The Story Behind San Francisco Handyman Co.

San Francisco packs a lot of house into seven by seven miles. Rows of Italianate and Queen Anne Victorians in the Haight, the Western Addition and Noe Valley; Edwardian flats rebuilt after the 1906 fire; the stucco rowhouses that Henry Doelger and other builders laid across the Sunset in the 1930s and 1940s; Marina homes on landfill; and towers of condos South of Market and in Mission Bay. The climate is gentle on paper and stubborn in practice — summer fog that keeps the west side damp for months, a winter rainy season that can arrive as one atmospheric river after another, salt air off Ocean Beach, and the ground itself, which moves now and then and reminds everyone what earthquake country means.

That mix makes the small jobs harder than they look. A picture hook turns into a lesson in hundred-year-old plaster. A door that stuck last winter now won't latch because the house settled a bit more. The condo board wants a certificate of insurance before anyone carries a drill into the lobby, and the remodeling contractors you call are booked months out and not interested in a two-hour list anyway. Finding one dependable person who will show up when promised, quote fairly and work through the whole list is harder here than it should be.

That's the gap we fill. We're locally based, general-liability insured, and we'd rather earn your next call than stretch this one. We quote clearly, handle the building logistics, and do the work with the city's houses in mind — anchoring into real framing, strapping and securing for quakes, and sealing out fog and rain. The parts of a list that call for wiring or plumbing connections — a new ceiling fan, a chandelier, a smart thermostat, a faucet or a toilet — are handled by our licensed local electricians and plumbers, so one call really does cover the whole house. Showing up when we say we will and leaving the place cleaner than we found it is how a small local outfit earns a spot in your phone.

Our promises, plainly put

• The price you approve is the price you pay
• General liability insurance on every visit
• A real arrival time, not a half-day window
• Boots wiped, dust cleaned, trash hauled off
• Straight talk when a job belongs with a licensed trade
• Rooted here in San Francisco and the towns next door