Handywoman Services

Never heard from her again, no estimate, no response or anything.

Initially, I was hopeful that she would be the solution to a lot of problems I have. When I first called, we set a time for the next day and she showed up promptly. She was really good with my dog (high-strung) and while she was looking at the work I need done she went ahead and removed the old mirror that had resisted all my efforts. She told me that she would give me an estimate via email that night (two weeks ago). I gave her my email address, parted on (I thought) good terms, and I never heard from her again. Since she had my email, my phone, and my address, I can't give her any slack on this one. This was very disappointing. *Update 10/08/2013* She emailed me again yesterday saying that she HAD sent the estimate and got no response, and she re-sent the estimate to show me the date which was indeed the next day. Unfortunately she had a typo in the email address so I didn't receive it. It's a shame because I would have used her services. I guess it's likely that many contractors are used to getting no response so it's hard to blame her for not trying again. I have lots of work that needs a handyman, so I will try her again.

She was nice but on email very unreliable and didn't send an estimate after our initial consultation. I emailed several times and she never sent it so I moved on.

Cecelia was a pleasure to deal with, went out of her way to accomodate my schedule And performed all repairs efficiently and cost effectively. Would definitely use her again!

Handywoman Services did an excellent job for me. She was prompt in all of her appointments that she made with me. Her estimate was very fair and comperable for the work that was done. Handywoman Services did an outstanding job and did it very quickly. The work was done within a week of when the estimate was given. I highly recommend Handywoan Services. They are a great company and are very accomodating to their customers.

This provider was recommended to me by a friend to remodel my bathroom. I called them for a quote. They did call me back after a good week or so after I left a vm. I tried to schedule a time for them to come to my home so they could see the needed scope, but they were very slow in returning voice mails and ultimately never called me back. Did not seem interested in my business at all, and I took it elsewhere. I find it slightly unprofessional they also now want to connect with me on LinkedIn when they never did anything for me, never returned my last call and seemed very disinterested in my business.

Cleaned up all work areas. Explained repairs. Very reasonable costs. Will definitely use her service in the future.

It was a very good experience. She was very prompt after giving me the estimates. She did thorough work and she knew what she was talking about when she gave the estimate for the kind of work I needed done. She did the work herself and she didn't send underlings which I liked.

Cecilia of Handywoman Services is a Real Gem. Finding good repair people to fix things around my condo has always been challenging. Often they don't follow through in communication, fail to show up or do a sub-par job. Cecilia responded quickly to my initial e-mail and then responded promptly and professionally to all of my questions in follow-up e-mails and phone calls. She scheduled a time to come and give me an on-site estimate and arrived on time. She was confident and assured me that these tasks could be done. The estimate was e-mailed to me and we agreed on a time and date for her to complete the job. She came on the appointed day and time and completed each task meeting and exceeding all expectations and cost estimate. I was very satisfied with the work, efficiency and her problem solving ability. I will certainly be contacting this company for many future projects.

I emailed them twice for work and never received a response. Very disappointing for a customer and a woman wanting to work with a woman owned business

Returned call promptly, came next day and gave estimate. Scheduled repair day and showed up as scheduled and completed all repairs. Cleaned up and no evidence of all the work that had been done other than everything working.

Based on a friend's recommendation, I contacted Handywoman to tear down a wall between two bedrooms. Both Cecilia and Becky arrived as scheduled to provide a quote. Cecilia was very informative about the job process, next steps, issues that may crop up, etc. Becky has a PhD in Historical Renovations and was very knowledgeable about supporting structures, loads, etc. They provided a few design options about the renovation based on structural requirements. They provided an estimate a few days later. I modified it and we worked on floor plan drawings via email. We set a date to start the project. They came out as planned, performed the work and did an outstanding job. An issue cropped up after the wall was torn down. They identified that one ceiling was lower than the other. They provided two options. One would cost an extra $600 and they would have to remove a chunk of the ceiling and gradually level it. The second option involved feathering the drywall spackle as much as possible. I went with option 2. They did a great job. If I show anyone the renovation, no one can tell unless I pointed it out....and you have to stand at an angle and stare at it for a while! They recommended a flooring company to weave the hardwood between the two rooms. I went with someone cheaper but should have followed Handywoman's recommendations. Overall, I was very pleased with Handywoman. They both work methodically and carefully and take pride in doing quality work, as well as being very personable and effective communicators. The project came in a little under their quoted price, so they did minor fixups around the house. I have already recommended them to others and would definitely hire again.

The gutters at my mother's two-story house were terribly clogged with leaves and causing water to overflow badly into her basement during heavy rains. We also needed built another special-sized plexiglass window well cover, like similar ones already being used around the house. I contacted several gutter repair companies that I found advertised in the NW Current newspaper or on Angies List. All were either unresponsive, over-priced, or just didnt have time to fit us in. All of them got caught up around the details of building what is a simple window well-cover, made from a plexiglass sheet screwed into a wood 2X4 frame, giving quotes in the $-hundreds! . . . But then we found Cecilia on Angies List. She was responsive, prompt, and quite willing to work with us to meet our particular requests. She came to the house to surmise the extent of work involved and to take measurements. Then she came back (on the day promised) and completed the job quickly, thoroughly, professionally, unobtrusively, with all of the right prep and equipment. She came with the pre-cut sheet for the window well-cover (she even found a durable, see-thru material less expensive alternative to standard plexiglass), then built the frame in the backyard, on the spot. She even took photos of the gutters before and after cleaning -- we were away from the house when she first came by -- to document their condition before and after as well as of the protective filters she put in place. This was the first time a cleaning/repair service has ever taken the time to do this! Likewise, its real proof of their work, which with gutters is often hard to evaluate unless the home-owner climbs up on the ladder themselves! Ultimately, Cecilia was very friendly, honest, capable, professional, and quite fairly and reasonably priced for the quality of her work. She has a nice way with people and is quite respectful. My elderly mother is delighted and is now (thank-goodness!) looking about her house for all kinds of long put-off plumbing, carpentry, painting jobs for Cecilia to work on this Fall and next Spring. And for my place too, Cecilia will be the first handyperson I call. She is so trustworthy and capable, that I can envision giving her a key and access to my house if need be, so she can work on things when I am away.

They never contacted me back with a service estimate. I called and emailed her and did not receive a response. She recommend another service provider for gutter repair who wanted to do total gutter replacement rather then just a small repair and he never got back with and estimate. The Handywoman, Cecila, said you worked a lot with the man she referred and that she could not do the work herself as her back or leg was bad. Her referral came and said she had referred some people to him, but he had never worked with her!

After a barrage of "sorry, I don't do that" or prices that were way out of my budget, Cecilia was a beam of sunlight on a cloudy day. She was very direct in her responses to my questions, didn't hesitate when giving me a very fair price (and under my budget!) for her services, and promptly scheduled an appointment. It was wonderfully convenient to be able to talk with her on the phone and text her as well. We scheduled an appointment for two days later at 9:00 AM at my employer's home. She was punctual, and came alone. There were dogs in the house, a babysitter, as well as an infant -- none of these characters fazed her, though! She was very professional but had a positive attitude and a great sense of humor, which helped me relax a lot. After assessing the caulk in both bathrooms, she informed me that she had to run to the local hardware store and return with some supplies, but again she was prompt and didn't dilly-dally. When we spoke on the phone two days prior regarding estimates, she mentioned that the job may take around two hours. She finished in exactly two hours. Her invoice was the exact price we had discussed earlier, she offered a 90 day warranty, and wrote a detailed description of her work and some additional info about the caulk she had replaced and had installed. As she was leaving, she assured me that there was no handy-task she couldn't tackle; should anything arise in the future I will be more than happy to contact her again, no matter the problem. Cecilia is an honest, hardworking professional with a great attitude. I would highly recommend her to anyone in the DC area who needs a reliable and skilled individual to service their home.

Cecilia did a great job. The first time we hired her, it was to install a baby gate. I cued up a video of the way this gate is installed online, as she wasn't familiar with this style. She then installed the gate, and it is very secure. She showed me how to work various features of the gate, such as how to remove it if we need to move furniture through that opening. The second time we hired Cecilia it was to both install a baby gate and install a new garbage disposal we had bought. Cecilia went right to work on the garbage disposal. Now, we had been told by our electrician (who is very highly rated on Angie's List) that the problem we were having with our GD was that it was ancient, and the electrician explicitly said that the problem was not the electric switch, which we had thought to be the culprit. Well, Cecilia opened up the electric switch and found that the problem was that the wiring had come loose. She fixed the wiring and showed us how to unclog our GD in the future. She said our existing GD would work just fine, and that the replacement GD we had purchased was too powerful and big to fit under our sink. So, we returned the expensive replacement garbage disposal and are now very happy with the one Cecilia installed. Cecilia on her second visit with us also installed a new baby gate. She screwed it into the wall just fine, which is a big deal for us because our walls are plaster and therefore a pain in the rear. She then was a bit stumped about how to adjust it such that it would actually close properly and reopen, as were we all. So, I re-read the instructions, we saw that her installation was correct and that we just had to pull up very h****** the baby gate to get it to open. (That was a feature, not a bug.) So, everyone was happy, baby is safe. Also, Cecilia holds my daughter when I need to go do something (I can't think what it was I had to do while she was here--go find the installation video on youtube or something?) and I really appreciate that she is outgoing and comfortable with my daughter.

It turned out not such a good job for me. This is what I thought I was agreeing to: She would install fold-down stairs to the attic, plywood flooring across the joists in the attic, and possibly a light. In order to make it clear what I wanted, I took her to a neighbors house and showed her the attic space there. My house is identical to my neighbors'. I said "This is what I want." She made it clear that she might not be able to put a light fixture in without an additional cost because she couldn't see what wiring was available. That was fine. After I hired her I realized that the email she sent me outlining the job only specified installing the stairs. I contacted her to ask if this was a mistake. She basically waved me off, implying that it would be included. So (my bad) I assumed it was. She seemed like a decent person, and I thought there was an incentive to make me a happy customer. After I hired her, she stated that putting down the flooring would be an additional cost. Clearly, she just didn't want to do the work. She told me how easy it would be for me to do it myself. Hmm. Who wants someone to work on your house when they don't want to? Update: As we continue to try to create this storage space in our attic, we encounter problems which could have been avoided if the job had been done correctly in the first place. There were lots of pieces of scrap wood left up in the attic. Shims which were used to install the stairs were left jutting up into the space like spears stuck up through the ceiling. The contractor installed a 2 x 4 along the joists, probably to have a place to sit while she worked. It prevents us from putting down flooring in that area, and it was shot in with a nail gun using such force that it's impossible to remove. We are trying to chisel it out. It's taking days. I truly wish that we had not hired this person.

I have called Cecilia twice in three days, expecting to have her come repair problems with my plumbing. In the first instance, she stopped by the house in the evening, after I returned from work. She looked at the problem, and told me how I could fix it myself. In the second instance, about 30 minutes ago, I called and told her of another problem - she immediately understood what was wrong and referred me to another local company who could provide the service quickly and at a reasonable cost. So far, Handywoman Services has been professional, knowledgeable and nothing short of outstanding. Thank you!!

Job was completed as promised & better than expected at a very reasonable rate. Tree limbs were cut away from the house as well.

The work was done in about two days, and we were quite pleased with Cecilia's performance.

Contacted this service based on Angie's List reviews. I do not live in the DC area and did not know the name of a good handyman service for a small project in an apartment unit. Overall the project went very well. Estimate provided promptly - and no surprises in the final bill. We were on a tight budget and Cecilia devised a plan that would work for us. Construction performed in a timely manner and communication (email, text, and phone) was good. Job site was kept clean during construction. 30 day guarantee on labor for this project. Would recommend and use again.

We bought an old Victorian home built in 1900, it had been used as a student rental for many years - We had bought it with a FHA renovation loan, and had a nightmare with the original contractor hired to renovate the house for us. When we finally terminated the original contractor, there were many things that still needed to be done. We turned to Angies list and have been very happy. We live out of town, our son lives in this house with some other friends - all students at UMD.Cecilia, the Handywoman, was very responsive to our concerns - she took a look at the work, made suggestions and offered options, and worked with our son to coordinate the work, while staying in touch with us. She sent us pictures of the doors after they were done. The work was done timely, the price was reasonable, and the quality of the work was excellent. I would definitely use her services again.

Geat Job. Also repaired wall and ceiling. Did not fix leak the first time because we and they thought the leak was repaired. Came back and fixed leak at no additional charge. Also called and had them come back to fix a faucet which they replaced and also replaced the cabinet floor.

She is very good. She told us not to go buy a new one because they can be fixed. She is great.

Rep was very professional, thorough and friendly. Arrived on time.