Home Repairs & Odd Jobs · Cambridge
Home Repairs and Odd Jobs in Cambridge
Every house in Cambridge has a list. It is never one big job. It is twelve small ones that no contractor will drive out for. That is the job here.
The list is the same across Galt, Preston and Hespeler, and it only gets longer. A door that will not latch. A hole in the drywall behind the bedroom door. A towel bar that pulled out of the wall. A stair railing that moves. A closet door off its track. A back step that has gone soft. A fence board that blew off in March. A curtain rod that never got hung. Nobody wants to pay a call-out fee for one of them, so they wait, and then there are twelve.
The way this works: you send the list, you get one price for the list, and the visit is booked to get through as much of it as the day allows. That is the cheapest way to get small repairs done, and it is the only way most of them get done at all.
What is on a typical Cambridge list
- Doors. Interior doors that stick, rub or will not latch. Hinges reset, strikes moved, edges planed, stripped screw holes repaired properly. Exterior doors with a sagging hinge side, a dead sweep or a deadbolt that no longer lines up.
- Drywall and plaster. Doorknob holes, anchor damage, corner bead dents, water stains from a leak that has already been fixed, cracks at the seams. Patched, taped, sanded and primed so the paint goes on flat.
- Hardware. Towel bars, toilet paper holders, curtain rods, blinds, hooks, mirrors, shelves and TV brackets, anchored into studs or into a proper anchor rated for the load, not into a drywall plug that will fail again.
- Trim and carpentry. Baseboard and casing replaced or repaired, quarter round, thresholds, a squeaky stair tread screwed down, a wobbly railing re-anchored, a closet shelf and rod rebuilt.
- Small exterior fixes. A fence board or gate latch, a rotted step tread, a loose deck board, a mailbox post, a downspout extension, a dryer vent hood that birds got into, house numbers, a screen door closer.
- The odd job. Assembling furniture, hanging a heavy mirror, moving a piece of furniture down the basement stairs, putting up a baby gate properly, mounting a TV on brick.
Older houses, older problems
In Galt and the older parts of Preston, the small repairs come from a house that has moved. Door frames rack, so a door that was fine for decades starts rubbing at the top corner. Plaster cracks in the same place every year because the house flexes there. Screws pull out of studs that have dried hard. These take a lighter hand and a bit more time than the same job in a 2010 build off Franklin Boulevard. A plaster crack that gets filled and painted will be back by spring; one that is cut back, taped with mesh and skimmed usually stays gone. The written price reflects which one you are getting.
Post-war bungalows and newer subdivisions
Preston and Hespeler bungalows have hollow-core doors, small closets and a lot of hardware that has been hung by many hands. The newer streets in north Hespeler and south of the 401 have the opposite problem: everything was installed fast. Once the builder warranty runs out, the doors that were never adjusted, the trim that was pinned into nothing, and the drywall screws that popped through the paint become your list. Both are straightforward. Neither is worth a renovation contractor's time, and they will tell you so by not calling back.
What goes to a licensed trade
A handyman does not do wiring. If your list has a dead receptacle, a switch that buzzes, a new circuit or a light fixture connection, that is a licensed electrical contractor filing with the ESA where required. A handyman does not touch gas: a fireplace, range or furnace issue goes to a TSSA-licensed gas fitter. A handyman will replace a faucet, a toilet or a trap, but does not open a wall to move plumbing, does not touch the stack and does not service the water heater. You will be told which items are which when the list is priced. It is faster than finding out on the day.
Booking around a shift
Slots run to 7pm on weekdays and through Saturday morning and afternoon. If you are on a Toyota rotation or working nights along the 401, say so in the form and the visit gets booked to the window that works. Send photos of the worst items with the list. It makes the price more accurate and the visit shorter.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a minimum job size?
Small jobs are booked as a half-day or full-day block, or priced as a fixed price for your list. One ten-minute job is not worth the drive for either of us, so the best approach is to send everything at once and get it all done in one visit.
Can you fix a hole in drywall the same day?
The patch, tape and first coat of compound, yes. A proper repair needs the compound to dry between coats and then be sanded and primed, so a flat, invisible patch is usually two short visits or one visit with the final sanding and paint left to you. That gets agreed when the list is priced.
Do you take away the old materials?
Small amounts of debris from the job, yes. Larger loads, old appliances or a whole garage clear-out are a junk removal job, which is a different service, and the Region of Waterloo's bulky item rules apply to what goes to the curb.
Serving Cambridge and surrounding areas. Contact us for a no-obligation quote specific to your property.