r/HandymanBusiness

Hey y’all,

What’s your opinion on $350 for a 100” TV mounting. Normal mount over drywall and studs, mount provided, no recessed mount or hidden wires.

I had visited a customer to perform a walkthrough of the work requested:

+ Install window treatment (20)

+ Install bidet (3)

+ Install closet system (2)

+ Install pendant light (3)

+ Install chandelier

+ Install faux mantle

All in all what looked like a profitable day. I hired another handyman to make the day go faster

We arrived at 8:00 AM, got pleasantries out of the way and went to work.

Upon closer inspection, I noticed the pendant lights were already installed as well as the chandelier. Then the customer tells me the closet systems are off the table

By now, I am a third of the way through the window treatment install.

I smile and say to myself, "Time to pack up and leave." I motion to the other handyman and we get our tools together and exit the house and drive away.

The next morning, the customer texts me what time would I be returning. Iet them know I won't be. They ask why? I reply, "Had I known you had the lights installed in the kitchen and dining area, I would have revised my estimate." I continued "When you told me the closet systems were not being done, I decided to leave and not return as you did not have the decency to communicate with me before being onsite even though you had several days to do so."

I then asked to be compensated for the work completed. Of course he said no and then goes on to say he has guests arriving over the weekend, blah, blah...

"I'll take the hit on the chin" I tell him but I won't be returning and he will be blocked.

Making the switch to commercial has been a blessing as the headaches and double crosses are to a minimum. Besides, when I am double-crossed in commercial, I almost always come out ahead.

Anyone have stories to share about the good life working resi?

got a call from a client who just bought a place. building inspection said minor plumbing leak in bathroom, recommend handyman repair. they wanted me to fix it cheap.

i get there and it's not minor. the leak has been going for years. subfloor is completely rotted, mold everywhere, tiles are loose. the whole bathroom needs to be gutted. quoted them 15k to fix properly.

showed me the inspection report -minor leak, appears superficial. the client was devastated. they bought the house based on that report.

any other handymen dealing with clients who've been misled by dodgy inspections. how do you break the bad news without making them feel worse

I have an office job but after doing a lot of work in my own backyard, I am playing with the idea of starting a side gig that I could probably do every weekend to start with..

I want to focus on fences (alignment, replacement etcc...not really confident to do more landscaping work).

I was thinking of creating an account on thumbtack in my area to see if there is a market. Do you have any experience around this for someone new? Any advice

OK, is this page worth a dump? I seem to only notice either posts from newbies asking basic how to questions or people selling some app. Once in a while someone asks about how to deck out a truck or van. That is great. But if I see another "Help me price....?", I am done. (If you need help pricing it, you don't know how to do it, so don't do it.)

My question is this: Is there a Reddit page that established handymen (or women) can discuss real topics of interest?

I got a call from a retired couple asking for a paint quote. They live in a 4200 sqft home. The entry way and great room is 16ft tall.

I’m curious if any of you would take on this job and do it solo? I haven’t found someone reliable or able to give quality work yet so it’s just me.

They also have a 1000 sqft casita that I was thinking I could offer to do first to see if they like the quality and time I put into it. Then bid on the rest of the house. They 1000 sqft casita is separate from the 4200 sqft house. They want it all painted.

I just stated my business this year and this would be my first paint job so any tips or suggestions would be great.

I'm pretty handy and can fix stuff around the house and also have done minor renovations for friends and family. Im located in the US (NYC)

Hopefully someone can help me out with a few questions:

1. What are some handy skills that are necessary to know?
2. Aside from Youtube where can i learn to become a better handyman? Are there any structured classes ?
3. What are some good youtube channels?
4. Is skillcat subscription worth it?
5. Do you just purchase material store like home depot or lowes?

Hi all, I'm finally turning my side-hustle into my main gig and in the process of putting everything place I'm now learning about the FTC 3 day cooling off rule and that I should probably work some language into my work orders so that it doesn't bite me in the ass.

My understanding thus far is that if we get sign-offs remotely (online pdf, form etc.) it negates the customer's right to the 3 day cancellation rule and we should always do that, at least for the bigger jobs.

Curious if anyone has dealt with customers weaseling out of payment on work that was in-process or already completed?

Hi everyone! Thanks for visiting!

I run a small property management company and I need essentially a synergetic business I can rely on for small repairs. Currently I am exploring acquiring an owner-operated handyman business (the owner is retiring). And it is currently generating about 7-8 jobs per week at $150-$300 per job. It has a good Google profile and more or less automated processes. It spends maybe an additional $600-$1,000 per month on marketing. Fuel is $300 per month, insurance is $400 per month. Net I’m looking at $3,000-3,900 per month. Can you suggest what this might be worth?

Happy to provide more details.

Edit: I’m not acquiring a vehicle. I’m acquiring tools for my new hire. I plan to pay my hire $35-40 per hour.

I have made the move to 100% commercial work and waving a happy goodbye to residential customers (mostly). I do have a few resi customers that I'll always do work for, but they can be counted on one hand.

Commercial work is straight forward and does not come with the associated chiseling on price and seldom has any surprises.

Anyone else happy to give the heave ho to resi?

Hi all!

If this not belongs here please remove!

I am looking for a person who can do a bathroom remodel. This person must be able to communicate and keep his word / promises! Yes I understand that people live out of their work and they want money, but I want also to be alive when the remodeling is done and not drowning in debt.

Any recommendations for a person willing to do a job in Corinth,NY?

I’m selling the complete construction-tech marketplace platform connecting homeowners with contractors through a competitive bidding model.

Includes:

• Homeowner project posting

• Contractor bidding system

• Electricians, plumbers, builders, labour, painters & more

• Marketplace workflow and core platform

Asking: $12,000 USD — Negotiable for the right buyer

Ideal for construction-tech companies, PropTech businesses, entrepreneurs, investors, or agencies looking to acquire and launch quickly.

Genuine buyers only.

📩 DM with your name, company/background and acquisition interest for demo and details.

I’m doing a little research into how independent handymen and small service contractors price their work, and I could use some real-world input.

I’m especially curious about people who are owner/operators or run a small crew and still handle their own estimates.

How do you usually figure out what to charge for a job?

Do you use hourly rates, flat pricing, past jobs, a spreadsheet/app, gut feeling, or some combination of everything?

And after the job is finished, do you ever go back and figure out what you actually made after materials, travel, extra trips, labor, etc.?

I’m not selling anything. I’m trying to understand where the biggest headaches actually are before pursuing an idea.

If anyone would be willing to chat with me for about 10–15 minutes about how you quote jobs and what drives you crazy about the process, comment here or send me a message. I’d really appreciate the perspective.

I’m doing a little research into how independent handymen and small service contractors price their work, and I could use some real-world input.

I’m especially curious about people who are owner/operators or run a small crew and still handle their own estimates.

How do you usually figure out what to charge for a job?

Do you use hourly rates, flat pricing, past jobs, a spreadsheet/app, gut feeling, or some combination of everything?

And after the job is finished, do you ever go back and figure out what you actually made after materials, travel, extra trips, labor, etc.?

I’m not selling anything. I’m trying to understand where the biggest headaches actually are before pursuing an idea.

If anyone would be willing to chat with me for about 10–15 minutes about how you quote jobs and what drives you crazy about the process, comment here or send me a message. I’d really appreciate the perspective.

Front view of client's door frame

Hey everyone, I’m looking for some honest feedback and advice from people who have been doing this longer than me. I recently had a client situation that left me feeling really down and doubting my skills, and I honestly can’t tell if I handled this unprofessionally or if the client was just difficult.

The Initial Job: I went out to look at an exterior front door frame (main door leaf, glass sidelights, overhead glass transom, surrounded by stucco, *photo attached to this post). She initially wanted a classic Dutchman patch on the bottom door jamb where there was rot, plus a repair on the header trim. I quoted her $150 for labor plus the cost of materials.

Where Things Went South (The Poke Test): While inspecting the bottom door jamb, I did a poke test (I asked her if she was okay with me doing that) to check how far the soft wood went. I ended up digging out a pretty good amount of rotted wood at the bottom.

Looking back, maybe I did expose/scrape away too much wood before she officially signed off on the job. To her, it looked like I just carved a big hole into her door frame and left her with visible damage. My internal logic was: "If I’m coming back to do a Dutchman patch anyway, all this rotten wood has to be cut out regardless, so what difference does it make?" But I can see how from her perspective, it felt like I damaged her door before she even decided what to do.

I also paid 10 dollars and some change for her direct lead on Thumbtack, so I guess I just assumed that she had "hired" me to do it. But from her perspective she was trying to get quotes and estimates to find the cheapest price, and that included me. I guess that's a difficulty with platforms like Thumbtack. The emotional attachment professionals have to leads and potential jobs after being charged for them is not something customers have any idea about. I don't think Thumbtack tells its customers that we get charged every time they even reach out to us through there.

I also pointed out severe rot near the top transom window that she hadn't noticed before.

The Backlash & Other Quotes: After realizing the rot was deeper than she thought, she got upset. She felt like I "damaged" her door during my inspection and wanted me to come back and fix what I messed up.

She started getting other opinions:

• Her regular handyman refused to touch the job because he was afraid of breaking the glass transom windows.
• Another contractor quoted her $1,000 to replace the door frame while saving the glass.
• Someone on Thumbtack quoted $700 just to do what I would've done for $150 (she called him "ridiculous").
• I talked to a 25+ year veteran handyman and framer who told me that the full door frame replacement would be $2,000 – $2,500 in labor alone, contingent on there not being any rot beyond what we see from the outside.

She started saying things like, "Why would I pay you $150 for cosmetic repairs if I have to replace the whole door frame anyway?" when I was the one who even brought the structural rot to her attention, but then turned around and told me to just do the cosmetic fix to cover up the wood I removed.

She told me she's actually had people give quotes before and they wanted to remove the entire front structural portion, but she didn't want that. She seems like a client that wants to have it exactly their way and wants to also have cheap, fast, and good even though you can't have all 3 at the same time and can only have 2.

My Guilt & Dropping the Price: Because she was complaining so much and accusing me of damaging her door frame, I felt terrible. I started doubting whether I ruined her jamb during the inspection. Out of guilt, I dropped my price from $150 + materials down to $75 TOTAL including materials.

I spent ~$37 on wood hardener and filler out of pocket, meaning I made about $38 for the entire job and a whole lot of stress.

Where Things Stand Now: Now she wants me to ask my subcontractors how much they would charge to replace the entire frame while keeping her door leaf and all the glass intact, because she wants the cheapest price possible. I tried explaining the risk of hidden rot behind the stucco, but she talked over me and acted like she knew the condition of her house better than me or the professional and was kind of patronizing. And I know if I bring out a subcontractor, she's probably going to try to bypass me and get my subs number to do it for cheaper.

My Questions for You All:

• Did I mess up on the poke test? Is digging out soft wood during an initial estimate considered bad practice if the client hasn't officially hired you yet?
• Was my logic sound? I figured a Dutchman patch requires clearing out all rotted wood anyway, but did I overstep by doing it during the inspection?
• Am I being too hard on myself, or did I handle this poorly? I feel like I folded under pressure by dropping my price to $75 out of guilt. Part of me feels like I should give her all her money back at this point.
• Do you think this is a normal part of starting out as a handyman? I've only been doing it for the past 2 months at this point.

Any advice or perspectives would be appreciated. I feel terrible from this and am doubting whether I should just quit entirely or pivot and focus solely on furniture assembly lol

Be as honest as you need to be. I want to learn from this.

Hello fellow handyman's. I'm in the process of heavily looking into starting a handyman business in TN.I have a wide range of variety experience in Electrical Plumbing General House repair far from a master . But like that saying goes jack of all trades master none but a master of none is still better than a master of one 🤣 anyways im looking for some advice and tips when it comes to should I quote per job or by the hour? How much should I charge for basic stuff like a small drywall repair? I do know I am going to test and apply for my llp & lle so I can be legitimate as possible. But thanks everyone for the advice!

A couple of years ago now, I paid a tradesman named Robbie €4,000 as a deposit to do my mum’s bathroom. After receiving the money, he disappeared and the work was not done.
I’m posting this because €4,000 is a huge amount of money for our family, and if sharing my experience can prevent even one other person from ending up in the same situation, it’s worth it.
Please be extremely careful when paying large deposits upfront. Check references, previous work and reviews, get everything in writing, and make sure you know exactly who you’re dealing with before transferring any money.
If anyone has experienced something similar or has advice on the best way to pursue the money, I’d really appreciate hearing from you.