r/handyman

After reading a bunch of comments on this topic, one thing stood out to me:

There doesn't seem to be one universal rule for extra work.

Some guys just knock out a 5–10 minute task for free if it’s easy.

Others have a small fixed-price add-on.

Others switch to hourly or T&M once the extra work gets bigger.

And some will stop completely, price the additional work, and schedule it for another visit.

What seems to matter most is having a clear line between:

“This is a small favor”

and

“This is now additional work that needs to be priced and approved.”

The other thing I found interesting is how many guys rely on experience and judgment rather than a strict formula.

Makes sense. After doing the same type of work for years, you probably know what a job is worth without pulling out a calculator every time.

Just sharing what I’ve been noticing from the discussion. There’s clearly a lot more nuance to pricing handyman work than just labor + materials.

I’m exploring a tool rental business and would appreciate honest feedback from handymen and remodeling crews before investing. This is research for my own business idea.

The concept is an enclosed trailer delivered to your jobsite for a multi-day or weekly rental. It would contain power tools, batteries, chargers, ladders, saws, stands, hand tools and some specialty equipment, all organized in assigned storage locations.

I know most of you already own the basics. I’m wondering whether this would be useful when taking on a larger project, adding another crew, working away from home or needing equipment you don’t use enough to buy.

Would you actually rent a setup like this?

• What kind of work do you do, and which jobs would justify renting it?
• Which tools would absolutely need to be included?
• Which specialty tools would make it worthwhile—track saw, rotary hammer, drywall sander with dust extraction, inspection camera, or something else?
• Would you prefer a standard inventory or a package tailored to the job?
• What weekly price would make sense, with delivery charged separately?

If you wouldn’t rent it, I’d like to hear why. Would individual tool rentals be more practical, or would the trailer save enough time and trips to be useful?

I’m looking for practical criticism, not just encouragement.

We are working with a small handyman company
The guy does jobs on the side while working full time for another larger construction company. He says his boss at the large company is fine with his side work.
So he hires other people to work on his projects. Beginning of July we asked him to do a roof, windows, screen doors, and exterior painting of our house.

Roof went fine but we are still waiting on the windows and painting. Lots of issues - windows took forever to arrive, one screen door was the wrong size, crew members had family issues, guys girlfriend had a baby end of Aug.

Just heard tonight that we are delayed another week on windows after being promised tomorrow.

Would you (or should we ask for) offer a reduced amount from the labor quoted? Getting frustrated and Midwest weather makes me nervous about the painting.

Thanks for any advice

Hey guys,

My uncle is a passionate hobbyist handyman, and I want your help to find the perfect gift.

He has every tool I can think of, but he's a big traditional guy so I'm sure he's missing some fancy new gadgets. Can you guys please help me find something useful that's NEW and FANCY?

Example: laser level... I know it's not NEW NEW but he just recently bought one and he was blown away how he built an entire basement without one. Another example is he recently bought a DeWalt crimping tool that he can crimp with his driver... Again he was blown away with how he manually crimped all thoss PEX pipes in the past.

So I wanna get him something like that. If it's. DeWalt product, even better, but doesn't have to be. He has all the DeWalt tools you can think of (drills, drivers, saws, even storage boxes)