Handyman Matters Chicagoland

I had an issue with a window in my rental unit that I wanted fixed today. I called and Henry Carter who had a large amount of experience with windows came an hour later and the Windows was fixed quickly and correctly.

We hired Handyman Matters for a long list of things that needed maintenance and repair for our 100+ year old house. We didn’t know what to expect since our list included everything from the outside of the house to inside of our house but we read positive reviews on Angie’s list and Unilocal of course. The lady on the phone was very courteous and helpful, and she gave us a reasonable estimate for the amount of work that we were asking. On the day of our scheduled work, Edwin came to our house on time, introduced himself and asked for a walk-​through of our house. He wrote down a list of materials that he would need and quickly went to the hardware store. He came back shortly after and began working on the 10 to 12 items on our list. He was very efficient with his work — he wasn’t wasting any time — which we were grateful for since we were being charged by the hour. He knocked off everything on our list in a reasonable amount of time and completed each task with exceptional results. He treated our house as I would expect him to treat his own house. Handyman Matters isn’t cheap ($ 90/​hour) but it’s well worth the peace of mind. Edwin was fantastic and we plan to ask for him if/​when we need future repairs. Highly recommended!

Friendly customer service. Very knowledgeable and flexible scheduling. For what I needed done, the price was great. Would definitely use again!

After my update in August, I got a call from Paul. His tone was similar to his responses to less-​than-​ideal reviews here on Unilocal… mildly apologetic but defensive. I didn’t get the feeling that he was sorry I had had a frustrating and expensive experience. Rather, he seemed sorry that I had given a poor review.
Paul said if I really felt the service was bad, he guessed they could refund my $ 200. A week or so later, someone from their office called and said they’d sent a check but it had been returned, so I gave them the correct address. I haven’t received anything.
More than getting a refund, I would have appreciated true understanding. The argumentative and defensive stance of Paul’s call only served to make my memory of the experience worse.

Please read this review and think twice before hiring this company. They are under new management and are not in anyway the brand/​company you think you are getting!
Handyman Matters «brand» has always been a business that I was able to stand behind and support. Whenever a friend of family member had a remodeling project or handyman jobs around their properties I would recommend them to this company. I will never do so again. I found their complete lack of communication between the main office and their contractors to be highly aggravating. The communication errors caused consistent delays in my remodeling. The fact that I have had multiple re-do’s on work that was done because the quality was not there is so disappointing. Having one contractor quit the company and walk away from my job in the middle of the remodel setting back my specific project by multiple days, then having the company send over a contractor that spent a good 50% of his time complaining about having to complete another contractors work, was highly unprofessional. I am so disappointed with this company, the lack of care and attention my property received, and overall am highly dissatisfied. Not only were the contractors rude and unprofessional, but multiple days they would leave early because the office would send them to other jobs in the Chicago area. I have already recommended that my realtor, interior designer and friends not use this company. Please do not be blind sided by positive reviews. If you have a project that will take multiple days, DO NOT HIRE THIS COMPANY!!!

So, my wife and I bought a home in the Garfield Ridge neighborhood in Chicago back in October, we love it. However, there was some oddly spaced electrical outlets in the living room that if we wanted to have a centered TV, we were going to have exposed wires. Me, thinking «i’m a homeowner now, I can do anything» decided to do my own electrical work… which actually turned out fine, thank god, we have the outlet we wanted… however, it left us with an 8’x1’ hole in my wall for the trench I cut to run the conduit. We looked at that hole for MONTHS trying to figure out what to do.
Well, a month ago, I decided I was going to try to hang new drywall, mud and tape around the two outlets, even though I knew there would be an issue with the conduit and spacing with the wall. I got it up, sanded and mudded… and it did not look good. But, I figured I would be able to fix it eventually.
2 weeks ago, my wife informed me that we were going to have our baby shower at our house (did I mention she was pregnant? Well, she is… so there’s that). I immediately panic, knowing that I do not have the skill to fix the lumpy wall I had created. I started looking up handyman services in our neighborhood and came across Handyman matters, they were able to schedule me in time for the work to be done for the shower and assured me the handyman could handle the job.
Mirko came out today and in less than an hour was able to smooth out my wall and completely fix what I had screwed up. I really didn’t know if it would be possible. Once the mudding was done over my mess, we then carefully sanded the area down and primed it to be painted (I know I can handle painting… I THINK!). While we waited for the mud to dry he even gave me tips on other things in the house that I though could use some finishing touches, and I’m glad I did. I had just bough a transition strip for a room from carpet to tile, and naturally, I bought the wrong kind. If it wasn’t for Mirko, I would be in an even bigger mess when I tried to install the strip.
Cannot recommend these guys highly enough. Fantastic job, and Mirko was amazing!

I’ve used Handyman Matters twice now and so far they’ve:
–removed a 5’x7’ bathroom mirror and repaired the drywall behind it from the mirror glue
–identified a faucet leak and then replaced the faucet after discussing finding the repair part with me
–installed a light fixture
–installed a recessed medicine cabinet
–troubleshot a bathroom vent fan and recommended a repair solution
I cannot recommend this company enough. I’ve had 3 different folks work on things in my condo and they’ve been professional, on time, courteous, knowledgeable and cleaned up well.

Called HM for fixing the photocell in our 3 flat condo bldg — the repairman, Raul, came and did an excellent job! — repairing the photocell located on the rooftop and adding a flood light for our parking space, in about 2 ½ hrs. Recommended.

I used Handyman Matters to mount a TV into a brick wall and install my window AC unit. The lady who set up my appointment was friendly, and helpful in advising me as to what types of anchors/​screws to get for the wall (I had the TV mounted in sheet rock prior to my new place), which I would not have realized prior to the appointment. She was upfront with all fees, estimates and broke down the rates.
Tom showed up promptly for the appointment, and quickly did both projects within an hour. Very professional, and did quality work. He even went above and beyond helping with an additional request before leaving.
I would certainly recommend Handyman Matters, and will request Tom for upcoming projects I may have in the future.

I used Handyman Matters to install an original garbage disposal, 2 electrical outlets and patch some drywall. The craftsman, Raul Rivera, did an awesome job! The estimated time for all projects was 5 – 6 hours and he finished in 4.5. He was professional, curious and left my home cleaner than when he arrived. I will definitely recommend Handyman Matters to friends and use for any future projects.

Beware of this company. It took them over 6 hours to install a front door when they originally said 3 – 4. Ended up going to court with this company contesting their over billing and poor craftsmanship that I had to pay over $ 400 to have fixed. They ultimately won because they forged my initials on the estimate part of the invoice and they filled in dollar amounts after it was signed. It is our word against theirs and we can’t change the judgement. We did learn a painful lesson about making sure to get copies of everything and getting everything in writing. My advice is to avoid this company, they really took advantage of my wife in a vulnerable position. There are far better companies out there that are cheaper, do better quality work, and not as deceptive.
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Utter lack of professionalism and responsiveness. Wanted a simple quote for a roof deck. Took the time to create specs and take photos for them to do an alleged quote. After several email follow-​ups, they still have not responded.
Similar experience to Mia D.

Our repairman, Alberto T., did a fantastic job of fixing the service door and threshold of our garage. He was professional and efficient. This is our fifth use of Handyman Matters and each experience has been excellent.

Same day emergency plumbing for our kitchen sink. Raul Riviera did a great job, worked fast and clearly explained the problem. And I love that it is easy to talk to a person on the phone.

They do not show up for scheduled appointments. On Tuesday no one showed for my appointment. I never even received a call as to why. I still gave them another chance and rescheduled for Friday at 7:30am. By 8am no one had shown up so I left for work. I received a phone call at 8:13am from the handyman saying he was at my house for the appointment. Almost 45mins late! There will be no third time I’m done.

I have used Handyman Matters for numerous small jobs in my own condo and so recommended them to our condo association when we needed help for a larger drywall repair, impacting three units in our building. From my first call with Martha, who worked to get us scheduled quickly to accommodate multiple owners’ calendars, to Roberto who executed the job efficiently, professionally, and under budget, the whole experience was flawless. Roberto was the best professional we’ve had in our unit in years and left not a trace of dust or evidence that he had even been in my home when he was done. It means so much to me as a homeowner to have a contractor treat my home with so much care and respect. We will continue to recommend and use Handyman Matters whenever we need help!

I needed two drafty old windows in our living room replaced with new double-​pane windows. After removing the old ones, they purchased the new windows from a local home improvement store and installed them quickly. They also pointed out that the siding where the windows were did not have any Tyvek installed. I decided to fix that problem later, so they caulked the new windows, and now everything looks wonderful! I’ll definitely have them out in the warmer weather to fix the siding issue.

I have looked at the recent reviews and it seems like a trend is happening.
Handyman Matters worked on my condo in 2012 and the work was good and I had no complaints.
However I hired them again in August 2014 and the results were pretty bad as far as the work done and the customer service provided afterward.
I hired Handyman Matters to, «replace three side of rooftop door trim and paint white» and «troubleshoot and flash, caulk or seal around skylight» These are direct quotes from the work estimate.
The work that was actually done that day was simply repainting the wood trim without replacement and, «several patches» to the skylight which is installed wrong with no proper flashing according to the work log.
This is after the person assigned to the job called me to say my skylight needed to be replaced and that he would look for one to buy and call me back and let me know either way. No call back was ever made.
When I got the bill I had some questions about the skylight and the time. What are these «patches» that were made? Why didn’t the guy call me back?” Why did it take 2 hours to paint door trim and «patch» the skylight?
I spoke with Martha, the representative that helped set up the job. She told me the person assigned to work on my condo could not be reached because he no longer worked for Handyman Matters. She told me that my bill was for less hours than estimated and therefore cost less than my estimate. I argued that the job was not done correctly so who cares if it cost me less money.
The door trim was only painted not replaced and painted and the skylight, which is stated to need proper flashing on the work quote at least and replaced at the most, was only «patched». Flashing was one of the options in my estimate for the skylight. This at least should have been done.
I talked to Martha about this issue extensively over several phone calls. No mention to get the manager involved. No apology for the lack of communication by the employee who did the job. No real customer service. I asked for a lower price at least and she told me I paid less than the estimate. And I did. I paid less because the work was crap. I paid less because very little was done. But I still paid more than this job was worth.

This review was almost one star… Here’s the story. I have an investment property. I needed to get it rented out quickly but needed to make some repairs before the next renter. It’s a condo, so not a huge job. The repairs included some custom order closet doors, which took time to cut, as expected. But the afternoon before the install, I get a call and Handyman Matters says that another job ran over and they can’t honor our scheduled appointment. Basically, my interpretation is, I’m the smaller job and I have to get pushed out to accommodate a larger job.
I about fall apart, because with an investment property, every day is lost revenue. I literally had everything lined up in order: repairs, cleaning, showing… all back to back, and all contingent on the prior project being completed.
However, Martha heard the absolute angst in my voice and somehow figures a way to squeak the job in under the wire, using nights, weekends and a spare 20 minutes from another contractor; and Nelson, an amazing handyman with great patience who did electric and cabinetry, and who went out of his way to ensure the job was done well and on-​time, and who also followed up with me the very next day to make sure everything is up to par…
There was a bump in the road for sure, and I absolutely panicked, but they remained calm and made sure the job got done. I would definitely recommend these guys.

You’re better off finding someone on Craigslist!
We booked an appointment 1 WEEK in advanced for an electrician to come out, they cancelled 1 HOUR prior to the appointment. They claimed they wanted to send their BEST guy out to check the concern, all we wanted was a licensed electrician to check an electrical panel.