HANDY DAN SAYS:

• The most expensive four words you can say to your contractor/handyman are "While you are here...". It is best to be prepared for the work on your house.
  • Write your list down
  • Send the list to your contractor/handyman before they come to your house
  • Discuss the list with your contractor/handyman before they come to your house so they can bring the appropriate materials and tools with them
  • Be prepared to pay extra for those "while you are here..." list items as your contractor/handyman may not be prepared to do these items and may not have the proper materials or tools on the truck to do them.
  • Be aware that your contractor/handyman has a schedule to keep and may not have the time in their schedule to do extra items. We will always schedule another trip to your home, but that may generate another trip charge or minimum job charge.
    
• It may seem elementary, but don't forget to turn off the power to any circuit you are going to working on.  Test that circuit to make sure it is off before you open up that box.  Remember, sometimes there are more than one circuit in any given electrical box.
  
• I've come across several instances of this in my career and two in the last month:  People who have taken the front panel off their breaker box and then lost the screws to the panel and/or the panel cover itself!!!
  
  People, please!  It is dangerous inside that panel and it is very easy to get electrocuted when the panel cover is not in its proper place!  Those screws that hold the panel on are not easy to find but are replaceable if necessary, but the panel covers are NOT sold separately.  I have to buy the whole box to get just the cover and that gets very expensive for you - possibly several hundred dollars and if you have an obsolete panel, no cover will be available.
  
  Please re-install the cover before you walk away from that panel.
  
• Handy Painting Tip
  • Painting is viewed by many as an easy homeowner task to complete and for many people it is very rewarding. For others, it can be very frustrating. One tip: Put that full gallon of paint on a piece of newspaper, or a drop cloth and leave it there. Pour off enough paint into a smaller pail to do your brush work and, when you are up on that ladder, keep your hips between the rails of the ladder. Failure to do so may result in that gallon of paint soaking into your carpet while you are driven to the hospital with an injury.
  • The paint will stay fresher if you put the lid back on the can.
  • It is very helpful for the next contractor if you keep the last of the paint, including the can and the label, of each paint color you have used on your home. Even if the paint is old and un-useable, we can just take the can down to the paint store and get more. Matching paint successfully, without the old paint is often a frustrating exercise.