San Antonio, TX Monday to Saturday, 8am to 6pm 10% off for veterans and seniors
Uncle SamHandyman LLC

Questions

Handyman questions, answered.

Twenty four of them, grouped so you can find yours. Written without the sales language, including the ones where the honest answer is that we will turn the job down.

Pricing

Call us or send the job details by email and we will arrange to look at it. Estimates are free, given in writing, and the figure does not change afterwards unless you change the scope of the work.

Because a handyman price list is usually fiction. The same job costs different amounts depending on what is behind the wall, whether the substrate is sound, and how the last person left it. We would rather look at the work and give you a figure we will stand behind than publish a number we quietly walk away from on site.

The written figure does not move once you accept it, unless you change what you are asking for. If we open something up and find a problem you did not know about, we stop, tell you what we have found, and give you a revised figure before doing anything further. You are never billed for a surprise you did not agree to.

Yes. Very small jobs are best bundled together, because the travel, setup and cleanup take the same time whether we hang one shelf or six. If you have a list, send the whole list. It almost always works out better than calling three separate times.

No. Looking at the job and writing the estimate is free and carries no obligation. You are not signing anything by having us come out.

Ten percent off labor for both, applied to the written estimate rather than left for you to ask about at the end. San Antonio is Military City and it would be strange not to.

On completion, once you have looked at the work and are happy with it. For longer jobs such as a bathroom or kitchen we agree a payment schedule in writing before starting, tied to stages of the work rather than to dates.

Scope and licensing

Yes. Texas does not license general handymen at state level, but we carry general liability insurance and hold the licenses the individual trades require. Anything that legally needs a licensed plumber or electrician gets one.

Most repair, installation and finishing work is ours to do. Plumbing and electrical work that legally requires a licensed trade is carried out by one, and work that needs a permit from the City of San Antonio is handled as a permitted job rather than quietly skipped. If a job needs someone we are not, we say so before you have paid anything.

Anything structural, anything requiring a licensed roofer, gas work, main panel electrical work, and any job where the honest answer is that a specialist will do it better or cheaper. Turning work away costs us one job. Taking work we should not have costs us a review.

Where a permit is required we deal with it as part of the job. Note that several cities inside our radius issue their own permits separately from San Antonio, including Kirby, Castle Hills and Alamo Heights, so the process differs depending on your address.

Not on general handyman work. The person who prices the job is the person who carries it out. Where the law requires a licensed plumber or electrician we bring one in, and we tell you in advance that we are doing so.

Yes, and it changes how we work. Homes of that age can contain lead paint, so any job that disturbs painted surfaces is handled with containment and cleanup that meets the EPA renovation rules. It is slower and we will tell you that up front rather than after.

Scheduling

Monday to Saturday, 8am to 6pm. Both national franchises operating in San Antonio close at 5pm on Friday and do not reopen until Monday, which is precisely when most households are free.

Usually within a few days for a look and a quote. Small jobs often get scheduled the same week. Bathrooms and kitchens book further out because they occupy the calendar for weeks rather than hours.

A time. If we are running late you get a phone call, not silence. The single most common complaint about this trade is not price, it is people who do not turn up and do not say so.

For the estimate, yes, so we can talk through what you actually want. For the work itself it depends on the job and on how comfortable you are. Plenty of customers leave us to it.

Call and say so. There is no cancellation fee for the estimate. For booked work, as much notice as you can manage means the slot can go to someone else rather than sitting empty.

Coverage

No. Anywhere inside the radius is charged at the same rate, so a job in New Braunfels at 33.6 miles costs what the same job costs in Alamo Heights at 6.6 miles. There is a minimum call out, so very small jobs are best bundled together.

A 35 mile radius from our base in San Antonio, which covers the named areas listed on the service areas page. If your address is just outside, call and ask rather than assuming. We would rather say yes.

Probably. The listed areas are the ones we are asked about most, not a boundary. If you are inside the radius, you are covered at the same rate as everyone else.

Working with us

Bassam Matti, who owns and runs the business. Not a franchisee, not a dispatcher, not a rotating crew. He prices the job and he does the job, which is the only reason any of the promises on this site are worth anything.

Yes. Dust sheets down, packaging taken away, floors left as we found them. It should not be a selling point and yet here we are.

Call and we come back. Workmanship problems are ours to put right, and it is quicker for everyone if you tell us in the first week rather than living with it.

Still not answered?

Call (210) 668-0610 and ask. It is quicker than reading, and you get Bassam Matti rather than a call centre.

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