In modern Australia many people are simply too busy to have the time to devote to home repairs and maintenance. James Allen operates the business Handyman Eastern Suburbs and has been involved in all aspects of property maintenance and repair for over 25 years. In James’s opinion a good handyman needs to be multi skilled and be versatile enough to turn his hand to just about any area of fixing or maintaining properties. In the eastern suburbs of Sydney homes are subjected to high levels of sea salt and strong winds and ongoing maintenance is needed to keep any home spick and span. James says that a good handyman needs to be able to deliver on the following skills as a bare minimum;
- painting
- carpentry
- fixing shelving
- installing blinds
- curtain rod installation
- floor polishing
- decking oiling maintenance
- hanging pictures and mirrors
A professional handyman must have insurance and have an a.b.n. He must have a quality toolkit and have many years experience in most areas of property maintenance. It is understood that a handyman is not necessarily a ‘qualified tradesman’ but must be able to demonstrate a high level of proficiency and be able to use hand and power tools safely and competently.
A popular request from clients is the installation of ‘floating shelves’ as pictured below. What looks like a simple job to install these shelves can actually require some advanced handyman skills. These include attaching fixtures onto tiled or rendered brick walls, which requires using appropriate high speed drill bits or even diamond tipped drill bits when drilling into very hard porcelain tiles. The shelves need to be installed perfectly level and need to be very secured to the wall to ensure personal safety and to ensure the objects on the shelf are kept safe and sound.
How To Select A Handyman
One way to establish is a handyman is suitable to work on your projects is to ask for recent references from clients, preferably with contact phone numbers so you can talk to the clients and see what handyman work was performed and to what standard it was completed.
James recommends always getting quotations in writing and ensure:
- the quote includes all material costs like paint, brackets and fittings needed to complete the work
- the time frame to complete the work
- guarantees on labour and any parts supplied
- what brand of paint is to be used in any painting work
By following these common sense guidelines, James says that you should have a fair degree of confidence in hiring a handyman to do the required jobs in your home or business.
