ACE Handyman Services of Greater Boston

The were great. We would use them again.

Brian was very thorough and went above and beyond in helping me get my new office fixed up. He was willing to fix things I found after he arrived that weren't part of the original job. I highly recommend him!

I am very pleased with the work done by my handyman, Brian. Not only did he fix a hole in my kitchen wall and then level out the wall where tile had been removed, he retiled the entire backsplash. In addition, he took care of several other items for me including fixing a rotten threshold at my front door, fixing the strikeplate where the screws had stripped the wood, and repairing a handrail. He even quickly fixed a couple small things that he brought to my attention after noting them around the house, like my gate to the back yard and the strike plate on my bathroom door. All of this work, including the complicated tile that I picked, took just three days. I am beyond impressed. Brian was on time very day, worked very hard for the entire time, and cleaned up each and every day. He also is one of the neatest handyman that I have ever seen! We will not hesitate to hire him again!

The project went smoothly with great results. We had a fairly major project of replacing clapboards and windows. We turned to Handyman Matters based on the success we have had with them in the past. In this case, we had multiple quotes from contractors for thousands of dollars more. Handyman Matters explained exactly what needed to be done, how intensive the work would be, and how long we should anticipate it would take. As an example, HM projected the clapboard work would take approximately 2hours to replace. Meanwhile, contractors were ready to charge 1/2 to 1 full day of work for the clapboards alone. Contractors automatically included replacing our windows as opposed to simply replacing the window frames/sills. Until we spoke with Handyman Matters, we didn't know we could salvage our windows and simply replace the frames/sills. All of these details saved us money, thereby saving us financial headaches! The quality is exactly what you would find a contractor to provide, plus you get the level of trust that there is no "hustling" involved. In addition to this work, they: Repaired Chimney Flashing Repaired inside water damage, paint Repaired Screens Repaired cabinets Cleaned and repaired gutters Replaced Tile Repaired water damage and lighting in bathroom Plaster walls and ceilings Installed window treatments Our handyman was able to explain what caused many/most of the problems with each of the projects. They were able to find simple solutions to what other contractors relayed as difficult and complex. They are prompt, consistently courteous and trustworthy. They made us more knowledgable homeowners. Can't get much better than that!

I spoke with Bob 2 weeks prior scheduled day, informing him that the work needed was on a 2 story single family home. I am putting my house on the market and needed the work done ASAP. When the handyman showed up to my house, he immediately stated that he could not perform the task because his ladder was too short... I was informed by the handyman that Bob would call me back to reschedule a time to do the repair. It's been over a week with no call back. Work still not done. Great service and communication **sarcasm**

Bob and his team are a GODSEND. Not only is Bob incredibly responsive and honest about the pros and cons of each project plan, but his team is incredibly professional, courteous, punctual and detail-oriented. We initially reached out to Bob regarding a bathroom renovation. We had hoped to keep labor costs around $2500 (we purchased our own materials for another $2500.) The entire project took 5 days - far faster than I had guessed and the bathroom looks better than I could have imagined! It was a completely painless process from top to bottom! After finishing the bathroom, my husband and I noticed that a window in our home was growing mold. We didn't know where to start regarding window replacement, so we found ourselves at Home Depot (God help us.) A window "expert" from Home Depot came out and quoted us $1700 for the window replacement. My husband then had the bright idea - let's call Bob for a second opinion, since we already knew and trusted his work. Bob took one look at the window and said "it's still under warranty. I'll call the window company and have them send you a replacement free of charge. I'll tell you how to install it yourselves for free or my team can do the labor for under $200. WHAT? AMAZING! Why didn't we call Bob first?? So to recap, in under 3 minutes Bob saved us over $1500. Bob and his team are amazing and wonderful in every way and we can't wait to hire them again!

The handyman showed up on time with a long ladder that was required to replace the bathroom exhaust fan. I had purchased the cover myself which is a nice option and reduces the total cost of the job. The worker was polite and efficient, getting the job done promptly. I needed the job done promptly since my house was being put on the market and Handyman Matters was able to fit me in quickly.

Very professional, kept me informed all the way, friendly, punctual and cleaned up very nicely.

I can't say enough about the quality of the work performed, and the professionalism of Bob Samson and his staff. Deadlines were met consistently and the final invoice for services never exceeded the estimate.

Customer Service Nightmare.The contractor that was sent from Handymen Matters name was Tom and the experience went as follows. I have sent the service provider a letter about my experience with the company and will include excerpts from the letter as my review. ********************** After conferring with you at our home to review our concerns when it became obvious that things weren?t going along as I?d happily assumed, it was agreed that Tom Fitzpatrick?s performance was not ?up to standard? in some important and agreed-upon areas, and ran obviously counter to his two ?end of day? telephone assertions to you that our project was ?finished?. Despite our assertion that it would be best to have ?another guy with a fresh attitude?, we trusted you enough to allow Tom to return twice to truly finish the job, which included leaving the site clean and removing his work debris- such as those sheets of discarded cement board, and the thick tile dust that had been allowed to spread throughout our first floor hall and entire second floor apartment, with the exception of two closed rooms. I never even mentioned: 1. The chunks of tile and other debris that were allowed to roll through the balusters to fall directly from the second-floor hall down onto our things, and through our first-floor heating grate, which was wide open due to the intense cold. As the chunks represented tile dust and smaller demo debris that clearly passed through into our recently cleaned forced hot air ducts, we now have to live with it blowing through our home. All of this due to Tom?s consistent failure to respect our home, and the reasonable workspace that he?d been provided. 2. When he?d protested my closing of the apartment door the second day, I explained that he no longer needed access to the rear bathroom in the apartment- with Mitch gone, so I was containing the dust to his work area. When Tom explained that he needed a place to store the cement board I agreed, trusting that he?d keep the door closed, after pulling out each board. That conversation alone highlights the mindset behind his subsequent actions, as I was clear re: my concerns. Although we appreciated your ?Service Recovery? efforts, such as engaging a cleaner to clean and clear away the debris as Tom was supposed to have done (for the charge of $200.00 that was part of our contract), we are still ?cleaning up after Tom?, as the tile dust was allowed to permeate every open space in the apartment, resulting in our need to clean what neither we nor the cleaner had seen at the time of his arrival, such as: ? The dusty third room that had first appeared ?untouched ??by Tom?s mess, but which turned out to be visibly filthy with dust the day after the cleaner had left, when the light was better. As the cleaner was not at fault, I chose not to mention it, but you must understand why it ?grates?. ? The dusty interior (barrel) of the apartment?s washer/dryer, which we?d moved for the floor refinishing and thought would be?safe? behind the (closed) apartment door. ? The open-front bathroom cabinet that had been removed from the worksite to stand in the same (supposedly closed) room, full of freshly-cleaned bath linens, which I?ve since had to take out of the house and shake individually before laundering, due to the tile dust that collected in them. This, along with the constant cleaning that I had to do ?from Day One? to keep our newly-finished floors, rugs, ?and stocking feet- safe from the dangerously sharp shards of debris (so thick that Tom and Mitch?s boot-prints were perfectly preserved on our resin paper like a cartoon image, everywhere they walked in the apartment and our un-papered entry-which proved to be a bear to clean), left me doing work that Tom and Mitch had been contracted to do, thereby robbing me of time from my own (pressing) work schedule, an additional inconvenience for me as a home-based business owner and a further drain on our resources in every sense, as we?d already been charged for the routine clean up that you and we had expected them to do, each day. Honestly, as they?d presented so pleasantly, I?d decided to ignore my misgivings (upon finding myself left alone with the mess) and assume that they would make everything right the next day, which was obviously a mistake, even after I?d informed Tom that Gavin was going to call you (which he?d failed to do, as it happened, after realizing that he?d not secured your number). Also, as we?ve had wonderful relationships with our contractors in the past ,-who?d done the work according to the contracted promise, I believed Tom when he kept telling me how happy we were going to be with his work and, distracted by my publishing deadline, left him to it. As a result of the above-mentioned violations of our contract, we expect Handyman Matters to accept the following deductions from our originally agreed-upon payment: 1. Gavin?s Completion of Tom?s job on our new ceiling (over the bathtub): Upon a visit by Bob Samson, Gavin (a retired and well-respected contractor) and he agreed that Tom had left an incomplete taping job on the stall ceiling, which would require ?at least another coat, if not more.? After Tom had been asked to return twice to complete tasks that he?d told Bob were ?finished?-and had made such a poor job of, we did not want him to return a third time, as our project had already been hugely delayed (first by the structural challenges inherent to a 116 y.o. building, and the rest resulting from simple ?team dysfunction?). Instead Gavin chose to finish the job himself. Gavin applied two additional coats of joint compound to cover the obvious hump that Tom had left in the juncture between the new ceiling and the rest of the bathroom, so that the finished product would be smooth enough to cover with moisture-blocking high gloss paint. Charge: $50 2. Engaging a drain clearing service, after the tub?s pipes were congested with demo debris Our tub went from draining perfectly for twenty years prior to the demo to not draining at all, upon completion of the project. When our attempts to clear the pipe failed, we had to engage professional help, which resulted in vacuuming sizable chunks of debris from our pipes, a terrible sound made worse by the insult implied in their neglect of our property, and disrespect for us. Charge: $130.00 Original Contract Charge ($5,730.00) -Total deductions ($180.00) =Enclosed balance of: $5,550.00 Had I charged you for the time and resources that cleaning up after your men took from conducting my business on those busy days then -and since, the deduction would have tripled. Given the fact that this check includes the $200 charge for cleaning that we didn?t receive (-and none of us expected them to clog our pipes with debris), I?m sure that you?ll agree that this deduction would be viewed by any reasonable mind as more than fair-especially given the uncertainty re: the life left on our washer, since our discovery of the tile dust in the barrel. We?ll have to live with that. I?d told you that given my husband?s decades as a contractor, we make a consistent effort to make all who work on our home feel that they- and their work- are respected, and do what we can to assure their comfort when they?re with us. For this reason, I have ?favored customer status? with several great vendors, who?ll fit us into their craziest schedule, when we?re desperate enough to ask. I had sincerely expected to add H.M. to my list of preferred contractors that we could count on. As only Tom and Mitch can explain their failure to uphold the (presumed) reasonable standards of your organization as recipients of our money and good will , we?re left with the memory of having enthusiastically paid a lot of hard ?earned money to see a dream realized, only to find our trust, good will, and basic expectations violated. Despite the challenges presented by the age of the house, dealing effectively with ?off-square? corners is usually a commonplace for seasoned pros and, as you know, we forgave any ?imperfections? for that reason. As for their consistent failure to clean up after themselves as promised in the contract-while failing to be careful of the areas beyond the worksite (which is implicit in the contract)-and the shards of tile that Tom sealed with clear caulk along the outer ?frame? of the tub, thereby precluding our ability to disguise it with paint or ?bull-nose tiles, there is simply no reasonable excuse. As I may have told you, the contrast between Tom and Mitch and Jaime Miller of Rodenhiser (who never entered our home without promptly applying fresh Tyvek over his boots, and left everything that he touched cleaner -and better- than he?d found it) was downright embarrassing, and we?ve let Rodenhiser know how much we appreciated his representation of their company. Jaime, the cleaner, and your efforts to ?clean up? after Mitch and Tom are the only ?saving graces? of this debacle. We?re thunderstruck by the fact that you?d asked Tom twice to return and recover H.M.?s undermined reputation, a reasonable request at which he?d so ostentatiously failed. It simply defies reason, and none of this is good for trusting homeowners, Angie?s list, or your company. If you hadn?t been as pleasant and attentive as you had been, we?d feel truly ?hosed? by the experience. Now, having paid richly for this educational opportunity, we?re moving on.

I have never written a bad review and hate doing it. But Wow! These guys were the worst. They agreed to do the work and estimated a week. It took 4. They would not turn up when promised. When promising two guys they would have one. When promising to complete one room they would only do part of one door. they spilled paint on the carpets. the walls are poorly sanded, with visible defects in the plastering. Nails be incompletely knocked into base boards. they didn't do the carpets - we got someone else to do it. Every night we covered things with plastic only to find that they had not come, or had done almost nothing, and we'd have to clean up. Worse: we repeatedly called to complain to be told that the work had been completed. We'd send photos of the half done walls, etc and they'd say they'd come to finish it. On and on it went. Bob, the owner, did come at the end of the job to review. He agreed that the job was terribly delayed, that the job was shoddy, and the carpets a mess and offered to have someone come in to redo it. After such an experience we declined. We want this company out of our lives. Of course, he didn't discount the job! Some good things: this is an office and so the work needed to be done evenings and weekends. That's tough and they agreed to do it. That's it though. They should have said they couldn't do it, because that was more truthful. One of the workers (Kevin) seemed to have some self pride and care in his work. But he only came once. The office manager was nice. So summary: poor, sloppy, slow workmanship took 4 times as long dirty poor responsivity expensive unreliable damaged our carpets STAY AWAY

Brian was great, working through all of the issues I had in several rooms of our house that we needed to take care of before putting it on the market.

He was excellent. I would use him again in a heartbeat. Very professional, efficient, intelligent, and competent. We recently had a negative experience with another service provider that strung a job along by doing the tasks in an inefficient manner, so I quizzed him a bit about how he would do the jobs and the order etc (we all know the order of the job completion can really cause the cost to sky rocket) and his responses were on point. I supervised all aspects of the job having some experience in this area but needing someone with more talent than I possess to do these repairs and I have no complaints. He was friendly and respectful also.

Service timing was great -- called Wednesday and they were there Thursday. He came right on time and was very professional finishing exactly in the time estimated with good work. He even needed screws that were missing and he had them on his truck. The only downside was pricing. It's in line with other handyman services but 2x the direct contractor route. But you pay for convenience of being able to call and get service hopefully right away.

Over the past six months we've used HMM Boston several for major repairs to walls, deck and sun porch. Handyman Tom F. is a semi-retired contractor, highly experienced, and very professional. At $90/hr HMM service isn't inexpensive, and some days Tom didn't appear exactly when scheduled, but he has always done high quality work, so we've had him back for four successive jobs. We also enjoy Tom's flinty sense of humor. HMM charges time + materials + $40/day/person flat rate commuting charge + optional trash removal charge. Time is hours on site plus time spent driving for materials. HMM doesn't normally provide a detailed materials invoice - you can ask for one or decide to trust them. However, when we've had questions, HMM owner Bob Samson - who visits every work site - has always been very fair. We'll certainly use HMM-Boston again.

Laszlo is a perfect professional. He is fast, efficient, and took care of everything we asked for. We will definitely want him back.

Handyman arrived exactly on time and was shown the project. He was polite and easy to deal with, but I was very disappointed by basic attention to detail. In particular, after he established where the studs were in my ceiling to anchor the base hooks for the pot rack (using a stud-finder), he then immediately drilled the first hole for one of four hooks that hold the pot rack. I stopped him at that point because he had not measured the pot rack itself or discussed with me how I wanted it to hang relative to the kitchen island. He had taken no measurements of the pot rack itself. He had not read the instructions that came with the pot rack that clearly indicate how to measure, and suggest using a plumb bob to ensure correct placement of the rack over a kitchen counter. Instead, I then measured the pot rack and we discussed where it needed to be placed. We would not have had that conversation if I hadn't insisted. He acknowledged that the hole he had first drilled was in the wrong place given where the rack actually needed to go. Only then did he start measuring anything, and I still had to insist that he double check measurements to be sure the rack would hang straight relative to the rectangular island below it. This was not the "skilled craftsman" experience that the company boasts. It may be that for projects that do not require attention to that kind of detail (such as replacing a doorknob or fixing a broken window) Handyman Matters is fine. But unless they give customers a way to check reviews of individual handymen, I wouldn't use them for a project like this again.

I was not happy about it. They were very hard to schedule. When they came to do the job, the person was very much complaining about the job, which was just to put molding. I had the materials. But they said that they needed to purchase other materials. He went and bought blades and other materials that I don't think he needed to use. He ended up not using them for the job but I had to actually pay for them, with a 33% markup. I did not get to keep the materials. I pretty much paid for a new blade that he didn't even open. They couldn't give me the actual receipt of the materials. They were going to send me the bill with the receipt, so I could have it. After three e-mails and various calls, they never sent me the bill for the materials. They double charged me for the work. I ended up paying extra. They eventually refunded me the extra amount. But there were so many errors and the fact that I had to pay for materials that I didn't even use for my job was just unacceptable. I would definitely not use them again or recommend them. They are unprofessional and they don't provide value. It's just not worth the headache. They left the area clean.

Not so great. The lady in the office was very pleasant, but canceling out twice the day before is not professional. Serious follow-through problems, won't contact them again.

They were responsive and then they weren’t. They said they were coming then they didn’t bring a ladder.

It took some convincing, but they finally were willing to provide a quote rather than requesting that we just pay them to come out and do the work. As engineers and owners of multiple properties and having done a great many renovations both with and without contractors, we like to know the job can be done and to meet the contractor ahead of time. In this case, it was a relatively small job but some technical questions remained as to its viability. Hence the request for a quote in person. It was scheduled for a 7:30am visit (after they had once canceled on us a few weeks back and had indeed called ahead to let us know). I waited until nearly 8am without hearing from them, called and spoke to their answering service, asking if they were still planning on showing up and if they could call me back to let me know. I waited for another 20 minutes without hearing from them and then gave them another call to let them know that I still hadn't seen them and that I was heading out to work (since I was already late). 5-10 minutes later I received calls on my cell phone that I missed due to road noise while driving. I glanced at my phone a few minutes later and noted the calls and called them back immediately. I spoke with Bob, who was also angry and not apologetic. He indicated that the guy had come by after waiting in traffic for 1.5 hours, said he could do the job (without knowing the main concerns), saw I wasn't there and had left. He then bluntly asked if I wanted them to do the job since he would not be having the guy show up again. I was in the middle of asking about the the main issue I had with viability when he cut me off and said they were not interested in this job and our business. Had they bothered to let us know they were running late and they were still coming, been apologetic on the phone, or even just addressed the technical concern directly, things might have turned out differently. We prefer people who are willing to address the main technical issue (e.g. why is this a viable job) rather than smoothing over concerns with "we do this type of thing all of the time" and "we find ways", which was Bob's approach.

I contacted Handyman matters via email and was emailed back to call them. In the email that they sent they are upfront about their rates/charges so you are aware of the cost right away. I called and left a voice mail and Bob Samson called me right back. I scheduled an appointment for 1:00pm today. Brian contacted me around 11:00 and informed me he was running ahead of schedule and could he come earlier. I was thrilled that he could come earler than scheduled. He arrived and he removed the ceiling fan and replaced it with the light fixture. He pointed out to me that there was a missing piece(part of a screw) that was not in the box and needed to complete. We discussed my options and luckily he was able to install it without that! I was very happy that Brian was able to do that so that I would not have to go back to home depot and reschedule him to come back. He then installed my digital thermostat with no problems. I found Brian to be very professional and I was very happy with the service I received. I have other projects I want to get done and would totally contact this company again.

The project went great! I called Handyman Matters last week when I received the discount email, and was scheduled for the handyman to show up today, 11/9. However, I received a call last week to say that a job had been cancelled and so the handyman could come the next day. Fabulous! Mitchell showed up early to take a look at the work that needed to be done so that he could purchase the correct materials. He also checked the integrity of our shed roof before doing the job to ensure that the effort and expense was worthwhile. Mitchell put a second layer of shingles on the shed roof, and it looks good as new! He planed the bottom of my two doors and put a coat of paint on both, and he made a recommendation on a closure relocation for one of them to further enhance closure [that will be done in the future]. My husband and I are very happy with the work that Mitchell did for us. We have used Handyman Matters in the past and have always been happy with the quality and cost of the work provided.

After last winter?s ice dam water damage, we waited for 6 months before a mitigation company finally sending a technician to our house to assess the damage. Since we wanted to make sure that there wasn?t any mold growing behind the damaged walls, we hired Rich through Handyman Matters of Greater Boston. He is the person who covers the area of Framingham and Natick, where we live. He is very good at what he does, skillful and efficient. He suggested that the water marks on the dry walls were only superficial. He opened the areas with the water marks on each damaged wall and ceiling. It proved that he was right. He did the job in one hour. We ended in saving a lot of money by not tearing down the whole walls. During his next visit, he repaired the openings, and did a beautiful job plastering them. He also fixed our screen door, the deck, installed a vent on the exterior wall to let the oven-the-range microwave-oven fan venting out (it used to vent toward the inside), took up the nailed-down wall-to-wall carpet of a bedroom, and plastered over some cracks on the 1st floor ceiling. All these were done in 8 hours over a 2-day period. He made 2 trips, because he applied 3 coating of plasters and needed some time to let each coating dry. We really like the quality work Rich has done for us. We had some communication problems with the office, from either our misunderstanding or theirs. But we will use this service again in the future, because we like Rich so much.

Dreadful. Start to finish. Handyman rude. Learned we needed a particular hinge which we had thoroughly explained when booking the appointment. Assured that we were not to worry everything is on the truck. Handyman said he would drive to Home Depot. We vetoed that plan having tried that ourselves. He did rehang a bathroom door. He was to use fire insert stove glue and insulating rope to replace inside of door. Items were purchased from specialty store where we bought the stove. Handyman proceeded to smear glue black on fireplace door putting tools and tubes on white ceramic tiles. He insisted glue was wrong glue, rope would not fit. I told him to stop. Just stop that he was making a mess. He started spreading the smeared glue all over the front tiles. He then started raising his voice telling me to get a brush, pumice, etc. I said, we are done here. What do I owe you? We never got to the rehanging of the second door. I paid him his hourly rate. He completed one 15 minute task and created havoc for the other 25 minutes i received a call from his company. We were reimbursed. I would never use them again or recommend them