u/LouieFixesStuff

Hey everyone, I’m Louie, the owner of The Boring Fix, a veteran-owned handyman business based here in Aurora.

If you’ve recently moved and still have a TV sitting on the floor or a few installations on your list, I’d be happy to help. I offer TV mounting, wire concealment, ceiling fans and lighting, and CAT6 networking throughout Aurora and the Denver metro.

Through October 31, I’m offering $25 off qualifying residential move-in projects with two or more installations. Add MOVEIN25 to your appointment notes when booking. Cannot be combined with other offers.

Not sure what your setup needs? Text a photo of your space and what you’d like done to 720-666-1895, and we can start with a quote.
The QR code in the photo takes you directly to my Square booking page. Happy to answer questions here, too!

Running a handyman business has taught me that doing the work and getting someone comfortable enough to hire you are two separate skills.

A recent customer left this review and said she would contact me for future projects. I’m proud of that, but I also want to understand what I can repeat from the experience.

Here’s what I’m learning:
Show actual work so people can see what you offer.
Explain what the quote includes and what happens next.
Pay attention to customer questions. They can reveal something your offer hasn’t explained clearly.

I’m also learning to look back at completed sales. Where did the customer find me? What did they need explained? What helped the conversation move forward?

Business still moves slowly sometimes. I’m continuing to try things while paying attention to what brings actual conversations.

Healthy repetition is different from desperate repetition. I want to repeat what I’m learning from, instead of posting the same thing and hoping.

Other handymen: what have you changed about your sales process that helped customers feel comfortable booking?

Three TV mounts, wire concealment, and one TV going on tile. The installation wasn’t the hardest part of this job. The payment situation was.
The client sent a deposit through PayPal, but PayPal placed the funds on hold while reviewing the transaction. That meant I couldn’t access the deposit to purchase the materials we needed.
From the client’s perspective, they had already sent me money and the job hadn’t started. They wanted their deposit back. Completely understandable.

Instead of getting defensive, I kept them updated. I sent screenshots showing exactly what was happening with PayPal, explained what I could and couldn’t do while the funds were restricted, and gave them options.

Once we got the refund situation worked out, the client still wanted me to do the job. We changed the arrangement: they supplied the materials, I adjusted my price, and I handled the installation.
Three TVs mounted. Wires concealed. Tile mount completed. And at the end of it, they left a 5-star review.

That was the real win for me.
I didn’t keep the job because I had the perfect explanation for why PayPal held the money. I kept earning the client’s trust by showing them what was happening and giving them a way forward.

That’s something I’m learning while building The Boring Fix: when something goes wrong, explaining the problem is only half the job. The other half is showing the customer what you can do next.

Sometimes the problem isn’t your work. It’s everything surrounding the work.
Have you ever had something outside your control put a job at risk? What did you do to keep the customer?

People see the TV hanging and think that’s the whole job. But getting power where you need it and figuring out what’s behind the wall can take more work than hanging the TV itself.

Sharing this setup with some progress photos so you can see what went into it. TV mounting, an outlet behind the screen, speaker wire raceways, and patching the access opening. These pictures include the work before cleanup.

The part I want people to understand is that two TV installations can look similar when finished and involve completely different amounts of work. An outlet nearby doesn’t tell you everything about the path inside the wall.

That’s why I like showing the process. It helps people understand what they’re paying for, and it gives someone else a chance to learn what to consider before starting their own project.
I’m still learning too. I enjoy sharing what I run into because these are real situations we deal with doing service work.

For the other handymen here, how do you explain that extra work to a customer? Do you walk them through the photos, break it down in the quote, or both? I’m all ears.

This is the electronic parking brake release tool, used to manually release the brake if it gets stuck engaged. Follow the owner’s manual procedure, secure the car against rolling, and have the brake system inspected afterward.
I haven’t had luck finding one on eBay or Amazon. Does anyone have a few available or know a reliable source? I’d like to keep one in my tool kit for future jobs.

Here’s a finished MM815 installation I did on a tile wall. Just sharing the final result on this one.

Tile adds another detail to think about when planning the placement, especially with how the TV lines up with the wall’s pattern.

What catches your eye first with a setup like this: the TV placement or how everything fits into the room?

Finished this MantelMount MM850 installation. The goal was to keep the TV looking clean when raised while giving the homeowner a more comfortable viewing height when it is pulled down.

These installations require more planning than a standard fixed mount. You have to consider the wall structure, fireplace clearance, the mount’s full travel path, and where the TV will sit in both positions.

After measuring everything, I secured the mount, balanced the movement, leveled the TV, and tested the full range several times. I’m happy with how clean it looks above the mantel and how smoothly it lowers for viewing.

For anyone who has installed a MantelMount, what usually takes you the longest: placement, balancing, or final leveling?

Can someone point me in the right direction with the electronic parking brake on my 2011 Subaru Legacy?
The E-brake seems to be turning itself on and off without me touching the switch. At times it feels like the parking brake is actually applying on its own, so I don’t think this is just a warning-light issue.
I’m trying to figure out whether the electronic parking brake system needs to be reset or recalibrated, or if I should be looking at the switch, actuator, sensor, wiring, or control module.
I’m pretty comfortable working on the car myself. I just feel like I’m missing the right diagnostic step before I start replacing parts.
Has anyone dealt with this on a 2010–2014 Legacy? What should I check first, and is there a proper EPB reset or calibration procedure?

Part 2 of digging through these $5 packs. I spent $10 total on two packs and honestly the basketball cards ended up being the most interesting part.

The ones I pulled aside are Horace Grant #63, Manute Bol #424, Glenn “Doc” Rivers #32 and Dennis Scott’s 1990 Lottery Pick rookie. None of these are big-money cards raw, but condition is what made me stop and look. If some of these can actually pull a PSA 10, that’s where things get interesting especially Horace Grant and Manute Bol.

I also pulled a few newer baseball rookies
Taylor Rashi, Bubba Chandler and Jhostynxon Garcia. I’m keeping those mainly because they’re rookies and I’d rather hold them and see how their careers develop than judge them off today’s raw value.

I’m still learning the grading side, so I’m not calling anything a PSA 10 before PSA does. For $10 though, this was a fun dig.

Needed power behind this TV, but the framing blocked a clean route to the existing outlets on that wall.

Checked the room directly behind it, pulled the bed back, and found a much cleaner path. Tapped into the existing circuit there, ran the cable through to the new box behind the TV, and finished everything without opening up a bunch of drywall.

Sometimes the easiest route is on the other side of the wall.

One of those late nights organizing the treasure…

This new client came from a referral and wanted this big bulky dresser gone to open up more floor space. I mounted the TV, added a floating shelf, and brought power behind the TV so there wouldn’t be any cords hanging down.

Since it’s a bedroom, they chose the height for watching from bed. Simple upgrade, but it made the room feel way more open.

How did I do?

Got paid a pretty penny for this one.

Client needed an outlet above the gas fireplace for their TV. The nearest power was on the opposite side of the fireplace in the study.
Ran power over, installed the new receptacle, tested everything and got 119V — correct wiring.

Then installed and leveled the TV mount.

How’d I do?

Just curious how much does everyone charge for outlet replacement???

I usual do $100 for the first one and if, a client ask for any additional replacements I do each one for an additional $50 to $60….

Ran into an interesting setup on this one….

The wall already had a recessed opening behind the previous TV with a wood accent wall around it. I really didn’t want to start opening up more of the wall if I didn’t have to.

I removed the old trim first so I could actually see what I was working with. After measuring everything and finding where I could get solid support, I added 2x4 backing across the opening for the full-motion mount.

Got everything leveled, secured the Sanus mount to the new backing, hung the LG OLED and checked the movement and clearance.
I charged $150 for this one. Took a little figuring out once I opened it up, but I think it came out pretty clean.

Would you guys have charged more for this one, or was $150 fair?

Ran about 3 to 4 outlets, ceiling lights, switches for the front door and back room….