Herb Travis Handyman Services

I explained the work he did. What I especially appreciated was his thoroughness, honesty, and willingness to work with me. He also allowed me to purchase materials on my own if I wanted to ensure this kept the cost lower. He at no time attempted to add additional cost to the pipes, fixtures, sink, or hoses which he could have done. He completed quite a few sodder joints and pipe replacements. He also installed 2 faucets and a a sink on the second floor. The pipes he replaced had great seals and careful soddering which looked brand new and clean when finished. I will be hiring him again and would recommend him to my family and friends.

I recently had my kitchen sink replaced and when the plumber put back the old faucet he made it impossible to loosen the connections. When I tried to take out the old faucet, I couldn't get it loose. Either could my plumber neighbor. Herb struggled, but got it removed cleanly without damaging anything, and installed the new faucet. The new spray attachment had come with the wrong connector, but Herb showed me how to fix it myself for about $3.00. He also fixed a bad repair in another sink, where the previous plumber had used a pipe that was too short. I'm thrilled that he was able to do both repairs, and only charged me the amount I had paid for the coupon. I will definitely use him again.

The job went exactly according to plan, on time and on budget.

Following on Herb's terrific job with my new kitchen floor (ceramic tile), I invited him back to replace an eyesore of an old bulkhead. Mind you, this is a 1930s era farmhouse and the existing bulkhead was, shall we say, unique. Herb took his time to map out the job and did everything right. It's now watertight and quite attractive. Along the way he cleaned up all of the surrounding concrete and applied appropriate patch and caulk as necessary. While at the house, Herb also took care of a small kitchen job and installed new wainscoting around my kitchen island (with finish molding). Everything was done perfectly, per usual. My respect for Herb has been documented in other reviews but I don't think I've said this: You can trust him. I felt perfectly comfortable being gone for a week in Florida and just gave him the key to my house. He's very honest and would never take advantage of you. I really like the way he works. Everything he does suggests he's just a decent fellow -- from the way he cleans up thoroughly at the end of every day on the job to the way he interacts with his helpers. Can't say enough good things about not only his work but also the experience of working with him. Thanks, Herb! Look forward to our next project together!

Fantastic from start to finish. I called Herb and left a message and he called me back within the day. As I had a lot of moving parts to my project he was extraordinarily accomodating and had great solutions to all the problems that came up. The first project proved difficult. My house is old so the floor was not quite level and he had to work really hard to make the vanity fit. Then the faucet didn't work with the marble backsplash etc....both problems he resolved. He was very patient and very very clean--totally picked up after what was a big mess of demolition. We had to make a couple of appointments due to the material I was expecting to be delivered was delayed. He took down the cabinet and then came back to re-install it once the fridge was in place. He was exactly on time both times and was completely focused on the task at hand. These were two really hard jobs and Herb was amazing every step of the way.

We were quite happy with the job. The price ($1,300 for labor, plus materials) was a bit higher than I anticipated, but the job was done right, which is what matters.

He was on time, did a great job, and was professional.

Herb Travis is an outstanding all around handyman and I've not only used his services several times, but I've recommended him to others who have also had high praise for him. He's also fixed some leaky plumbing for a friend of mine and redid cement front stairs for my husband's family. He's quick, extremely reliable, professional and also very fair in what he charges. I would go to him first for any help or advise before going anywhere else.

Herb does not stand behind his work and has left me high and dry. In my opinion, the job I hired him to do was beyond his abilities. Herb came to make a repair for a leaky shower back in October of 2011. Eventually it became clear that the entire shower needed to be ripped out and replaced because of rotted walls behind the tile. Herb took out all of the old tile and walls behind it, then replaced studs and insulation (which was rotted from an old roof leak) put in cement board, retiled, and installed a new shower and new floor in the batroom. This took longer than I anticipated (almost 2 months) and was not done entirely right. The sub-floor under the pergo was not installed properly so I had spots where the pergo sunk and wanted to crack, and the finish work was poor around te edges of the flooring and around the shower. Even so, overall I was pleased that the shower was finally done and I could use it. Herb was paid in full (insurance claim plus about $2500 of my money equalling around 10k) Two months later, I began to see water seeping up through the flooring. Herb came back several times to try to determine the source of te leak. Ultimately he ended up ripping out the shower and much of the floor, and declaring the product faulty. It has become clear that the installation of the shower was not done properly. There were places that were not sealed right, the wrong sealant was used (according to the manufacturer of the shower) and the subfloor under the shower floor itself that Herb installed was not level, but pitched about 1/2 inch away from the back wall of the shower (making the water flow not to the drain but toward the walls and the spaces missing sealant). The manufacturer sent me a new shower, but Herb would not come back because he wanted to be paid again for his labor. He tried to file a better business claim against the manufacturer for his labor, but that was rejected. Since then, I have had to hire a new person to put everything back together and new problems emerge (e.g. the vapor barrier behind the tile walls showed sings of moisture - were the tile walls sealed? Don't know). You can push and move the cement board upon which the tiles are cemented....that's not good). Overall, very disappointed.

It went well - took 8 hours to complete the projects but job was done to our satisfaction.

I learned of Herb through Angie's list and he immediately called me back. Within a couple of days he was at the house to size up the job and gave me a very fair, written estimate. You can tell immediately that he's a great guy and takes tremendous pride in his work and reputation. I have any number of home improvement projects and Herb suggested that we start with one so that I can get a sense of his work. I thought this was a very honest was of approaching things (though I'll definitely be hiring him again!!). He answered my bevy of questions with great patience and walked me through exactly how things would work. What he described was exactly how things did work, too! :) In addition to doing all of the work to put down a BEAUTIFUL new floor, Herb did all of the little things right, too. Here are just a few of the many examples: - The water valve to the washing machine was rotted and Herb replaced it with no fanfare. I was at work at the time and he just took care of it. He only charged me a little extra and the absence of extra headaches was worth 10 times what he charged me. - While pulling back the electric baseboard covers he found an old ring. A typical contractor would have pocketed it but Herb gave it to me at the end of the day. We had no idea whether or not it was valuable. (turns out it was just costume jewelry but hey... you never know!). - He made ordering supplies a breeze. I purchased all of the tile on my own but Herb was even reachable by phone while I was at the store. He made himself extremely accessible throughout the job and I never had to wonder about anything! - Herb even managed to find a way to haul away the scraps from the old floor (which I ripped out). He saved me not only money but a back ache! :) Herb and his helper are consummate professionals. They were very respectful of the fact that they were guests in my house and left the job site very, very clean at the end of each day (they were there for nearly a week). He's extraordinarily trustworthy and responsive... and his work is AWESOME! The tile he installed (over 400 sq feet) is perfectly straight and stunning! I can't wait to work with Herb again. You definitely feel like he's working just for you! Thanks again, Herb, for such a great experience! A++++++++

Herb did an outstanding job. Was able to come and give an estimate the same day that I called him. He applied the first time Angie's List discount to the estimate without any reminder. Every day he would arrive about 5 minutes before start time. Herb and his helper were always completely professional. Since we only have the one bathroom, at the end of each day it was cleaned and put into working order for us. All their gear was neatly stored. Area in backyard where they placed old wall and did the drywall/framing cuts was completely cleaned.

Herb was punctual and everything went smoothly, start to finish. We appreciated his attentiveness to detail. He walked us through the entire process and we are very happy with the results. We will not hesitate to contact Herb again.

We were not impressed with him at all. He told stories about other jobs he was doing. He lied to us about when he would get the job done. He kept making excuses for not being able to get the job done. He left messes everywhere and damaged a wall and refused to return a phone call. He is very unreliable. We only had one bathroom in the house so it was very unpleasing.

As they got into replacing the floor and fix the leak, they found that there was a lot of dry rot in the wall. So they ended up essentially rooting out the entire shower and rebuilding it. My intention was not to hire them for that but that's what they ended up doing. What I really liked about them was they were punctual. They always showed up when they said they were going to, he and his assistant. I would say that was their biggest strengths. It's an older house so they were able to solve some of the problems that emerged as they were ripping things out and putting it back together. They were very willing to try to work with me to find creative and less expensive solutions for the issues that we were having.

Almost immediately some of the shingles started to separate and slid off the roof. Herb told us that he felt the shingles were defective and replaced the ones that fell. After the house was finished shingles randomly were sliding off. We would call Herb when this happened and in a couple of days he would return apologizing saying he had never seen anything like this and replace the shingles. Over the winter months all was good. Starting again in June 2011 with the heat of summer, again shingles started to separate and slid off the house, then even whole shingles starting to slid off leaving the nails behind, on the whole shingles you can see how the holes around the nails had stretched. Herb has been back on three occasions this summer to replace falling shingles. Still we have 40 to 50 shingles missing. What i find very unsettling is the fact that Herb has really run the gambit on why these shingles keep falling. From the slope of the roof (Gable style) to the color of the shingles (Charcoal) to the style of shingle (architectural), and as time passed seemed annoyed with the fact that we were calling him back. We paid him cash on time for a roof that is slowly falling off, what are we suppose to do?? After having had an independent contractor come and look at the roof we were told that , the shingles were nailed in the wrong spot - too high!!!!! I have sent samples of the defective shingles along with pictures to the manufacture to see if the warranty will cover any of this. This has been a horrifying experience.

Herb was wonderful. He called, called back and responded very quickly to all our calls/messages. He arrived when he said he would, his apprentice was lovely, both were professional and polite. Their work was meticulous down to every detail and both men were conscientious about cleanliness in the room they were working in and throughout the house. Herb communicated wonderfully telling me each day what he was hoping to accomplish and at the end of the day, what he actually finished. The job was finished without a hitch.

Herb travis came out for a quote for several repairs on May 31st and I have not heard from him since. He said he would get back to us in a few days. It has been two weeks.

Herb did great work, but the most incredible thing about Herb and the main reason that I would recommend him is that: A. He called when he said he would. B. He showed up when he said he would. C. He did what he said he would. D. He charged what he said he would. Herb was very professional and I never had to chase him or wonder where he was. I would definitely use his services again! A+

Herb provided an estimate with a range in price (labor and materials) based on A) the job going smoothly, without any problems and B) if he ran into problems which he later said he meant as minor problems. On the very first door, Herb ran into trouble as he found that after 25 years the doors on the northwesterly side of the house which sees the most severe weather, had rotted below the door frame and needed to be removed and replaced. He found the same problem with the second door (same side of house) and really did a great job of clearing out the rotted wood and replaced it with rot proof synthetic material that we while more expensive, will be well worth it in the long run. the last two doors went in just fine with the one caveat being that as I guess is to be expected, doors vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and while we bought the sizes correctly, the opening for the new doors was actually smaller than it was for the old doors, so Herb had to re-frame all the openings which he did just fine. Overall, Herb's work was very good. I think his quality of workmanship and attention to detail is excellent. He takes pride in his work and when I complemented him on how great the new doors looked, he was beaming with pride. To me a good sign that the satisfaction of his customer is very important to him. While the cost was higher than we had anticipated, in fairness, they ran into problems that no one could have forseen. I'm sure I could have gotten the job done for much less, but I'm not sure that someone else would have been able to handle the "curve-balls" that were thrown Herb's way. And, I'm not sure I would have gotten the solid repair to the rotted door frames that I know Herb provided. I have no doubt that Herb's work will stand the test of time. And the quality of his work is excellent.

It was a pleasure to work with Herb. He was professional and honored my tight time schedule I would hire him again..

He couldn't find any issue with the downstairs leak so he didn't end up doing anything on that. It all went pretty smoothly. There was something he had to come back for and fix in the basement toilet. Overall, it was pretty good.

He is wonderful and we use him all the time. We keep using him because of the quality of his work and his consistency. He is committed to detail and is thorough. He comes when he says and doesn't say that he will come and not show up. He's good and his word is good. He is very reasonable for the amount of work that he does. We cannot think of anything that was troublesome. I am just about to call him to do another job.

went well - they did the job well and it was priced well. not a job many people would do.

It went very well, he did a very good job with it. There was some dissatisfaction, but it didn't have to do with his tiling work, it was with the plumbing. His work with the tile was very good. He does a very good job, he's punctual and friendly. Just don't have him do plumbing. The price was good and we were satisfied, we didn't feel like he was over the top. The work has held up and we haven't had any issues. I like Herb, he's a good guy and does a very good job with most things. He's pretty responsive and does things when he says he will. I like Herb and mostly like the job he did - so was very sad to happen to see his response to my original post. First, the pipes are not "over 100 years old" - that is ridiculous since the house was built in 1945. I will grant that they were probably the original pipes, and "over his head" for the plumbing part of the job. (Our mistake for not hiring a licensed plumber for that part). Second, it was not just that it took longer than expected. There was major damage, and we spent a lot of our own money to get the pipes fixed by another plumber while the job was ongoing; and did not deduct it from what we paid Herb. (undoubtedly many people would have, as it was very costly to us.) I did not mention any of this in my original report, since I do like Herb and like him as a handyman. . But it really bothers me when people don't take responsibility for their mistakes (even though I'd said nothing major about it) and the response about the age of the pipes -etc. is not really accurate. This makes me sad. That said I stick my my positive rating of Herb for handyman work and especially I thought the tile job came out great! People should just do what they are good at, and farm out the job to others if they can't handle it. I'm sorry Herb, to have to post this.