No Wonder I'm Scared Of The Handyman's Of The World

IHI

LOL, reading through some of these latest threads lately....WTF???!!!!!!

and the supposed "good ones" wonder why we get a lil bent outta shape with them/the handyman trades....i seriously hope the so called "good" handymen are reading some of the posts their cohearts are posting up and are able to understand the stigma's that go along with their title.

I just had to say something, originally i thought it was funny and unbelieveable..but at this point with more freaky thread consistency, it makes me nervious.....

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BCConstruction

I think the problem is so many people are out of work and even people who cant use their hands to wipe their arse think they can be a handyman. It's a quick and cheap way to get back into work and you really have no expense's. Most of the handy men i see around here drive around in beat up old cars with magnetic signs. If your serious about what your doing you will get a license. But most of them around here don't even look like they have a driving license let alone a license to work on peoples homes.

J F

josh is just jealous

rservices

stigma....
I run a handyman company and with few exceptions I won't do residential because, home owners have to much of a stigma attached to them.

I don't enjoy being followed around by a chatty homeowner, who wants me to tighten every loose screw in their house, change the colors of the paint, ask me advise on the bathroom remodel they are going to do should they ever win the lotto. Then when your finished they are wondering why their neighbors or cousins floor doesn't look they same as theirs (well they bought it off an end cap at Home Depot that's why)
Then when it has taken me twice as long to do the work because they wouldn't leave me alone want's to know if I can hold the check for 2 weeks. (everything I mentioned has happened)

You don't think other trades, not to mention GC's have negative stigma also.

My company focus's on commercial property's, restaurants, offices, retail on occasion. I have found that they actual allow me to do the work with little interruption, stick's to the game plan, and allows me to charge a premium wage. On top of that they are extremely great-full, because they don't have the time to deal with 5 different contractors.

I've been on both sides of this street, having run restaurants for over 20 years, I wish I had a company like mine when I was in operations.

jtpro

Worked for a Handy Man Service awhile back and BOY if that's not the truth. Along with the others.

And your right about the stigma. Some comes from the services because by the time they find out the guy is a hack the damage is done.

Then they have to send another guy out to fix it.( I made some sweet cash form the owner cause he used me as one of his "firefighters")

I think the owner would have been money ahead had he paid some one to tag along with a newb for 30 days to see if his skills matched his resume.

IHI

Extremely that's why i'm on here asking the most basic home 101 questions like the cool handymen do Me thinking there cant honestly be that many idiots actually signing up and asking these questions so I'm HOPING it's just additional personalities that are already logged on and making stuff up for us to laugh at....but then the other side of me remembers most of the jobs we've done over the past few decades and thinks....maybe there really are people that dumb

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woodchuck2

This happens everywhere, there are hacks all over even here where no license is required. And dont think they look like bums either who drive old vehicles either. I can think of one hack around here who started his own "handy man" business a couple years ago and he is driving a new F-350 Ford diesel with a dump and v-plow. He also has new trailers and a new 4X4 tractor with a hoe on it. The last job he was on that i heard of and butchered was a new modular home last year. The HO called me in to see if i could fix his cobbing of the electric and told me she had failed most of her inspections. The service dis-connect was only 2' in the ground and was propped up by a 2"X4" attached to a log pile, all the wiring was clumped together and attached to the floor joists by conduit straps, he then fed all the wires through a knockout into the service panel and used a 2" SEU clamp to hold them. The HACK cut off all the bolts on top of the foundation and tap-conned the PT plate to the foundation. Now the house is just sitting on the foundation and is not properly fastened. The basement was flooded from a snowstorm that hit the day before the house was set so he brought in heaters and drilled 4" holes about every 10' through the floor to drain the water. This guy was paid $13k for the service and to put the PT plate on the foundation . The woman was out of money and was looking for a handout so i said no to the work. The last i knew she still didnt have the home finished and she cant get a CO.

21gun

I'm not a guy who pretends to know everything, hence the interest in this site. But however i do know a few things and am eager to share. We all started somewhere i suppose. there was the "First Time" i ever laid a tile and the first time i put on a door knob. So far all of my work has held up very well and none of my customers would consider me a hack. i think that "hacks" really give the entire trade world a bad name, but thank god for em... cause it sure makes some of us look real good, eh?

It's sad tho, that some of the guys who are fortunate enough to be busy, (Blessed) are sometimes the ones that frown on the smaller guys and handymen that scratch out a living doing good honest work. Not every one has had an opportunity to make it big. I keep thinking my big break is just around the corner as i have been getting by doing anything that will pay the bills and i can gurantee. I over stretch my abilities and experience from time to time, but i have been in construction for almost 20 years, i can tell what i can handle and cant and should reccommend a professional for. i cant afford to go take classes on how to become a GC or electrician, or a plumber for that matter. But does that mean i cant install a ceiling fan? or put in a new toilet? Is replacing an outlet out of the question? Some guys on CT would say so.

I guess in my opinion, a hack is the guy who does bad work or cheats the home owner. Some how handy man guys are fitted into this category whether they do good work or not. I'm a self appointed freelance handyman now. There's nothing outthere to pay the bills except for it. I find my customers telling me how many calls they made trying to get someone out to do this or that...no one wanted to do most of it. I just did a vct job(first ever) and it turned out great thaks to the advice i got from the flooring forum... the HO gave me a $55 tip for a $200 job. I'd say the handyman could quite easily be the HO's best friend if their work is good.

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carpet? no, we dont do carpet.
No sir... that spells CARPENTER.

J F

Mike Finley

Well personally I think this is what separates many of us. It's not that we all had a first time to do something, but it's how we learned how to do that first time thing.

I believe there can be a huge difference between somebody who prepared for that first time - (let's use tile for instance), by winging it totally and just figures he will figure it out as he goes along and the guy who apprenticed with a real pro tile layer for at least 5 years.

The former is what makes up the majority of handymen. 95% of what they do they learned the first time without any professional apprenticeship and for some un-Godly reason they even take pride in it.

Wing it, pick it up as you go along, put out your shingle and land some work to learn some more on.

Or actually apprentice under pros for a long ass time and then venture out after you're know how to do it right.

Big, big difference.

The old we all had to do something for the first time line is total horse sh*t to me. That's the handyman credo not a professional tradesmans. Remember Manny and his famous - "I did it at my house and it has held up just fine." ??

davitk

I always tell my customers that I am not a handyman but will do "handyman work" for them... this can be a sticky issue as the title "Handyman" has come to mean anyone from a first time homeowner replacing his faucet to a _____ on ContractorTalk who charges 25.00 per opening to replace electrical outlets while attaching hot/neutrals interchangeably, to someone well heeled in all phases of home construction and who is equally comfortable swapping a toilet as he is chasing down a roof leak as he is installing stain-grade crown. (Sorry for the run-on sentence; I am a remodeling contractor not an english professor.)


I agree with 21gun 100% that a good handyman is the home owner's best friend. I have seen "professional" hacks do roofing siding windows gutters framing insulation electrical drywall plumbing excavating concrete HVAC painting...

J F

I (and I'm sure others) have a lot of respect for a professional handyman, someone who excels in many trades and runs their business as a business.

Not the just laid off, $20 hr guys who most likely won't be in "business" a few months down the road....or pay taxes...or carry insurance...or etc, etc. etc.

BCConstruction

There's definitely times when being an apprentice helps a lot. I was a qualified sparky in the UK and i was also a plumbers apprentice for years and def picked up a lot off the guys i worked with. Especially the plumber and it def helps to have a good teacher when doing trades like this as i have seen how bad people are who have bad teachers. But when it comes to things like Tile, Hardwood floors, Decking, Trim and so on i don't see the point in being an apprentice. As long as you can use a tape measure and cut along a line your pretty much gonna be good at it. I'm sure you pick up the tricks of the trade and are a little bit faster when you been doing it a few years but so far i have never felt the need to take any courses in the above type of trades. But there are many people i know who think they are good at these things and they really do think their works is the best out there. These are the people who need to take an apprenticeship as they cant use a tape measure or cut a straight line

JumboJack

Well said.

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in texas with framing and cornish people will do it for 3.00 a foot. What do yall think about that? Just laber

JumboJack

I hope you have a fire proof suit...Better put it on...

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in texas with framing and cornish people will do it for 3.00 a foot. What do yall think about that? Just laber

BCConstruction

Ready

Mike Finley

That's absurd.

There is no real way to respond to anybody who is in the trades and makes a statement like that, without me coming across as very insulting to you.

JumboJack

Give it a shot......

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in texas with framing and cornish people will do it for 3.00 a foot. What do yall think about that? Just laber

BCConstruction

I dont see hows it's absurd? I have never had one tiling or flooring course and i have tiled £80k+ bathrooms and they have come out perfect. I have done 1000sq+ decks and they have come out perfect. I have done numerous trim jobs from custom trim on bars and around doors and windows and i have never had training in any of the above. All self taught and many compliments from customers. Perhaps I'm one of few thats good with my hands but I'm sure other people find these trades as easy as i do!!

davitk

Haha this is getting good.

In addition to apprenticeship every good tradesman should read and memorize this book.

My favorite section is Dimensions and Weights of Church Bells.

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