Anything Around The House

If you are looking for a handyman type company for smaller jobs, don’t waste your time. I had several smaller jobs around the house that I wanted to address. From the website marketing to the person who visited my home to prepare a quote, I was led to believe smaller jobs were part of their business model and that they could do smaller jobs separately. In fact, when I received the quote and was ready to book the work, they told me they would not be able to handle my business unless I did more than the job that I told the estimator would be my first priority.
They may be very good at remodeling. I can’t speak to that. I do know I feel like I was misled and my time wasted. As a busy professional, that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. YMMV.

My experience with Anything Around the House was excellent. I had them do a small job… recaulking our tub. First of all, I was happy they agreed to do it. Most companies don’t want to do a small job like that. They were prompt and affordable and did a great job. Because of a deep recess in one end of the tub, one spot refused to dry. They came back, found a creative solution, and recaulked the whole tub just to be sure. I told them I would be happy to pay for this additional work, but they refused to charge me anything. I plan to call them again the next time I need work done on the house.

So there I was with water all over the floor… a hopelessly clogged sink that is making it impossible to even run the dishwasher. I call AATH, make an appointment. They went out of their way to accommodate my crazy work schedule, which I really appreciated. The contractor was running way behind schedule thanks to a sewer job, and just when I was losing hope, both the contractor and the owner of the business called to say that he was on his way in the former case and that he would personally make the trip in the latter case were the contractor not able to make it.
Needless to say my plumbing issue was resolved quickly and professionally, (thanks Brian) and everyone knows that no issue other than actual flames causes as much panic as faulty plumbing.
Beyond that, the owner’s commitment to his business and customers is truly impressive.

It’s tough to find contractors that show up on time and do what they say they will. AATH did just that. We had some issues after a bad storm and needed repairs done sooner rather than later. They were quick to respond via phone and come out to our home in south Austin. I am thankful to have someone reliable there when I need it.

More reliable than your brother-​in-​law and someone you can count on. Both Servando and Bob have decades of experience and what I love about Anything Around the House is that Servando, the owner, overlooks the job to make sure it’s right. I’ve met them both and can tell you that integrity and standing by your work is what matters most to them.
Anything from leaky faucets to remodeling they can do it all.

Just to respond to the business owner and reiterate, tub removal was included on the estimate as an option. The discussion about possibly removing the tub through the wall did take place, even if it was not specifically written on the estimate. We requested that portion removed, and they declined to do so. Although the estimate was professional and timely, including work at their discretion that I did not want done and was not necessary was the sole reason for the low review. I updated the original post to better clarify but the facts are essentially the same.

I’m of two minds about writing another glowing review here because I selfishly don’t want AAH to become so popular they become too busy to take my next call. But that’s not fair to them and really, who doesn’t want to encourage good businesses and want them to succeed and not go under? So in brief, I had a very positive experience with AAH and a major bathroom overhaul. It wasn’t a cheap job or a short one, but I didn’t expect it to be. I felt I received good value for money, excellent support service, and the company says it treats its workers and contractors fairly, which is also an important consideration. And AAH wants to maintain that relationship with its clients afterward. AAH was also very good at working in some other items from my bucket list of repairs alongside the remodel and they also tackled a sudden emergency roof repair when other contractors were unresponsive. I was really glad they came through for me like this when the recent monsoon season blew in, and my roof did NOT start leaking again.
The teams from AAH were flexible and professional and worked very hard all the time they were in our house, always cleaned up messes, and took extra care with the little details. Office staff, managers, and workers alike were always cheerful and helpful and juggled many elements with accuracy and attention. The new bathroom looks terrific, other repairs are holding up, and I’m already making plans for a new round of projects to commission them to handle for me near the end of the year. They may not cover all parts of town, but if you live in their service area, you won’t find a more reliable or responsive group.

This review isn’t about the work, but their estimator process. From the stuff I’ve seen them do in the neighborhood, it seems that they do great work. For that reason, I contacted them to get rid of my ugly linoleum and uglier sink cabinet that was in my master bathroom. Now, I live in an old house so my «master bathroom» is about 30 — 40 square feet. I only needed about 20 sq ft tile done. I scheduled the estimation, which is free (definitely nice) and the estimator promptly came. I showed the estimator the tile and what work needed to be done and he said he would get back to me with a quote. I know that the tile I chose was a bit difficult to cut because of the hexagon shape, but I didn’t think that it would be significantly difficult that it would cost me about $ 50+ per square foot to get it installed! When I got the quote to remove my cabinet, put in the new sink, put the floor, I think my mouth hit the floor because it was at least 4X more than any of the other quote. I get that it was a small and hard job, but I’d rather they had just said that they weren’t interested instead of giving me a ridiculous quote.
EIther way, I am giving them 3 stars because their work does seem great. However, I won’t contact them for any jobs in the future, no matter how small or large.

Hired Anything Around the House to replace flooring in a hallway and bathroom. First, I appreciated their quick response to my request for service after not getting responses at all from some of the other highly rated handyman service providers.
They did an outstanding job and I am pleased with the quality of the work. While it took longer than expected and cost a little bit more, I was happy that the job was done right and the additional cost were justified. The work staff and the office staff (Lisa) were professional and courteous. Will definitely use them again.

We hired Anything Around the House to put an office addition in our garage which included demolition, framing, drywall, electrical, plumbing, new window installation, and interior trim finish out.
They did top quality work, and were very good at working with us through planned and unexpected things as they came up during the project. Servando, Bob, and Julio were very responsive to our concerns and requests. Everything was done in the time outlined in the initial bid.
They went above and beyond what we expected. We ended up with an addition that perfectly matches the rest of the mid-​century home, and looks nothing like the garage it started out as. We’re very happy with the results!

I recently discovered AATH and had them come out to repair some siding on my newly purchased home. Shane did an outstanding job and was very courteous. I was, however, very displeased with the estimation process and the final price. I will not name the particular estimator that I worked with because it is irrelevant and would be disrespectful.
The estimator came out to my house on time and was initially very friendly. We went around the house together and went over the work that I wanted to have an estimate on. It took much longer than I expected to get the estimate (over a week) and when I received it, the prices were extremely high. In order to save some money, I let Servando know that I only wanted a few things listed on the estimate done. As mentioned above, Shane came out and did a great job on the repairs.
Since my first experience was favorable, I decided to have another estimate done on some exterior painting a couple weeks later. The estimator came out and looked over the work that needed to be done. I did not receive the estimate for over a week, so I decided to make up for lost time and take care of some of the painting myself. During this process, the estimator called me with questions about the work I needed done. I basically had to explain everything to them again. This was a bit frustrating since the estimator took pictures and notes during our initial run-​through. While on the phone, I mentioned that a small portion of the work no longer needed to be done since I took care of it because of the long turnaround time for the estimate. The estimator was clearly annoyed by this and sent the following in my estimate email: «The 1155.00 cost to do these repairs will remain the same as long as the scope of the work does not increase and will also remain the same if the scope of work decreases.»
So I was basically locked in to an incredibly high price (just to paint roughly 150 sqft of siding with paint that I already purchased) and they were unwilling to work with me if I wanted to schedule work for anything less than that. I find this practice completely unprofessional and will be going elsewhere to get the work done.

Two guys came today to redo the caulking around my master bathtub/​shower. They were on time, fast and did great work. They advised me on a certain color of caulk that I would not have thought about, but looks so beautiful and blends with the color of my grout. They were here for about 45 minutes and it came to $ 105.

I’ve had Servando’s crew do anything and everything at our house for about four years now. Estimators come on time, the crews show up to work when they’re scheduled, and the work is done lightning fast and in a quality manner. I’ve tried other places and they simply don’t measure up.
Granted, this is not the place to call if you want cheap laborers with questionable pasts and even more questionable immigration statuses in your home getting paid by a general contractor with cash under the table. If that’s what you want, more power to you, but I know quality work costs more than minimum wage and the cost a rented ladder.
If you want quality work done at reasonable prices, this is your guy. If you want fly by night and cheap, you’ll want to go elsewhere.

I found AATH six months ago after no response from some of the higher rated handymen on Unilocal.I have now used them multiple times to repair holes in the drywall, clean up and repair of a flood due to a broken pipe, window repair, painting, outdoor trim replacement and paint, a door replacement and (as I type) replacement of a hot water heater.
I truly appreciate Servando and the whole team. Bob and John are very fast with estimates and they stand by what they say. Nolan has been our primary «fix it guy» and he is courteous, a great communicator and clean. Work is done quickly and they let me know in advance what to expect in terms of timing. Some times things pop up that slow us down, but unless you built the house, you cannot be sure of what you will find when you dig under the covers. I didn’t expect to have them come out as often as they have had to, but then again, such is life with an aging house! I
I respect these guys and more importantly, they respect our time and our home in return. They are now the only guys I call-​for anything and everything around my house!

Not sure what happened, but I had a time scheduled for someone to give me an estimate on some home repairs I have. I even received a call a few days prior to verify the upcoming appointment time. Day of the scheduled appointment no one showed up. No follow up … no nothing. I think I just slipped off their radar. Shame. On to Angie’s List !!!

Well you can look back at my previous review (2011) when we first used Servando and I said I would call him «first» for Anthing Around our house and we have… several times since then for various remodels or when the upstairs owner’s repair folks couldn’t get a toilet seated and water damged our bath (they should have called Servando). I would agree with other reviewers that his prices may not be the cheapest (f that’s your measure of a job well done) but he is very competitive and the quality of his work and responsiveness are well worth it.
We recently had a drier duct that seemed to be clogged and unable to dry our clothes but after examining the drier vent, we could only determine that it had a problem (that could not be cleaned) somehwere in the wall. As it turned out the old flex line was separated in the wall and not even connected at the exhaust end. Some folks might have taken a short cut and patched it up and sealed the wall but Servando’s crew followed it to end and replaced the old line with hard duct work so there will be no more worries down the road. As you might imagine, this wasn’t a simple job like painting a wall or ceiling because you have no idea what you may find or how much it may cost to correct it. The job was done quickly, professionally and we were pleased to know it will never be a problem again.
In short, Anything Around The House Home Repairs is going to be our first call and I’m sure we’ll use Servando and his crew again.

I recommend this company.
They do very fair, up-​front estimates. All pricing is discussed before work begins.
The workmanship is top-​notch.
They walk-​through once work is completed and address any concerns/​issues before issuing the final invoice.
Very honest, reasonable and professional.
I will use this company again.

Two weeks ago, my house looked like crap. I had crumbling paint, trim and a front door that needed to be replaced, and gutters that needed to be put on my house. After having heard from a couple different contractors that they could do one thing or another thing but not all of the things I needed done, I contacted Anything Around The House. Bob K. came out to my house fifteen minutes before our appointment — the NEXT DAY (good luck finding someone to respond that quickly here in Austin — at least in my experience) and did an estimate. I waited about three days to find out the final financial damage and breathed a sigh of relief when I opened that email. These guys are so reasonably priced!
They worked a week straight painting and repairing various things around my place. I mostly dealt with the paint crew and Bob (although Servando, the owner, did call me on two separate occasions to explain some things to me) and they were all as unobtrusive as possible and they worked FAST. They cleaned up after themselves and were the nicest people you can imagine (especially Oscar, the head paint guy — he is so awesome!) One of the guys even showed up on Memorial Day to replace some weatherstripping. I am still waiting on the gutters because they were backordered, but I’m confident enough that I’ll be just as happy with them as I am with the rest of the house that I’m going to go ahead and post this review.
If you need something done quickly, by hard workers who know what they are doing and have amazing customer service skills, call these guys. I’m currently working up a list (and a budget) to have them do even more work around this place. This company is definitely my favorite Unilocal discovery so far.

Disclaimer: we didn’t get our repair done with these folks. My review is based on the estimate process.
After a drain pipe got clogged and the AC drain pan overflowed, we ended up with some minor water damage on the ceiling of the guest bedroom. All we needed done was taping and floating the drywall, retexturing and painting. This was on a ~2ft x 4 inch section of ceiling.
The guy who came out to do the estimate was on time (plus) but immediately started shilling for the company, giving me flyers and cards and assuring me that their customers were always happy with the work, had perfect reviews on Unilocal,etc. This, of course, kicked up a red flag for me, like used car salesman do.
We got the estimate the same day and my jaw dropped. $ 195 for the main work and a whopping $ 480 for repainting the whole bedroom ceiling (it’s a small room), since he was convinced the ceiling had probably faded and the paint wouldn’t match (it did). For comparison, before we moved in we got our living room, kitchen, and two bedrooms professionally painted for $ 800. No freaking way were we going to pay over half that for a stupid ceiling.
After guffawing over this for a good few days, we got our other estimate back — $ 150, admittedly not trying to paint the whole ceiling.
So shop around. Based on the reviews here, I was expecting competitive pricing, but we got a laughable estimate. I suspect that, despite their tagline, they really don’t want to take jobs that are «too small».

I’m sitting in my study watching the paint crew finish cleaning up after painting the newly-​installed crown moulding in the portion of our downstairs that mysteriously didn’t have any, and I am thinking that I can’t really tell the difference between the original and the new stuff. It’s that seamless. Servando runs a first-​rate outfit, if this job is any indication. Everything went smoothly, from the initial consult to the scheduling to the on-​time arrival of two crews (yes, there is an install crew and a painting crew).
It helps that he comes highly recommended by one of our new go-​to guys, Les Sherman (look for my review of Les’ work as our Realtor elsewhere on Unilocal). But referrals and actual quality of work done are sometimes two very different things. Based on the quality of the work done today, I am compiling a list of things we might want to do here that would remain undone were it up to me.
In the end, I can’t find anything even remotely negative to say. I will say that if you’re looking for a crew to do a job (pretty much any job) that you’re unable or unwilling to accomplish, you would be hard pressed to find someone as good as Anything Around the House.