I get calls from people all the time looking for a price over the phone for ordinary plumbing tasks, toilet replacements, faucet replacements, stopped up drains and the like. Handymen have their place in the service business world in that they will do a variety of things around your house. The problem is there are highly skilled handymen and not so skilled handymen. Some can patch a drywall hole in your living room ceiling and do it so well you cannot tell where the hole was. This is important because if the hole is in back of your washing machine it is not so important to be perfect as it is in your living room ceiling where any imperfection can be seen.
The same goes for handymen making plumbing repairs. It is fine as long as doing the faucet change out goes by the book. But what happens when the change out is done in forty year old house and the angle stop under the sink comes off in your hand and the copper pipe with it? What happens when he pulls up a toilet and the connector flange crumbles? He has to install a repair flange which involves drilling holes in the slab or floor. He will most likely not have the part in his truck, so he will have go to the plumbing supply or a Home Depot to get it. He will try to charge for this extra time.
In these cases, the customer would have been far better off to hire a licensed plumber to start with. Before they invented push-on connectors, an in-wall copper repair involved soldering with a torch inside the wall in order to fix it. This is something I would never trust a handyman to do. There are many situations where a torch must be used, specifically in commercial repairs where push-on connectors are not allowed. The use of torches is also sometimes necessary in residential situations and it goes without saying that it takes experience and skill so as not to start the house on fire.
Licensed plumbers doing commercial and residential work are required to carry one million dollars of liability insurance. In certain cases-condominiums for instance-five million dollars of coverage is required. Very few handymen carry this much insurance. Some have none at all. This is a question that customers should not hesitate to ask for proof of if someone is doing work in your home or business.
If you decide a handyman will suit your needs, try to find the most qualified one to do your household repairs. Many times I have been called out to a house to fix something the handyman tried to do and did not have the expertise required for the job. When asked why the homeowner didn’t get the guy who messed it up to come back and make it right, I am generally told they can’t get him on the phone. . A licensed, insured and bonded tradesman has a pretty tough time competing with a handyman’s pricing, but buyer beware of what you are (or are not) getting.
