The Handyman Can!!! Inc

Terrific! Responded promptly to my email request. Took a couple weeks to get scheduled. The jobs took longer than I expected but were done with excellent skill including cleanup. All along the way, my opinion was sought and respected. Costs were clear up front and followed plan exactly. The job was done very professionally. No concerns!

Went fine. The service door replacement was a real challenge and took several hours. Mr Thomas stuck with it until it was completely done. He picked up the replacement door with his panel truck and hauled away all the old scrap wood and debris. He left the work areas completely cleaned up.

I ended up using The Handyman Can based on the reviews I read. After I heard what his rates were I should have kept on going and found somebody else. His rates are ridiculous! When he first came I figured he was there to give me an estimate. Not the case. He planned on starting in and getting everything done. He sanded for 3 to 4 hours before he realized that he was going to have to use veneer over the top instead of refinishing what was there due to water damage. It shouldn't have taken more than a half an hour to make that determination. One of the windows was considerably worse than the other. He decided to sand both of them and then make a determination that the veneer needed to be replaced. Why continue when you know you need to replace with veneer and there’s no need to sand any longer? I had many warning flags to stop the work but I didn't. It should have never taken that long to figure out that he was going to sand through the existing veneer. He left to get veneer at a local lumberyard. One of my windows is 8 feet wide and the other is 10 feet wide. He could only find 8 foot long veneer. So the 10 foot window he decided he would use 2 pieces and join them in the center with some type of molding piece. Another flag went up and I should of stopped the work right there. He cut the veneer to size and the cuts were not very precise. He got to my house at 7:30 AM. At 4:30 PM we sat down to figure out where his bill was at. I swallowed hard when I saw that he'd come up with over almost $1400 and we were nowhere near the end of this project. A bit later as he was cleaning up I told him that I was pretty unhappy with the way things were going. I mentioned that joining 2 pieces on my 10 foot window would look pretty bad. I also discussed about how long it'd taken him to get where he was by 4:30 PM. We discussed about how he had the highest rates compared to other handyman\Carpenters that were listed in Angie's LIST. I said I thought I was going to get so much more than what I had gotten based on his reviews in Angie's list and also by the rates that he charges ($225 for the first hour and I believe it was $130 for every hour after). At this point he said that he would come back and finish the job (in regards to the veneer) without charging for any more hours. I told him that I would try find a 10 foot piece of rolled veneer to replace the quarter inch veneer that he had bought and had cut (not precise cuts at all). Again at this point I should have cut my losses and found somebody else. But I figured as long as he said he wasn’t going to charge me I didn't have much to lose. Wrong! We scheduled up for another day to start up again after I had received the rolled veneer. I was in the hospital on that day. I figured me being away from the house was a good thing so that he could glue down the new veneer, stain it and maybe even start applying poly. I am disabled and would need to move my hospital bed out of my bedroom during the application of the adhesives and the poly. He called me and told me he had finished. He said it took him one hour to finish the front door deadbolt and 1 1/2 hours to look at the ceiling fan (which my PCA had to help him hold the fan up while looking at the receiver). So he informs me that he needs to charge me $225 for the first hour and $130 an hour for the subsequent time work on the door and ceiling fan. I settled up with him. When I came home from the hospital to see what he had done I couldn't believe my eyes! The veneer was wavy and not adhered in many spots. He kept on talking about using quarter round molding to run around the window. The quarter round that he used was to cover up the flaws from not cutting the veneer correctly. Along the front edge of each of the windows where the new veneer had been installed there was a tiny little finishing nails to hold the veneer down because the gluing down part of the job was done so crappy. Even though he used these nails the veneer was still wavy in spots where the adhesive did not hold. The work looked like something a 5th grader would do! At this point I feel like an idiot for continuing to go along with his charade of trying to be a carpenter and paying top dollar for it! I truly have myself to blame for not stopping this project at different points of the process. I kept on thinking that something would change and the quality of work would show up. I think he's capable of doing small odd jobs but I don't know why you would want to pay his rates to have that type of work done.

A ++ John gave an accurate estimate, was very responsive with good communication, and maintained a very, very clean construction area during the whole process His attention to detail was greatly appreciated. I highly recommend John and would use him again for all my home repairs!!

Johnny is a very nice guy. We ran into a few bumps throughout the project, but Johnny was very willing to make things right and the porch was completed with high quality standards and within our budget. We laid out our budget to Johnny and made sure to complete the project within our budget. After the project was taking longer than he anticipated- Johnny made every effort to come over and work late nights, in order to complete the project with high quality standards. We appreciate Johnny's wiliness to work with his clients and you can tell he takes great pride in the work he does. Thanks again, Johnny!

John did a great job fixing our doors. We could not be more pleased. Nothing worse than daily aggravation from doors that do not close properly! Wish I'd call The Handyman Can!!! earlier. We've put up with misaligned doors for years, but due to surgery, I've had to turn myself into a pretzel to close our doors. Now both doors shut properly and easily. John returned our message promptly and arranged to do the work right away given my health issues. So kind. He did the door work in an hour so we asked him to fix a few more things. Couldn't be happier. Will definately use The Handyman Can!!! again.

We ultimately decided not to go forward with the project due to financial and other reasons, but I would not hesitate to call on The Handyman Can!!! again.

First of all, Johnny responded immediately to our Angie's List request. He came right over to our home, listened to our wish list and took the time to review our projects. He contacted suppliers right from our home to get the most accurate cost of materials, giving us a total project cost right on the spot. He scheduled the job within a week and followed up with emails and phone calls. The cost of the jobs was somewhat expensive but you get what you pay for and that is quality craftsmanship in a timely, professional manner. If you want a job done right, The Handyman Can is a perfect option.

Great service! Very friendly and worked efficient! The door looks great!!!

John is an excellent communicator. When I first called he was at the store and asked to contact me later in the evening. He promptly called me back in the evening and set up the appointment for the next day. I emailed a picture of the problem and he was able to develop a professional estimate with details for the job which he returned quickly by email. I told him that this job was the last item on an inspectors report that potential buyers wanted and that I needed this job done immediately. John responded right away and gave me a 5% discount on his usual price. Although, John was delayed arriving to the work site because of finalizing work for another customer, he immediately texted me his situation and estimated time of new arrival. Once he arrived, he began work immediately and checked with me on the progress of the work. John also made a run to the store to buy caulk for the project, returned promptly and completed the work efficiently. He did not charge me for the caulking supplies. John finished the job in record time so that I could attend to my caucus responsibilities. John also completed a paid receipt that included details of the work the next day with information needed by the potential buyers. I would highly recommend John for any future work as he was a professional in all areas of the job. I found his prices reasonable and appreciated the fact that I could pay upfront for one hour's work and that would guarantee my appointment slot and John's time.

The contractors arrived the day after I called. They were very friendly and professional. They completed the work really fast. It would have taken me all weekend to do what they completed in two hours. I would definitely recommend this company. They even were nice to my dogs. I'm trying to figure out what they can fix next. I'm really happy with the results. :)

He showed up right away and had it done within the hour matching his estimate. I mentioned a slight change I wanted after he completed his work and he finished that at no charge.

I like the professional approach of The Handyman Can. They spent time in understanding my problem, provided alternatives and a written estimate. They clearly explained what it means, what resources are required and what to expect in the job. I like such detailed communication it helps in building confidence and trust.

Johnny came to our house the same day I contacted him, and he was able to start work on the project right away. We are very happy with how the project turned out.

The provider responded very quickly to our call. We were having a lot of things done to the house and the discovery of the water damaged window and surrounding wall definitely through a monkey wrench into the project. The Handyman Can worked quickly and efficiently and advised us of our options at every step of the process. He also helped us order the replacement window and installed it. The replacing of rotting wood around the gutter was also unexpected. We were having the siding replaced and The Handyman Can responded a second time very quickly and completed the work without disrupting the work of the siding crew. I will definitely use The Handyman Can again.

Our screened-in front porch was in need of some new wood, particularly the horizontal sills where the screens attach to the wood, some screen stops, and some other boards. We also had some rotting on the front steps and were unsure if we could salvage parts of the steps or not. Because our house is an old Victorian, there is a lot of ornate woodwork to work around on the porch and on the spindles on the front steps. One handyman we got a bid from turned us down and said he wasn't the right person for the job because it might be too big and he was concerned about the woodwork and didn't know how or where to get replacement pieces if needed. We contacted Johnny Thomas and got on his waiting list. The wait was a few weeks, but he's upfront about this and we weren't in a rush. Johnny started work on the porch in September, and as I had feared, as he removed some of the rotten wood, he found more rotten wood--including a support post in one corner of the porch, and he also found in the other corner of the porch that there actually was no support post beneath the surface woodwork. Additionally, the front step spindles and railings were too rotten to salvage, but we were able to save the newells with some repair work done to two of them. Johhny referred us to a place where we could order new spindles and railings and have the newells repaired. In the meantime, he worked on the porch, replacing wood, replacing support posts, removing and rehanging screens (as well as putting up some new screens), and building the steps. He caulked and sanded everything so it was ready to paint. Johnny also did a couple of small projects for us in the house--such as re-fitting and attaching an ornate wooden spindle that's in a doorway area and replacing some loose drywall around our shower so it was ready to paint. Johnny was always good about letting us know when he'd be working by emailing or texting. He communicated frequently with us, had us look at what he was doing in process, explained what was happening clearly, and was pleasant to everyone. The couple of times we wanted something adjusted, he was happy to do so. The work occurred over several weeks because we were waiting on the ordered parts. When he was finished, we reviewed everything he'd done, and he cleaned up the area nicely. Price-wise, I think his price was fair. It just ended up being a bigger project than we expected. I would highly recommend The Handyman Can and will definitely hire him again when we have new projects.

This is the one provider who returned phone calls. I went on to the waiting list, but got the call as estimated when time was open. Great communication as we planning the project. Team came out and installed and cleaned up. A professional operation.

John offered to purchase and pick up the new door at Menards and did not mark up the cost of the door. He identified the problem of the old door frame being out of plumb and came up with solutions to give us a door that hung straight and looked good. He also took the extra time to caulk and suggest materials for work I could do myself.

As of Oct 2015, it took him approximately 6-8 weeks between when I called and when he was able to come out. I assume at least part of that was a backlog of people who wanted his services. We were having an issue where water was entering our basement. At first we thought it was coming in through the ground, and had a different contractor out who specializes in water in basements. They wanted to install a $4000 drain tile system, but luckily, I noticed that the water was coming in more based on wind than purely amount of rain, so I held off and called Handyman Can. He took very detailed notes on the first phone call, then spent a long time reviewing everything when he actually arrived. I think this is important because it's important to actually fix the correct problem. He took a look at an upstairs window and soon noticed one area that might leak. After taking off the storm window assembly (which I didn't even know came off), he noticed additional leaking points -- basically someone before us put in a cheap window that had plastic components that cracked from exposure to the sun. Another issue was that the silicone caulk had deteriorated to the point that it was letting rain in along the edges. He fixed both those issue and applied a polyurethane caulk that he said would last a lot longer. John has excellent communication skills and kept me informed of what he was doing throughout the job as well as texted 30 minutes before he arrived stating that he was going to be 10 minutes late (and he arrived exactly 10 minutes after 8:30). Because he charges a lot of money (relative to other people), I would recommend other people hire him only when they have relatively complex issues that they want to make sure are addressed correctly. In other words, if you just want your gutters cleaned or some picture hung, go with someone cheaper. I would definitely hire him again anytime I need something complex done right.

He returned my email the same day. We talked. He gave me some approximate costs. He was booking pretty far out. I didn't use him but he was very professional gave me information over the phone. Didn't waste my time or His, I appreciated the quick response!.

My email request for a quote was responded to promptly. What was shocking, however, was the hourly cost for The Handyman Can, Inc. services. Below you will find the portion of the email they sent in response to my query, which outlines their charges. In communicating with several other similar service providers (2 from Angie's List and 1 from another referral), I learned that The Handyman Can, Inc. is charging 1.5 times the typical hourly rate; in addition, their "first hour" charges are well over 3 times the hourly rate for this type of service. It is difficult to understand how this provider remains in business. The Handyman Can, Inc: "Should you hire me, our 1st hour for Lino Lakes is $275.00 1 hour minimum - 10% Angie's List discount = $247.50. Additional hours at our regular additional hour rate of $115.00 - 10% Angie's = $103.50. Additional hours are charged in 5 minute increments, $8.625 per 5 minutes. Time begins upon arrival and ends when tools are put back in van. Time runs when getting materials. "

Please see above for most of the details. It went extremely well. It took only four hours or so, Johnny was great to work with and did exceptional work.

They do not respond to messages, so was unable to even get an estimate for the work I needed done.

I called to discuss some work that I needed to have done and left a message with the company's answering service (a live person) after answering questions and describing the work. To this point I have not even received a call back (4 1/2 days later).

The repairman was on-time, efficient, and professional. The job was finished on-time and under budget. Follow-up was provided to insure that we were satisfied with the repair.