Heitmeyer Handyman

Friendly. Helpful. But not qualified to do real plumbing. Came to the house but couldn't do the job.

Sadly, I would NEVER have Mike do work for us again! We paid, IN ADVANCE (something we will NEVER DO AGAIN!) through an Angie's List "special". When Mike first came to our house he seemed so honest and willing to do whatever was needed to get our plumbing issues resolved. I was a bit reticent when he said he'd need to run to the plumbing supply store to pick up the stems we needed to get our sink repaired so I ended up running to the store so that we could make the best use of our "2 hours for the price of 1 hour" special. While I was picking up the stems my wife asked that he check a leaky washroom sink in the basement. I picked up all items necessary to repair both sinks. After installing the stems in the upstairs sink the faucet was hard to open. My wife asked if maybe it needed some lubricant, "No, these don't need that" is what he said, "They'll loosen up with use." After a few days of dealing with hard to open faucets my wife called the plumbing supply place. "Of course you need lubricant!" they said, "The plumber should have known that!" Mike came back to the house and lubricated the faucet, but determined that the stem was bent. He SAID that he'd get a new stem and call my wife (2 weeks ago!!) and come back to finish the faucet. She also pointed out that the washroom sink was still leaking and asked if maybe there was a bolt, screw or something that might be loose. "No. There's nothing under the sink like that. It's a mystery to me." was his reply. While cleaning the laundry room my wife decided to get a flashlight and look under that sink. THERE WAS A LOOSE SCREW! She tightened it on her own, and the leak was resolved! I called Mike on Dec 21 because he did NOT call my wife back as promised. I told him that we had guests coming and really NEEDED the stem repaired in the bathroom sink, and that he'd not called back as promised. "I'm backed up on 3 other jobs and can fit you in after New Years!!!!!! ." was his response! I suggested that maybe he should FINISH jobs that he starts before picking up other jobs. I told him that we were available on Dec 22 after 3PM to FINISH the work he started, then abandoned and we were also available ALL DAY Dec 23. He told me he would call us back to set a time during this period. AGAIN! No phone call! During our phone conversation on the 21st I told him that he should not start jobs he couldn't finish and that we paid him IN ADVANCE! I also suggested that if he's unable or unwilling to complete his commitment he should refund us our money so we can get a RELIABLE plumber to do the work he's already been paid to do! I now have to find a plumber to finish this work and apparently I'm out the money I pre-paid through and "Angie's LIst Special" I'm also starting to wonder about the reliability of Angie's List! Dec 29- Mike's response is rather curious. By his own admission he has NO INTENTION of making things right. HE was the one who said that HE would come back to fix the problem with what HE installed. HE was the one who told my wife that HE would call her the 2nd week of December and then DIDN'T! When I CALLED HIM on Dec 21 it was HE who said that HE would call to insure that there was a convenient time to come and FIX the problem on either the 22 or 23. Once again NO PHONE CALL! The work was NOT DONE! Yet, we TRUSTED Angie's List that using "This Guy"(using the same terminology with him that he prefers to use for CUSTOMERS) would be safe. HE accepted payment from us IN ADVANCE and then DID NOT perform the work he SAID he would perform! In retrospect I question whether someone who is NOT a plumber can even ADVERTISE that they do "Plumbing Work." We deserve a refund, since we've now had to have someone else FIX the problem and Mike didn't even make an attempt to communicate with us. Also, the snarky remark about "the economic sence (sic) of this guy...." WHAT?!!??! You KNEW when you came into the job what needed to be done! You didn't say, "Gee, I'm not sure I can do this..." ECONOMIC SENSE?!?! YOU made the mistake! And WE paid for it! To clarify: This is NOT the "second bad report". if you had "tryed" (sic), then this report would not have been written. You TOOK THE MONEY AND RAN! It was dishonest! NOT returning phones calls when promised and then just blowing us off is NOT trying!

He is very professional. He bought his teenage son with him to help. They were both delightful and pleasant individuals. Their work was excellent and we didn’t have any problems with them at all. We are pleased with their services.

He was great, very reasonable, hard worker.

They were prompt in coming and did a great job, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them or use them again.

We were pleased with what he did in about half of the repairs, but not pleased with the other half. His basic approach was to put Gorilla Glue on almost everything, This was OK in some cases, but in 2 places he left ugly dried glue visible in the area of the repair. The worst was in the bathroom where we now have the towel rack back on the wall but we have a worm-sized trail of dried glue running down the wall. We did call Mike and asked him to come back to take a look. He said he could try to sand off some of the glue trail without doing too much damage to the wall, but we were doubtful that it could be done without making a worse mess of things. So we decided to live with the glue, This whole thing was very disappointing - we were looking for a handyman who had more knowledge of how to repair things than we did. We could have put Gorilla Glue on every broken thing ourselves, but we thought we would get better work from a professional.

I had purchased a two hour because we had an inoperable shower arm. Mike came out and we discussed the problem then he opened up the drywall behind that section of the shower and removed the broken arm and the connection and a portion of stud holding it. When we got the replacement arm MIke came back, reinstalled the stud and connection then the new shower arm. He then patched the wallboard and spackled the patch in preparation for finishing. By mutual agreement we will sand the spackle and repaint the area. I was very please with his work and professionalism.

Mike sent two people we had not met to do the work. It turned out to be more work than Mike had anticipated, and they ended up drilling out some of the concrete floor to fit the new door. They filled the gaps with foam insulation, although not completely, so we now have leaks under the door when it rains. The workers left some equipment on the deck, which we covered up before a rain. Mike showed up a few weeks later to pick up the equipment and a check. He was supposed to do the caulking himself, but asked us to "trust him" and give him the check for the full amount, which we did. He never came back, nor did he call. The door looks horrible, and the locks don't work. We will never use him again. And in addition, after all the drilling the two workers did,, they left a layer of dust all over our basement, which we're still cleaning up. Awful.

Responsive, informative, good price. Definitely would use him again.

He does what he says what he will do and is fairly punctual, and the work he does is good as well.

Mike, from Heitmeyer, was great. Not only was he on time, he called to keep me abreast of his expected arrival time. He understood exactly what I wanted done and completed the tasks in a short period of time. He did not try to extend the job not did he try to overprice the needed parts. In fact, I was so impressed I will be asked him to return to do some additional work.

The faucetswere rather difficult to get to and replace so we appreciated him working so h****** them. They leaked at first and he was very quick to come back out and remedy the situation.

He was very efficient and was in and out of my home in the matter of a hour. He was quick and professional. I purchased a Big Deal to pay for the services, but I had forgotten about it by the time of the service, but they did not take advantage of me and were very honest and did not try to over charge me.

He did it fast and he was very good at it. He was a very nice man.

It went very well. Mike showed up right when he said he would and asked me to show him the problem. After working a bit on the faucet, he went to the hardware store to pick up a part that had worn down in the old faucet. After putting in the part and sealing with plumbers tape he asked me to come examine the job. It was better than before but still leaked a bit when you switched the faucet from bath to shower, so I wasn't yet satisfied. Mike was very congenial and said he wouldn't be satisfied until I was satisfied. He then went to another hardware store to see if they might have the part that needed replacing but with a better fit to my shower. After working on it some more, he asked me to examine the job--it worked really well! No more leaks! It's been almost a month since Mike was here and several showers later and still no leaks. Also before he left, Mike gave me some tips on how to prolong the life of the shower faucet so as to prevent future leaks. The job only cost me the $75 Angie's List Coupon, plus parts (around $20). Mike worked a little bit longer than the two hours I had already purchased from Angie's list, but did not charge me for additional labor.

They did the estimate and then the work. I have had a rain since the installation and no water came inside my barn. I am very pleased with the work.

Mike Gehrich came out after I had a mysterious leak in my first floor ceiling. The roofer I found on Angie's List let me know it wasn't the roof (bless him) but the gutters. Say what? I've been having them cleaned every year. Well, it turns out the guy cleaning my gutters only cleaned in the sight line on my steeply pitched roof, and had left gunk in the gutters piling up for the last four years. The spring storms started to push some of that into the lower gutters, as near as we could tell. Mike and his helper worked for hours in boiling heat to clean out those gutters, resulting in a trash can full of most excellent compost -- heavy stuff for them to root out of those gutters. They were drenched in sweat and grime, and didn't complain once, charged me a very fair price. I would absolutely hire him again. Highly recommended.

Mike was on time and did a nice job. He had to come back after the water was turned off at the street to complete the work. He replaced the valve next to the water meter and two outside valves that were XXX years old and leaking. He was easy to work with, professional, and did a great job. The price was more than fair and I am very pleased we choose him to do the work. I would not hesitate to use Mike again <smile>

Mike came over and did the job, Cleaned up and cost was reasonable.

Due to the large response of this Big Deal, Mike had a long waiting list. I was never called to let me know that information, and had to call him to find out when the job would be completed. He was not able to tell me when he would be able to come out and clean the gutters, that he was doing all the houses by areas. I was OK with all of this, but told him I would like to be called so I could be home when he came. Two months latter, he showed up completely by surprise. He proceeded to clean the gutters and gave me a report on my roof condition. When I asked if he was going to clean my detached garage, he said he would charge me $20 more to do so. He asked if it was fair and at the time I said "yes". However, when I thought about it later, I didn't quite understand because if the garage were attached to the house, it would have been included in the cleaning of the house. We talked for a short time after he completed the work - he was very friendly and personable. However, I was very upset when I found clumps of leaves all around my yard and in my neighbor's yard as well. He had a blower and blew some leaves off the driveway but they went all over my yard and landscaping. I was not pleased.

I purchased The Big Deal for a whole house gutter cleaning and roof inspection from Gutter Tech of Kenwood on May 29 and sometime that week called Mike to find out appointment details. He said that at the time they were backed up because of the popularity of the deal so we agreed I'd call back to schedule at a later time (which was fine with me). My husband and I then decided that since the huge rainfall of the spring had dwindled to nothing we would wait to schedule an appointment until closer to the fall. In the beginning of July one day I was putting my daughter down for a nap and heard the doorbell ring. I decided to not answer the door, thinking it was probably just a solicitor. Next thing I knew there were footsteps on my roof and the sound of a leafblower being used! At this point my daughter was still sleeping so I quickly went outside to investigate. Mr. Gehrich and his son were on my roof cleaning out the gutters! He came down to talk with me and I asked him if I had scheduled an appointment with him (thinking maybe I had and had just forgotten). He said that no, I had not. He had had so many appointments to schedule that he decided it'd be easier to not harass people and just show up to do the cleaning since so little was involved. Basically, he was telling me that he would have been up on my roof and cleaning my gutters without my knowledge and without my approval whether or not I was even home! The kicker was that he also woke up my daughter from her nap with the noise, scaring her. Had I actually scheduled the cleaning I would not have done it during a time when she was napping! I did have to ask him to reposition some of the wire mesh gutter covers that had been lifted up by the leafblower and I also noticed that there is now a small section (2-4 feet long) of my roof near my gutters that looks like it's damaged. However, I am not sure that he actually caused that damage by using the leafblower, I just find it odd that I noticed it only after he'd been up there cleaning. There have been no really heavy, sustained rains since the cleaning so I don't know how good a job he did. Very nice man and he and his son did clean the gutters as promised, I just do not think it's professional to show up unannounced for a job and do the job without the homeowner's approval. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Response from GUTTER TECH OF KENWOOD on Jul 24, 2011:"I did knock so we don't run into these issues. These deals are great for the consumer yet, I find it odd I am getting bad reports just from a $75.00 offer. Her gutters were full from many years and had put a lot of effort to cleaning." IN RESPONSE TO GUTTER TECH'S RESPONSE: 1. Yes, you knocked but no one answered and yet you still went up on the roof without having made any actual appointment or informing me that you were going to be on my roof and property at that time. 2. Yes, we paid "only" $75 but the service was supposed to be worth $150, hence The Big Deal. As a comparison, a restaurant doesn't offer a deal for 50% off food and then only give you half of the portion. 3. Actually we bought our house in May of 2010 and the gutters were clean at that time as per the Home Inspector, therefore it is erroneous to say our gutters were "full from many years". 4. You spent at the most, 30 minutes cleaning my gutters-- which did not include the downspouts. Having since spoken with other companies who do similar work, that is not a huge amount of time nor did you do a thorough, proper job. 5. Since my last posting, we have had a heavy, sustained rain and the gutters were overflowing and definitely not draining properly.

It was suppose to be a gutter cleaning and roof inspection, without an appointment or a phone call, a man shows up with I believe his son, doesn't introduce himself and brings a blower I guess to clean the gutters. I already had a landscape company at my house working on the side of my house and I had to leave for a doctors appointment for my daughter and when I came back an hour later, there was no note or any information stating about the cleaning of the gutters or the inspection on the roof. The gentlemen that working on the landscape of my yard said that were only at my house for about 15 minutes. I am very disappointed in their work and would like to have my $75.00 back. This was not worth my $75.00, and NO, i WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS COMPANY TO ANYONE. Patty

Although he missed his appointment time he kept in touch and showed up at the 2nd time. He had to go get parts at the hardware store and charged me only what he spent. He got the job done in about an hour and 15 minutes including the trip to get parts. I think the job went well the faucet and dishwasher work fine.

I have used Mike for many handyman jobs in the past. This week I needed someone to install a window air conditioner in my son's room, as I didn't trust myself to install it securely. So I contacted Mike. Within minutes after his arrival, he had the job done. He even provided some extra insulation around the unit. While he was here, he took care of a whole house fan I thought needed replacing; he found that it simply needed lubricating and cleaning and performed this task for me as well. I highly recommend Mike for any kind of handyman work. His rates are more than reasonable and he does great work. I find him to be honest, hardworking, personable, and extremely professional. I will contact him anytime I have a chore around the house that I need help with.

When I called Mike, I told him I had a very tall house on a hill that we had just purchased, and that the gutters where in rough shape. I told him I understood that this was not a "typical" house, and that if there was an additional fee for accessing it, let me know and we'd discuss the cost. I called him early in the week, and he said he's be there by the end of the week. When the end of the week came and went (and we were still having really heavy rains that were overflowing my gutters), I called the start of the next week to check on when he would be out. He said he could come out that afternoon. He and his son met me at the house that day. He looked at the gutters with me, I explained what I needed to have done (which included some replacement), made it clear I knew that this was NOT included in the Big Deal, but that I'd like to hire him for this as well. He said that he doesn't do some of the things that were needed (making a metal flashing for a particular area of concern), but that he'd email the information for someone who did (I never got that email). He then brought up his blower and got to work. I was in the first floor of the house when he came down and said he was all done. He said if I had any problems, to let him know. I thanked him and he left. I wished I had checked the work first. He left the screens out of all the windows he used to access the gutters, and the gutters themselves still had standing water and leaves in them. The next week we had big rains again, and all the gutters were still overflowing. I called Mike and he said it sounded like he needed to do more than blow out the top, that he needed to unclog the downspouts (I thought that would have been included in a gutter cleaning, but maybe not). I stressed to him that I really wanted him to give me a bid for repairing the whole system, that I thought I needed to add a gutter to one area of the roof, etc. He said he'd be happy to help with that, and that he could be out at the end of the week. That was over a week ago and I still haven't heard from him. I understand from his reviews that he has done good, responsive work for others. But for me, that was NOT the case. Maybe he was dismayed at the height of the house or the gutter access, but to just never get a response and to still have a clogged up gutter system after my "Big Deal" has left a bad taste in my mouth for the "Big Deal" program in general, and definitely for this company.