Send the whole list, from the door that sticks to the ceiling fan that wobbles, and we match you with an independent handyman working in your town. We check their New Jersey home improvement registration and insurance first, then they call you to walk the list and price it, at no charge to you.
Takes about a minute, and it is free. Would rather talk? Call (201) 555-1234.
We pass this to local contractors who cover your town. No cost, no obligation.
Interior doors that swell shut in August and rattle in January, latches that miss the strike plate, hinges that need shimming, storm door closers that slam. Also deadbolt and smart lock swaps, cabinet hinge and drawer slide adjustment, and re-hanging a door that has dropped as the house settled.
Anchor holes, doorknob holes, ceiling stains, and the hallway wall the movers caught with a dresser. Older Bergen County homes are plaster over wood lath, which wants plaster washers, a bonding agent and setting type compound rather than a bucket of joint compound, so it takes a few coats and usually two visits to come back flat.
Mounts lagged into real framing instead of lath or hollow wall anchors, plus floating shelves, closet systems, mirrors, curtain rods and gallery walls. In a 1930s colonial the studs are not reliably sixteen inches on center, and in a Fort Lee or Edgewater high rise you are drilling concrete, so both take different anchors and more time than a big box install allows.
Like for like replacements on lines and boxes that already exist: kitchen and vanity faucets, supply lines and angle stops, toilets set on a fresh wax ring, vanity lights, and ceiling fans where a fan rated box is already up. If the shutoff valve will not close, the closet flange has rusted below the tile, or the box is not rated to carry a fan, that gets said out loud before anything comes apart.
Flat pack dressers, bunk beds, desks, cribs and closet systems, assembled and then anchored to the wall so they cannot tip. Baby gates screwed into studs or a newel post instead of pressure fit at the top of the stairs, plus cabinet latches, outlet covers and window stops.
Gutter and downspout cleaning before the fall nor'easters, re-seating loose hangers, weatherstripping, door sweeps, and fresh caulk at the tub and tile before the grout gives up. Exterior caulk and hose bib covers in late fall matter here, because a North Jersey winter runs the freeze thaw cycle across a joint dozens of times.
Handyman work is sold by time, not by the job, because the job is rarely what it looked like from the doorway. Expect a minimum charge, materials billed on top, and a higher rate for a two person crew, anything above a six foot ladder, or plaster instead of drywall.
| Job | Typical range | What moves the number |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly rate, one handyman | Typical range: $85 - $150 per hour | What moves the number: A second set of hands for heavy or high work roughly doubles it. |
| Minimum charge for one visit | Typical range: $150 - $300 | What moves the number: Usually one or two hours plus travel, whether the work fills it or not. |
| Half day, about four hours | Typical range: $400 - $700 | What moves the number: The sensible way to buy a punch list. Materials billed separately. |
| Drywall or plaster patch | Typical range: $200 - $650 | What moves the number: Size, texture match, and whether primer and paint are included. |
| TV mounted on the wall | Typical range: $175 - $400 | What moves the number: Concrete, plaster, or running the cable inside the wall pushes it up. |
Want a real number for your job rather than a range?
Get a free estimateThe things that matter most on this kind of job.
Almost every handyman has a minimum, usually one or two hours, so a single loose towel bar is an expensive visit. Walk the house with your phone and write all of it down: the sticking door, the two dead fixtures, the wobbly banister, the cracked caulk in the guest bath. A half day with ten items on it costs less than three separate trips for three small jobs.
Panel work, new circuits, gas piping, water heaters and anything structural are separate licensed trades in New Jersey, and anyone who says yes to every item is the one to worry about. Ask straight out which parts of your list they plan to hand off. A clear no on two of them is a better sign than a yes on everything.
New Jersey home improvement contractors register with the Division of Consumer Affairs and carry a number beginning with 13VH, which belongs on the estimate, the contract and the truck. You can look it up before you book, along with proof of general liability coverage. Home improvement work over $500 is supposed to have a written contract with a start date, an end date and a total price, and nobody should be asking for a large deposit on a punch list.
A lot of Bergen County housing stock predates 1978, so sanding a patch, cutting into plaster or pulling a window stool can disturb lead paint. Federal rules call for an EPA Lead-Safe Certified firm once the work disturbs more than about six square feet of interior painted surface in a pre-1978 home. Ask before anyone opens a wall in a 1920s colonial or a 1950s cape, and ask how they plan to contain the dust.
Always verify before you pay a deposit. In New Jersey, home improvement contractors must be registered with the Division of Consumer Affairs and carry at least $500,000 in commercial general liability insurance. Ask for the HIC registration number and a certificate of insurance, and check the registration at njconsumeraffairs.gov. Any job over $500 must be in a written, signed contract.
Three steps, no cost to you, and no obligation to hire anyone.
Fill in the form or call. We ask what the work is, which town you are in, and roughly when you want it done.
We pass your details to contractors in our network who cover your town and do that specific type of work.
They contact you directly, walk the job and price it themselves. Compare the quotes and hire whoever you want, or nobody at all.
On its own, not much. Most handymen bill a one or two hour minimum plus travel, so a single shelf can land near $200 by the time it is on the wall. The move is to save up the list. Five or six small items in one two hour block is where the rate starts to make sense.
Some of it, and the line matters more than people expect. Replacing a faucet or a toilet on supply and drain lines that already exist, and swapping a light fixture or a fan on an existing box with the breaker off, are the routine replacements most handymen handle. New circuits, panel or subpanel work, adding or relocating outlets, knob and tube or aluminum wiring, gas piping, water heaters, and anything that moves a drain line belong to a licensed New Jersey electrical contractor or master plumber, with a permit. If your list crosses that line, we refer you to one of those instead.
Usually not for what the New Jersey Uniform Construction Code treats as ordinary maintenance: patching and painting, replacing a faucet or a toilet, hanging a door in an existing opening, putting a similar fixture back on an existing box. A permit comes into it once you cut a new opening, run a new circuit, move plumbing, touch gas, or change anything structural. The licensed contractor doing that portion pulls the permit, not you, and every town runs its own construction office, so Ridgewood, Teaneck and Fair Lawn each have their own fees and inspection windows.
The clock generally starts on arrival and stops at the door, and material runs are sometimes billed and sometimes not, so ask. Materials are separate, either at cost with receipts or with a modest markup. Ask two things before the work starts: what happens if the list finishes early, and what happens when a fifteen minute faucet swap turns into two hours because the 1958 shutoff valve will not close. The right answer to the second one is a phone call before the extra time gets spent.
Yes, and it is worth saying when you first call. Plaster over wood lath cracks along the keys rather than denting, so a real repair uses plaster washers, a bonding agent and setting type compound instead of a skim of joint compound, and it rarely finishes in one visit. For mounting, lath will not hold a television, and framing in a 1920s or 1930s house is not reliably sixteen inches on center, so the studs have to be found and hit with lag bolts. Budget more time, more dust control and a bit more money than the same job in a drywall house.
Two things, and both are scheduling problems more than work problems. Most buildings want a certificate of insurance naming the association and the management company on file before anyone carries tools in, and the freight elevator is typically weekdays only, often nine to four, sometimes with a reservation and a deposit. Interior walls are frequently concrete or block, so mounting takes a hammer drill and sleeve anchors rather than lag bolts, and shutting the water for a faucet swap can involve the building rather than a valve under your sink.
Tell us about the job and we will put you in front of local contractors who do this work. Free, and there is no obligation to hire.
