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What to Ask Before Hiring a Handyman for Flower Mound Home Repair
It would be difficult to find a house in Flower Mound—or anywhere else for that matter—that doesn't need at least minor home repair services. Our homes are built to be long-lasting, but they can't go the distance if regular home repair and maintenance chores are neglected. But that doesn't mean every homeowner is able to carve time out of their busy lifestyle to take care of everything that needs to get done around their commercial or residential Flower Mound property.
The answer is to hire a local Flower Mound handyman who can take the burden of that never-ending to-do list off your shoulders and give you the peace of mind that comes with knowing your home or business is in excellent condition, operating efficiently and meeting the unique needs of your household. But how do you find a service professional for Flower Mound home repair who is experienced, capable and courteous? This guide explains what you should ask before hiring to ensure that your home repair project meets or exceeds your expectations for quality of service.
If you want to get straight to the part where you are speaking with a team of qualified, local home repair service providers, give Mr. Handyman of Flower Mound, Lewisville and Denton a call. Our professional handymen are highly experienced with a wide range of repair, maintenance and home improvement tasks, so we can get the job done correctly and efficiently. Whenever you need a Flower Mound handyman, you can rely on us!
What Can a Handyman Do for Flower Mound Home Repairs?
Before you dive into finding a Flower Mound home repair professional, you may be wondering what a handyman can actually do. It turns out, a lot! It really depends on the company or individual you choose to hire. Some keep the focus on small-scale home repairs and basic maintenance. Others, such as our team at Mr. Handyman of Flower Mound, Lewisville and Denton, are skilled with many types of repairs, maintenance tasks and improvement projects, including bathroom remodeling services and storm damage repairs.
Finding the Right Handyman for Your Flower Mound Home Repair
If you've already gotten started on your search, so you can finally get that home repair list out of your life, you've probably found a wide variety of options. But how do you sort the wheat from the chaff and find the best professional service in Flower Mound? These key steps will help you narrow it down to a couple of candidates that you can call to make sure they are a good fit.
Get Advice from Friends, Family & Neighbors
The first place you should turn is to the people you know and trust in Flower Mound—your family, friends and neighbors. Most homeowners need home repair services at some point, so the people you know likely have had experiences with local handyman professionals. They can give you advice and recommendations based on those experiences that will give you a good sense of where you should start with your search. You may even be able to see the results of the home repair work in their houses and judge for yourself if it meets your standards for craftsmanship.
Here are a few questions to ask friends, family and neighbors about their experiences with local handymen in Flower Mound:
Were they on time for your scheduled appointment?
Was their behavior professional and courteous?
Did they explain their recommendations clearly?
Did they answer any questions you may have had?
Were you satisfied with their home repair work?
Were the scheduling and billing processes handled smoothly?
Did you have any concerns? If you addressed those concerns with them, how did they respond?
Did they go above and beyond in any way?
Would you recommend that I hire them for this project?
Check Out Online Reviews
The next step is to take those recommendations you got from people you know in Flower Mound and see what local people are saying online about them or other companies you think might be a good fit. People tend to leave detailed reviews when they've had an especially great or bad experience, so they can be very telling—and it's even better if the review comes with photos. But we all know people can sometimes be untruthful online. Sometimes a company will post false 5-star reviews on their own profile to artificially boost their rating, or post dishonest negative reviews about their competitors to make themselves look better by comparison.
So how can you tell which reviews are honest and genuine? The best way is by consensus. If you see mostly great reviews with a couple of bad apples in the barrel, that's a strong indication that most of the people who hired that company or individual were very happy with the service they received. But if it's mostly negative or critical reviews with a few suspiciously glowing ones in the mix, that's a red flag warning you to stay away.
8 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Handyman for Flower Mound Home Repair
Now that you've chatted with people you know in Flower Mound and gone online to see what locals have to say, you probably have a short list with a couple of possible candidates for your Flower Mound home repair project. At this point, you should grab a pen so you can jot down a couple notes, give them a call and ask a few questions to make sure that they are capable and qualified.
Some homeowners feel shy about asking these types of questions, but any company or individual who is proud of the work they're doing will be pleased to have the opportunity to tell you about it. You need to know that you're hiring the best home repair handyman for the job, so don't hesitate to ask!
1. Are You Licensed and Insured?
This is the number one question you should ask, because it's so important to hire home repair and improvement professionals who have insurance and all applicable state-level licensing. It may seem like a given that a service provider will be fully licensed and insured, but that's not always the case. When you choose Mr. Handyman of Flower Mound, Lewisville and Denton, you can always rest assured that you’re getting service from licensed, insured professionals.
When you hire a licensed Flower Mound handyman, you should be able to rest assured that they have the necessary ongoing training to work safely and adhere to all building codes. If they don't meet licensing requirements for the work you need, you shouldn't let them work on your home property. Insurance is important because in the unlikely event that something goes wrong and property is damaged or someone gets injured, you won't be on the hook to cover costs.
2. When Did You Start Your Business?
It's not necessarily a bad thing if a business just started up recently. The people working there likely have prior experience in home repair and related trades, so it's not an automatic deal breaker. But if it just started up a few weeks or months ago, that could be a warning sign. They likely don't have many (if any) reviews or referrals, and some dishonest people will set up a company and collect a bunch of contracts without intending to finish the work.
3. Do You Have Experience with This Specific Project?
That old saying, “practice makes perfect,” is never more true than when it's applied to home repair work. Whatever you need done around your Flower Mound house, it pays to find a service provider who has plenty of experience with that particular job. If it's a more obscure or unusual project, they may not have a lot of experience with that task exactly, but they should be able to tell you about similar jobs that require overlapping skills.
4. Can You Show Me Photos of Your Finished Work?
Most home repair professionals know all too well that a photo is worth a thousand words, and they likely have plenty of before and after snapshots of projects they have worked on. Asking to see those photos can be even better than reading a reference or a review, because you can see the evidence of their skill and innovative repair solutions right in front of your eyes. They may be able to email you some photos, or show you a gallery of their local work on their website.
5. Is Your Workmanship Guaranteed?
What happens if the work is not done correctly? There are few things more frustrating than paying for a home repair service, only to have the repair breakdown and the problem reoccur shortly after it was supposedly “fixed.” If the home repair service providers you are calling offer a guarantee on their work, it indicates that they are confident in their ability to get the work completed correctly the first time. We offer a guarantee on our workmanship called the Done Right Promise—if it's not done right, we'll make it right.
6. Will You Be Hiring Subcontractors to Work on My Home?
Sometimes you think you're hiring a particular person for home repair, only to have a different individual show up on the day of service. It's not necessarily a bad thing to use subcontractors, but if you ask in advance, you'll know what (and who) to expect. If subcontractors will be used, will your main home repair contractor be on-site to supervise them? You can request contact information for each individual that will be entering your home so you can ensure you are 100% comfortable and informed about what's going to happen during your appointment.
7. Roughly How Long Do You Think This Will Take?
Many home repair services charge by the hour, so this question is helpful in multiple ways. It gives you a rough idea of what the labor costs may end up being, and a time frame for the service, so you know if you'll need to book time off of work or make alternate arrangements while part of your house is out of commission.
Just remember that this is only a rough estimate. They won't be able to give you a more accurate time frame until they have had the chance to inspect the project in person at your house, because there may be obstacles or issues that will extend the time estimate past what a typical job of this type would require. Also, keep in mind that there may be unexpected surprises during the process that increase the time needed to get the job done. If that happens, your home repair handyman should explain why extra time is needed and re-calculate the estimated timeline.
8. What Are the Expectations for Billing and Payment?
Make sure you and your home repair professional are on the same page when it comes to billing and payment expectations. Is payment due upfront before the work is done? Will you be invoiced later? Do they accept digital or credit card payments? Is it cash only? Find out early on exactly what they expect from you, so you can ensure that the billing and payment terms are acceptable to you too. It's also a good idea to talk about how unexpected costs will be dealt with if something comes up that was not in the original, agreed-upon budget.
Need a Flower Mound Home Repair Professional? Count on Mr. Handyman!
Now that you know all about what you should ask before hiring a handyman for home repair, we invite you to give us a call and ask every one of the questions listed above! We are confident you'll be pleased with our answers and the quality of our service.
Whether you need home repair help for your residential or commercial property in Flower Mound or you're in another nearby community such as Justin, Highland Village or Lewisville, you can trust the team of service professionals at Mr. Handyman of Flower Mound, Lewisville and Denton to provide the highest standards of quality workmanship and excellent customer service.
Get in contact with us by calling 972-627-4793 to request a convenient appointment time, or to talk to our friendly customer care staff about your home repair needs. We have the experience and skill to make your Flower Mound house more comfortable, livable and appealing.
