If you’re not big on Do It Yourself projects (aka DIY,) you will almost certainly need to hire a handyman on occasion. Unless you know a handyman yourself or have a neighbor or friend who can recommend one, it can be quite tricky and stressful to find a skilled, experienced handyman.
When To Hire a Handyman
There are countless household projects that can be completed by a handyman. For instance, you may need them to fix the sink, do some electrical work, repaint a room, repair a damaged roof, install ceiling fans, or simply take care of some gardening.
For some projects, you’ll need to enlist the help and expertise of a licensed professional, but most of the jobs that handymen do can be performed by anyone with the right skill-set.
DIY may or may not be the right option for you, as we discuss in the next section.
Is DIY a Better Option?
It’s easy to see why many people would rather handle repairs or maintenance by themselves. First, you don’t have to spend time hunting down a trustworthy and affordable handyman.
Second, you can often save yourself a bundle of cash by doing it yourself, and you can often get the issue resolved more quickly as you don’t have to wait for the handyman to have time in their schedule.
However, there are some drawbacks to DIY. As already mentioned, some jobs – such as those related to gas, infrastructure, or electrical work – can only be performed by a licensed professional for safety and legal reasons. So, in these cases, it’s wise to hire someone else to do the work.
Furthermore, even if the job can be performed by an unlicensed person, that doesn’t mean it’s easy to do or can be competently completed by just anyone.
And lastly, even for unskilled jobs which just about anyone can do quite well, some people have a preference for getting help because they have busy lives and other priorities to manage.
Tips For Finding a Good Handyman
If you don’t know any good handymen directly and your friends don’t have any recommendations to offer you either, you’ll need to do some research to find one. It’s difficult to know what they’ll be like to work with beforehand, but doing your homework and asking the right questions before hiring them gives you a much better chance of making the right call.
Yelp is a good starting place, as it’s free and is widely used throughout the US, so you’ll almost certainly be able to find a few local handymen irrespective of where you live. You can also check out reviews that have been left by previous customers to see whether they were satisfied with their work.
There are many other similar platforms that are worth checking out, though it’s generally advisable to stay away from the likes of Craigslist, as there aren’t reviews and it’s impossible to know if they’ll be reliable.
Final Thoughts
Finding a good handyman is difficult, but not impossible. And regardless of how you find them and if you’ve worked with them before, you should be sure to be clear on terms prior to hiring them.
For example, you should clarify whether or not they offer a guarantee, how exactly they will charge you (per hour, for example) and if there will be any other costs that you’ll be responsible for. Make sure that all of these details are included in your written contract with the handyman.
You can find several more useful tips and pointers when hiring a handyman in our How to Find a Great Handyman guide.
A Quick Summary
- Most of us will need to hire a handyman at some point in our lives, whether it’s for an urgent repair, general maintenance or a minor renovation.
- In some cases, you’re better off taking a DIY approach and saving yourself a few bucks, but it’s not always impossible to avoid the need to enlist help.
- If you decide that you need to hire a handyman, you ideally should find one through a referral.
- Alternatively, you can try to find one online on platforms like Yelp – and be sure to read their reviews by prior customers before parting with your cash.
- Before you start working with them, make sure you agree on things like a guarantee period and delivery date.
- You should make sure that all these details are included in your written contract with the handyman.