An ADHD Handyman

 Not everyone who needs a professional handyman lives in a brand new house.  More often than not, it's people who just need some help maintaining their long time home.  Here's a ceiling fan that was installed into a house that's at least 70 years old.  It's more than a house for these folks, it's home.  When they get a chance to make even small improvements,  it's a good day. Here's to making people's homes and days just a bit better. 

 It's no secret that I've generally found the Worx brand of power tools, particularly the "Nitro" sub-line, to be satisfactory for professional use in non-industrial situations.  By which, I mean environments that don't call for using the tools 8 to 12 hours a day, 6 days a week practically non-stop.   It's better for intermittent daily use. So it's good for professional installers, techs, handyman,  etc...  as a "go to" tool in my experience.  The compact circular saw that Worx offers is called the "WorxSaw".  It's a 20V tool using their "PowerShare" 20V battery platform.  It is NOT in their "Nitro" brushless platform. Even though they call it a compact circular saw, it's probably better described as a compact "chop" saw.  The way the base functions, it's very good at plunge cuts.  One might say it seems optimized to that purpose.   This has been very handy in cutting floorboards and cabinet si...

 One of the rental properties I work on had a leak in or near the window that's just over the tub.  Water got in and ruined the trim in the bottom left corner of the window. They built the window using a laminate covered mdf board for the edges of the window, with traditional wood trim around it.  This was a mess. Now, it's not an impossible fix.  New trim, new laminated mdf sideboard to properly fit back in.  Stain and poly coat them and bang, you're ready to cut and install. After you nail the boards back in place,  you need to detail them in.  Fill in the nail holes and get them to blend in with the finish.   Being this is a bathroom window and moisture is a concern, I tend to use a colored wax filler in the nail holes.  Being wax it fills the hole with a reasonably close color and it protects from moisture at the same time. If the holes were deeper or bigger than a nail hole, I'd probably use Durham's Putty to fill then cover with th...

 Remember the outdoor patio light we replaced a few posts ago?  The old one had gone bad because the wire connections had gotten wet, rusted, and corroded over time because when it was installed,  no one had sealed the connection against the wall. Well, I'm guessing the same installer put the doorbell in at that house also.  Because the doorbell has been malfunctioning.   It was ringing inconsistently,  sometimes, continuously until they presses it again a few times to stop it. The button had not been sealed against the wall.  Ever.   Water got in, rusted and corrosion built up.  Here we go again. I removed the old button and cleaned the exposed wire ends of rust and corrosion to ensure a good connection to the new button Once the new button was wired on, I applied some silicon sealant to the area where the edges of the housing of the button connects to the wall.  Then the button was screwed to the wall and sealant applied arou...

Working on a rental property turnover for one of my regular clients this week. Today was finally finishing up with painting some walls that had needed holes to be filled then painted.   As usual, my favorite local Ace Hardware got an excellent paint match for me. Then, I mounted some vertical patio blinds from HD Pro Supply, down on the lower level. And, I was able to get an outlet area repaired to get the opening to the correct size using Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty,  which was  it's usual, reliable stuff. The hole for the outlet had been made too wide and the receptacle wasn't being supported on the right side.  By adding the Durham's Putty, the hole was able to be made the correct size to be properly supported instead of being pushed in to the opening. Also, spacers needed to be added where the receptacle screws to the box behind the wall as it had been set too far back.   Between the spacers and the wall repair,  it's a much better fit with...

Another outdoor light fixture replacement.    Quick note...  outdoor electrical fixtures of ALL types, be they receptacles,  lights, switches, whatever... Should have a sealant applied around and/or behind them to prevent water from penetrating inside where the wiring and connections are. This will prevent a LOT of unnecessary replacements and repairs. This new light fixture has had sealant applied correctly and secure connections to the fixture. Wago connectors for the win, as usual.  Personally,  when it comes to installing fixtures, switches,  connections from switches, etc... Wagos are always my preferred connector in those situations.  The pigtail that came with this light fixture was connected to the switched wiring from the house from 14 gauge wiring. While this connection point had plenty of room, that's not always the case.  The Wagos not only save space, but they connect different types of wiring together so much better. Being a pho...

I am not really a brand "fanboy".  I like to use tool, material, and hardware products that are reliable,  durable, affordable,  and usable.  It's not often that I find something that not only meets all those areas, but is exceptional at it. One of those rarities is a filler product called "Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty". I have tried a crazy number of filler and repair putty products over the years to fix issues in wood, drywall, and other materials.  As yet, I haven't found anything that meets all my requirements above as well as Durham's does. I do furniture repair as well as a number of cosmetic and structural repair of walls, doors, trim, and others surfaces around rental properties.   I've found Durham's to be exceptional in ALL of these uses. Not only does it hold up very well in a variety of situations,  it's adaptable as well.  Since I mix the powdered material on the spot with water, I can make the mix as thin or as thick as th...

 As a professional handyman that does work for rental properties and small businesses,  most of the things I am requested to do are either "immediate need" or "within a week".   Most of the projects I work on are not "new build" kinds of things.  It's mostly fixing existing problems and replacing items. After that, it's assembly and installation of a variety of fixtures, furniture, and tech devices.  I mention this because I know I'm not alone in this.  I've been in contact with many other professional handyman types who are also self-employed individuals and small teams. When it comes to obtaining materials,  supplies, and various products,  we rely mostly on box retailers and Amazon.  Most of the time, we're not "big" enough to have accounts at most wholesale distributors.  We also don't stock and store or re-sell enough items to buy in big numbers.  It's just one or a few things at a time for the particular projects...

There are differences that separate a professional handyman from a non professional.  The Pro's goal is to provide ethical and responsible service to clients and customers.  It's more than just fixing, building, assembling, or installing a thing.  It's building trust and accountability, confidence,  and meeting or exceeding reasonable expectations as well. For example... A property owner has a need for a handyman to keep a physical key to the property for emergency and maintenance access.  The non pro handyman will just add it to their key ring and might even label it somehow. Keys come off keyring more easily than we like. They get lost or mixed up.  This is both a security and liability issue.  The handyman would be unquestionably responsible for locksmith costs or if a thief found and used the key to enter and rob the property. A Professional handyman will have a lockable key box that is mounted somewhere in a shop or office with tags to identify bo...

So many rental properties implement tech devices to monitor, detect, and control access to properties now.  Usually with good reason. Tech is great...when it works. Most of these devices are battery powered and required a built-in recharging system or replacement as needed.  Which is great.  Makes sure that things work even when the power goes out. Except, tech is great...when it works. And when the power goes out, as it absolutely will from time to time, the means to communicate with and access these battery powered devices remotely, is compromised.  Because most, if not all, of these battery powered devices require an local network and internet connection.   When the power goes out, so does the router and modem.   Which means the remote apps to communicate with these devices is gone. Home and small business based computer network systems DEMAND a backup power supply on site.  Not for the devices to function as normal,  but to communica...

 There are just scads of videos, posts, and articles dedicated to "outing" those bad apple property owners and managers that use technology on their properties to spy on and "steal" from guests and renters. I'm not saying that it doesn't happen.  Of course it happens. But, does it happen on the scale and commonality in which it is reported? The factual answer is no. I so a lot if work in short-term and long term rental properties as well as apartment complexes.  I install, configure and integrate  video and audio detection and recording devices, alarm systems, monitoring systems,  and access systems in the vast majority of these properties to some degree. The klaxxons sounding on behalf of property owners "collecting" video and audio illicitly for some nefarious purpose is overblown to the point of absurdity.   Which only serves to help the few actual bad apples that are doing such shenanigans. Property owners and managers,  by and large install s...