R Handyman

Here are pictures from Alan’s work. The folks that we hired to fix the problems noted the following:
1. Incorrect installation of shower drain
2. Incorrect installation of shower sub flooring
3. Improper installation of rubber shower pan, it appears multiple scraps pieces were used, screws were installed that penetrated this rubber, rendering it non-​waterproof and useless
4. No waterproofing used on backer board behind tiles.
5. No back buttering of tiles
6. Sloppy grout work
7. Sloppy grout clean up
Based on what was found, the shower was leaking from day one and would have easily been a moldy disaster if not totally redone.

I saw Alan’s excellent ratings on Unilocal and called him. He was to estimate the job on 6/​9, and called to reschedule for ⁶⁄₁₀ at 10AM. I texted him about 2:30 to ask if he was still coming and he showed and gave me an estimate and scheduled the job for ⁶⁄₁₃ at about 12:00 as he said he would need half a day. On that day, he texted if he could reschedule for the following week Wed or Thurs. Either day worked for me and he rescheduled for Thurs. He failed to show on Thurs and failed to respond to my text… no excuse, no apology, nothing to date. Even if he does the best work, if he doesn’t show when scheduled, and you’ve made yourself available for each appointment, you would agree that it’s a very poor way for him to conduct business, and perhaps you would prefer to look elsewhere.

I found out about Alan purely by using Unilocal.He only had two reviews but both were 5 stars, so I decided to give him a call. We are coming towards the tail end of our complete home renovation and extension, and only our guest bathroom and kitchen have yet to be redone. I didn’t like our contractor, so didn’t want to use him again. And our previous handyman was a bit expensive and had to subcontract out for drywall and tile work. We used Alan for the guest bathroom and here is why he gets 5 stars:
Communication: Alan always answered his phone or immediately returned VMs (which was rare). He came by to give me a quote the day after I called him.
Professionalism: This is my catch all category and probably the category I have had the biggest problems with other service providers in the past. Alan always kept me informed about what he was doing, his plans, his time schedule, etc. He sat down and listened to what my fiancé and I wanted to do, and never tried to control the project (i.e., don’t do that, do this). The one time he did tell us to do something differently, was too use these metal corner pieces at the ends of the tile on the wall, to hide the ugly side profile of the tile. At first, we didn’t want to do that, but we immediately recognized how right Alan was, and how wrong we were. Alan showed up everyday, and worked the full day. He was respectful to us and had a good easy going personality.
Price: My MOST IMPORTANT CRITERIA. Alan’s quote was almost 50% cheaper than the quote I received from my handyman, and my former handyman’s quote did not include the tile work and drywall work. Essentially, I knew that my former handyman’s quote was a rip-​off from the get go, but its refreshing to meet someone like Alan who charges a reasonable price.
Time: Alan completed our complete bathroom gut and remodel in 5.5 days! My former handyman quoted me 2 weeks… and there is no way I am sharing a bathroom with my fiancé for 2 weeks!
The bottom line, is just look at the pictures I attached. We completely gutted the bathroom down to the studs, did new drywall, sheetrock, shower tile, floor tile, shower faucet set, vanity, sink faucet, mirror, vanity light, etc. We also removed the medicine cabinet and an outlet plug above the medicine cabinet (seriously, who puts an outlet way above the medicine cabinet where a lot of people can’t reach it?)
On the final day, I liked Alan so much that I had him replace a doorknob, fix a ceiling light, and install a new ceiling light, where there wasn’t one before (meaning he had to climb in the attic to do the wiring). He finished those final three projects in 1.5 hours. So guess what, we are hiring him to our kitchen probably next month, so stay tuned for more pictures and another review.

Alan was recommended by our realtor to help us redo our bathroom floor. He initially came to do an estimate on a Saturday afternoon, where he was prompt, did a thorough review and explained what would be involved, and was reasonable on his estimate.
We wanted to proceed and he was able to fit us in the following Saturday. During the week, as I was getting supplies and had questions, he either answered his phone right then and there or called me right back.
Come execution day, he came right on time and pulled a 10 hour day, ripping out old sub flooring, putting in new support beams, new sub flooring, sheet vinyl, and a new toilet.
Just amazed at what he accomplished in one day and the end result.
Looking forward to working with him on future projects around the house!

Finding a good handyman is so difficult here in Hawaii. I was blown away when he answered my call, came right over and did a difficult bathroom vent install for a reasonable price. It works great now we are so happy. i was expecting to spend my whole week figuring out how to do it myself. I would definately recommend him.