Handyman services includes small repair and maintenance jobs related to plumbing, electrical or carpentry services. Handyman services includes few other services as well like small repairing, replacement and some time renovation work in your bathroom, kitchen or backyard. Term handyman is comparatively new in India and we rather call electrician, plumber or carpenter when we need their services. But at times, you may have a unique kind of requirements like you want to replace the sink in your kitchen, install an exhaust fan and get the doors of the kitchen cabinets replaced or fixed.
So ideally, you have to call an electrician to replace the light and install the exhaust fan, call a carpenter to fix the cabinets and you need a plumber to replace the kitchen sink. But time has changed and today you don’t even need to deal with three different companies or individuals. What you can do instead is hire a professional facility management company for such handyman services. Handyman services primarily include electrical, plumbing and carpentry services.
Thankfully in India, especially in bigger cities Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad etc, you can easily find professionally managed facility management companies who offer good quality handyman services and offer very transparent pricing. Even if some repair works require physical inspection by these handyman companies, for most of the general home repair and maintenance services they have fixed rate cards and that makes it much more transparent.
I have had the opportunity to work with several handyman companies for various repairing and maintenance jobs at my home and have learnt a lot about them. Let me share a few interesting things about handyman services in India, how to find, screen and book a service and a lot more.
A little about handyman technicians in India
Since handyman is a broad term (relatively new in India), let’s call them technicians who actually perform the job. A reputed handyman service will consist of a team of plumbers, electricians, carpenters, painters, locksmiths, appliance repairing, construction, repairing etc. sometimes a single person also do multiple jobs. Hence it implies that most of the talented handymen are “Jack of all trades”. As most of them come from different fields, but all handymen are not dexterous enough or skilled in crafts, a handful of them are just honest hard-working people trying to make the ends meet.
Some of them are just freelancers willing to learn as apprentices of experienced handymen’s. These people often charge relatively lower fees than the experienced ones but the quality of work is affected a little.
Handyman services: Here’s what to expect from them
Handyman companies in India, usually employ people with different kind of specializations and skill sets. From plumber to electricians, carpenter and even guys who can take on painting work; they have all kind of people working with them. But you should not just be over confident on a technician and instead of assuming, just double check you have a technician with specialization and right skill set working on your project.
So when you seeking renovation work in your bathroom, don’t ask them to fix the garage shutter opener because if he is not qualified enough for that task then he may end up creating a mess. So it’s always better to set the expectations right. If you have called for an electrician, don’t expect them to look after the carpentry work and vice versa. Usually hay ask you for extra add-on works, chances are that they are really good at those skills too. But it is better if you do not experiment and let them fix what they are expected to fix and for the task you have called them.
It’s not at all good to pressurize a handyman into doing something that he is not comfortable with or on the contrary if they pressurize you to handover a particular job which they haven’t done before, for the sake of earning a little more money, it may lead into disappointment for you.
Secondly, when you have various handyman service needs, let them know in advance so that the company can send skilled technicians who can work on two different types of repair works. So when you know what to expect from a handyman company, let me tell you how to book handyman services in your city.
Finding and booking Handyman Services in India
Since rates for handyman services usually varies depending on the kind of repair and maintenance jobs you have, it’s always better to start with a couple of handyman companies. If you leave smaller jobs such a replacing a tube light fitting, or installing an exhaust fan or a ceiling fan where rates for these types of services are usually fixed, for tasks such as tiles replacement in your bathroom or creating a couple of kitchen cabinets, may vary. There are so many types of plywood and in different price ranges that rates would vary depending on the materials being used. Similarly, costs of materials are usually not included but a handyman will always give you the opportunity to bring the materials yourself or let them bring the materials. So if they bring the materials, you have to be sure that they are not charging you and hence I asked you to take opinions from a couple of handyman companies before booking.
In order to find such handyman companies, you may use ServiceSutra where all that you need to is to post your handyman requirements, contact details and tentative schedule and you will be contacted by a couple of companies in no time.
You may also start with a search on Google, Google Plus or even Facebook because Facebook is really happening these days and local service companies have started to promote their services and brands using Facebook.
But make a list of tasks before searching for handyman
Before calling a handyman service company, you should make a list of all things you want done so that you can explain your needs and the company can send relevant technicians who can take on the task. This list can be related to the “Honey-do-list”, (i.e. when your spouse asks you to fix something at your home). As I have already mentioned that most of them posses multiple skills and at times they are good at all of them. But your objective is to decide if this person will do enough for the particular work you are hiring him for so that the money you invest becomes worthwhile.
Here’s what to do before hiring
Like all other services, while hiring a handyman service you should look for referrals by asking your friends and co-workers. Obviously when you go by referrals, you can be a little sure about the quality and rates of services, but be smart enough to not just pay what they ask for, some time they may take advantage of references too.
Ask questions: Ask them about their experience, for how long they are working, what are their favorite jobs. You can decide which tasks they can handle and then you can assign those tasks to them.
Ask about their registration and ID proofs: You need to know whether they are really into this business or they are trying to fake it. The best way to find it is through their licence and ID proofs.
Discuss about charges and payment: As I said, handyman companies may have a standard rates card for basic services like hanging a fan, installing an exhaust fan or for servicing the air conditioner. For certain tasks that require inspection, a handyman would charge you a visit fees and that can be adjusted too against the service. Visiting charges could be in the range of rupees 150 to up to 350 depending on the company and city you live in.
Since visit charges are adjusted, you have nothing to lose and the technician should be able to help you understand what would be required, charges, costs of materials etc but you should also know what could go wrong in the process.
Also ask for all inclusive rates, some services may attract taxes and hence discussing it all in advance will make the process smooth and transparent for you.
Finally, just check if they can do the post repair cleanups or else you may have to do it yourself when the technician leave or book a cleaning service company for cleanups.
Over to you
Handyman services can help you in many situations like when you are moving to a new flat. Working with road side technician is one thing and working with a professionally managed handyman company is totally a different experience. Just do a little research, check all licenses and Id cards and clarify on the total cost of the task and you will be amazed to see how smooth it could be.
So what is your choice, working with a road side technician or a professionally managed handyman company?
