What's included
These are repairs and small builds that a handy homeowner could do with the right tools and a free Saturday. We bring the tools, and you get the Saturday back.
We also build custom garage tote racks, sized to the exact totes you own and anchored to the wall.
- Trim and baseboard repairs: reattach loose pieces, replace a damaged section, fill and caulk the joints
- Closet shelving: new shelves, rods and support cleats fastened into studs so they hold real weight
- Cabinet doors: hinge adjustment, hinge replacement, and realigning doors that rub, sag or won't stay shut
- Small built-in fixes: a loose face frame, a broken shelf support, a drawer that sticks or drops
- Custom shelves for a laundry room, pantry, office or garage
- Garage workbenches built to your height and the length of your wall
Common South Florida problems
Humidity is the big one. Wood trim and cabinet doors swell during the rainy season, roughly late May through October, then shrink again when the AC runs all winter. That movement opens joints, pops nails and makes doors rub.
Walls are the other. Many homes here are concrete block with stucco outside, and the exterior walls have drywall on furring strips over the block. A shelf or workbench on one of those walls needs masonry anchors set into the block, not a drywall anchor or a screw into a thin furring strip.
Closet shelves in older homes are often held up by a few nails into drywall. Load them with a season of clothes and storage bins and they pull out of the wall. We replace them with cleats screwed into studs.
Garages get hot and damp. Near the coast and the Intracoastal, salt air also corrodes cheap fasteners. For garage builds we use primed or sealed lumber and coated screws made for the conditions.
How a visit works
Text us a photo and a rough measurement. We'll tell you if it fits in the first hour or needs more time, and give you a starting price before we book.
On the day, our tech checks the wall, finds the studs or the block, and confirms the plan with you before cutting anything. For builds like a workbench or shelving, you approve the materials list first, and we pick up the lumber on the way.
In homes built before 1978, we check painted surfaces for lead before we sand, scrape or cut old trim. If the test comes back positive, we refer that part of the job to an EPA lead-safe certified firm.
When the work is done, we sweep up the sawdust, haul off the scraps and walk you through the finished job.
What affects the price
Small fixes like a cabinet hinge or a loose piece of trim usually fit inside the $149 first hour, and you can stack several into that same hour. Bigger builds are priced by size.
Florida's handyman exemption only covers jobs under $2,500 total, so a large built-in project gets referred to a licensed contractor.
- Garage tote racks with totes included start at $750 for 12 totes, $900 for 16 and $1,050 for 20
- Floating shelves start at $79 each
- New baseboard or trim runs start at $8 per linear foot, with a $299 minimum
- Masonry walls take longer to anchor into than wood studs
- Who supplies the material, and whether it is paint grade or stain grade
- Saturday visits add $50
What we don't do
We don't touch structural framing, load-bearing walls, stairs or anything that needs a permit. We also don't add outlets or lighting inside a built-in, since that is electrical work. For any of that, we'll point you to a licensed contractor.
Questions we get about small carpentry
Can a handyman build custom shelves?
Yes. We build open shelves, closet shelving and garage shelving from wood or plywood, sized to your space and fastened into studs or masonry. Floating shelves start at $79 each.
How much does it cost to fix a cabinet door?
Most hinge adjustments and replacements fit inside the $149 first hour, and that hour often covers several doors. If you need new hinges, we match the type you have and bill the part at cost plus 20%.
What is a 27-gallon tote rack?
It is a frame built from 2x4s with rails that catch the lip of each tote, so the totes slide in and out like drawers. We measure your tote brand first because sizes vary, then build it in your garage and anchor it to the wall. Racks start at $750 for 12 totes, totes included.
Can you hang a heavy shelf on a concrete block wall?
Yes. On exterior walls we drill through the drywall into the block and use masonry anchors rated for the load. A shelf screwed only into the furring strip will not hold heavy weight for long.
Do you repair rotted wood trim?
Inside the house, yes. Rotted exterior trim and fascia is its own service, and it stays non-structural: if the rot reaches rafters, framing or sheathing, we refer it out.
Where we do this most
We do small carpentry across Palm Beach and Broward. These are some of the cities where we get asked for it most.