Guides

Written for people who live here.

Not generic home improvement filler. Clay soil, live oaks, permit offices that differ by city, and what any of that means for your house.

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Cutaway under a kitchen sink showing the trap and shut off valves, the kind of work where the line between handyman and licensed plumber matters

Regulations

Handyman or licensed contractor: what Texas law actually requires

Texas licenses plumbers and electricians. It does not license handymen at all. Here is where the line actually falls, and why an honest contractor will sometimes turn your job down.

August 14, 20267 min read

A cut and patched section of wall ready for taping, the repair that keeps being redone when the cause is movement underneath

Maintenance

Why drywall cracks keep coming back in San Antonio homes

You patched it, painted it, and six months later it is back in exactly the same place. That is not bad patching. It is the ground under your house.

August 7, 20268 min read

A ladder against a house with a gutter full of leaves being cleared and the downspout checked

Maintenance

Gutter season in South Texas is not autumn

Everyone cleans gutters in November because that is what the internet says. In San Antonio that is roughly six months late.

July 24, 20266 min read

Cutaway of a retail and office unit showing an accessible restroom, shop floor and a glass partitioned office

Property

A make ready checklist for San Antonio landlords

The turnaround is the whole game. Every day the unit sits empty is rent you do not get back, and the order you do the work in decides how many of those days there are.

July 10, 20269 min read

Hexagonal tile being set on a prepared subfloor, running into finished timber flooring

Costs

What actually drives the cost of a handyman job

People ask for an hourly rate as though that settles it. It does not. Here is what actually moves a number up or down, and what you can do about it before anyone quotes.

June 26, 20268 min read

Cutaway of a wall mounted television showing the bracket fixed into studs and the cable run inside the wall

Maintenance

Mounting a TV on a Texas wall: studs, brick and the fireplace question

Most TV mounting goes wrong in the first ten minutes, before anyone picks up a drill. It goes wrong at the decision about where.

June 12, 20267 min read