Houston's Home Repair Guru
Handynerdman - a handyman (who happens to be a nerd) who can fix just about anything in your house, is always learning, and wants to impress you with their overwhelming nerdy skills and knoweldge.
Who We Are
We are a team who "engineers" our projects. For instance, look at the top of those pickets. They are not wavey. There are little to no gaps between them. The other side of the fence is quite solid to get such results. You might find it in other photos on this site. It has some unique qualities you don't find in oridinary fence projects. ;-)
I started my career as a software engineer. For some unknown reason, I became obsessed with construction and home renovations. I bought every tool possible, and watched countless YouTube videos. I purchased an old house in need of rennovations and put a new roof on it. I renovated bathrooms. I installed an additional bathroom in a utility room, adding pipes and extending the sewer lines. I replaced framing in a moldy closet. I installed second layers of drywall in bedrooms next to noisy areas like kitchens.
I secretly thought about switching careers but still didn't have the confidence to make that leap. But upon buying a second house and beginning the renovation process, I was brave enough to hire additional help. I went to my Home Depot's immigrant checkout line, parking lot aisle one, and hired someone who became a trusted partner. I was lucky this person was actually a legal immigrant with a great deal of construction experience, because this partnership enabled me to form a fully legitimate company.
Our Main Services
We love what we do. I love discussing projects and determining the best colors and materials for whatever we create together. It also helps that I love to go shopping. I keep my tools and worksites clean and highly organized, and also keep meticilous records of what we need for the jobs that we do.
This organization enables efficiency, and getting the job done right the first time is what matters to me. From my years as a software engineer, I quickly learned that mistakes up front cost a lot of time and money wasted, and time and money is something no sane person likes to waste. Having the right tools and the right materials at the right time ensures that the job gets done correctly without any questionable shortcuts - which is all too common in the construction industry.
No job is too small or too big for us. We can replace an entire roof, or rip out a fence, or hang a curtain. Or even fix a computer or your home network issues. We just like to help people. :-)
Drywall and Paint
Whenever we paint, we clean the surfaces. We apply any small drywall patches as needed. We remove electical covers and cover the outlets with tape. We put tape anywhere we want crisp lines and don't rely on freehanding. We prefer having 0 mistakes rather than having less prep work. We believe that a 3 or 4 day painting job requires almost a full day of prep work to get everything covered and taped properly.
For drywall repairs, we make the repair "Dexter-style", fully encasing the repair area in plastic, and ensuring we don't track dust and dirt throughout your home.
Roofing
Roofing was my first experience in home repair. Taking a mid 20th century house and replacing the rotted decking under the shingles, putting a radiant barrier on top of the decking, taking an old weak roof and making it strong... very satisfying!
We like to remove the existing nails and not just pound them flat. We take extra care around chimneys and vent flashings since these areas are prone to leaks. We take care in cutting the drip edge properly. We inspect your roof deck from inside the attic when quoting our price and explaining any repairs we would like to do (such as rotten wood, or the house is 80 years old and the roof deck looks like swiss cheese). We come back a week after the job is complete for a final inspection and add a little tar to any shingles that didn't adhere strongly.
Fences
I think fences are one of my favorite projects. From using the augur bit to drill 3 foot deep holes, to building wooden straight lines, and smelling the fresh lumber, nothing to me is more fun than building a fence!
The secret to a long lasting fence is setting the posts below the frost line with gravel at the bottom, and having the top rail of the fence just below the top of the picket. This ensures the pickets don't start separating after time. We like to put a pressure-treated 2x10 board at the bottom of the fence for structural support and to make the fences 7-8 feet high.
In the photo above, the homeowner wanted to reuse about half of the existing posts to save money, so we suggested adding the horizontal pickets so that we could make the fence taller yet still solid. We also crafted those unusual wooden braces for additional strength since this fence was exposed to a lot of wind.
If you just need some repairs and want things done cheaply, quickly, and looking good, we have ways to do that too! We have fixed hurricane damaged fences by reinstalling a couple posts rather than doing a full rebuild. We can correct bad looking fences by adding horizontal structural support to existing fences. If you hate your fence but your posts are in good shape, we can help!
Bathrooms
We can replace a toilet or vanity, repair small leaks, or replace floors. We can rebuild tile showers. Replace shower valves. Just about everything. For major plumbing work, we cap your existing pipes as soon as possible to reduce how long the water is turned off on your property.
In the photo above, we moved this shower and plumbing to an opposite side of the bathroom, removed a rotten subfloor, and installed two layers of thick subfloor for strength, and leveled the pier and beam block foundation for the bathroom prior to retilng the floor.
Growing up in Houston, Texas, I have dealt with a lot of pier and beam houses and we can make foundation adjustments safely and easily without damaging the integrity of your home. Hint hint, the secret to leveling a pier and beam house is to slowly jack up multiple points and reshim / add blocks instead of applying too much pressure at any one point. Also, consider coming back in a few months if you had major adjustments as the house will tend to bend into it's new shape and may need some small re-adjustments.
Get in touch
E-mail: robert@handynerdman.com
Address: 4305 Europa St, Houston, 77022, TX, USA
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