouldn't have to go out. Unfortunately, you need them to tell you what to buy so you can buy it and I didn't really get a straight answer. For example, I asked how much insulation I would need to purchase during the estimate. He didn't go up into the attic to measure, just said due to the size of the house, about this much. At that time I didn't know ANYTHING about insulation, so didn't know it came in rolls, in batts, different thicknesses etc. until I went shopping. Because he didn't go into the attic to see how much insulation was already there, I had too. I didn't want to purchase 15 inches if I already had 7 inches worth. I also learned that depending upon what kind of insulation you already have helps you determine what to purchase when you are adding more, batts are easier than rolls because you don't have to cut them etc. I did call the company before the handyman came to do the work and was told it didn't matter what I purchased. Long story short, I don't think he was helpful in giving me the info needed to purchase the insulation because he planned on buying it when he came to do the work and would have bought something that took longer for him to install. When the Handyman came to do the work, he had to go out anyway to purchase the caulk for the tub and the vinyl siding that I couldn't find (some of the home improvement stores didn't have anything that matched). He was gone for 2 hours and I kept wondering what was taking so long. I feel like I was given an estimate of 6 hours to have the work completed and most of that time was spent doing something that I could have done myself. I hired someone to do handyman work, not shop. I thought that the actual work completed was great though, but wanted others to know this.

I would never have them again. They seem to have an efficient system in the office but after the call, they came out, the rep was late, and the person that came out did not combine the two projects.

This is the fourth or fifth time I've used this company for various small "honeydo" list projects that I don't have the time or inclination for. Alex was the handyman on this instance. While all the staff have been good, this is the third time I've used him and now request him by name. He's smart, professional, on-time, does good work, is efficient, and has good communication skills. While the company is pricey ($75/hr) and I'm sure I could shop around for a better price, the "know he's gonna show up" factor is well worth it, especially for these small projects.

It went well overall. It was hot and Jim persevered through some unexpected troubles - like having to re-groove the wood flooring so they would fit the original floorboards. The horsehair plaster walls also proved a challenge. But Jim did a great job and we were particularly impressed with his knowledge of houses of our age, and his ability to have what was new match what was original. He also came back and made sure the final opening was level, which was a challenge because of the slant in the floor. He did have to redo some work, and did it free of charge. It ended up taking longer than anticipated, but not unreasonably so due to the flooring and leveling issues that came up and had to be fit into his schedule.

Prompt, courteous, skilled, efficient.

From the initial contact through completion of the work they were incredibly efficient and responsive. They called me back right away to schedule the work, the assigned handyman showed up on time and completed everything in a very efficient manner. Very professional company to work with, I'd go back to them without hesitation.