Mr. Handyman Offers Suggestions To Prepare For The Holidays

With Christmas coming quickly I thought I’d offer a few tips on a range of topics that seem to come up this time every year.

The holidays, whatever you celebrate, is a wonderful time of year.  It’s also a time of unfortunate accidents, some with devastating consequences.  Cooler weather, the desire for a fire for both warmth and affect, wrapping paper and flammable trees can be a deadly combination.

Always keep your tree, and the presents that surround them, well separated from fire.  That includes both candles and your fireplace.  If you use a space heater when it’s cold, please also keep this away from trees and presents, and be sure to turn it off, or unplug it, when you are not present.

Ladder safety when hanging holiday lighting is also important.  A fall from a ladder can damage both you and your home.  Keep your body weight between the sides of the ladder when working.  If you can’t reach something, move the ladder.  Leaning out and getting your center of gravity outside the ladder is a recipe for a fall.  We want you at home Christmas morning, not in the hospital.

Folks often need a bit of help around the home as the holiday approach.  Before friends and family arrive we all want our homes to be “just right” and Mr. Handyman is happy to assist with that.  Understand that as Christmas gets closer schedules get more compressed.  Human nature is to leave things for the last moment, and then you may find our schedule is full.  There’s a lot less stress if you get organized and call us now, not later.

And for those that do call, please be prepared.  Some seem to think that the chaos of the seasons is part of the charm, but having folks stand around (when they are on the clock) while you find the Christmas lights that you bought on sale after the holidays last year, that you need them to install, is frustrating for everybody.

Mr. Handyman does a lot of assembly work around the holidays and this sometimes means gifts.  With an Ikea in town we’ve assembled many of their products.  We’ve done sheds and greenhouses.  We’ve assembled trampolines, bikes, playsets and swings, doll houses and the like. 

While we’re happy to help with this kind of stuff, understand that it’s unlikely we’ve assembled your exact make and model before, so we’re going to be working from the directions just like you.  If the directions are unclear, or missing, then this is simply part of the challenge to be overcome. 

Whether you do the assembly, or call us, it’s always best to start early in the season so that missing parts can be ordered and shipped for arrival prior to the holidays.

There’s a lot to do, but it’ll be worth it when the friends and family arrive.  Good luck and let us know if we can help.