The Story Behind Columbia Handyman Pros

Columbia grew up around its colleges. The University of Missouri, Stephens College and Columbia College all date to the 1800s, and the neighborhoods that ring downtown, East Campus, Benton-Stephens, the West Broadway corridor and the Old Southwest, filled in between the 1890s and the 1940s with Craftsman bungalows, foursquares, Colonial Revival homes and brick Tudors, many with plaster walls and wood windows still in place. After the war the city spread out in waves of ranch houses and split-levels, and over the last thirty years it has pushed steadily south and east with large subdivisions, townhomes and student apartment complexes. Underneath all of it sits Missouri weather: about forty inches of rain a year that falls hardest in late spring, roughly a month of 90-degree days, January nights in the low twenties, ice and freezing rain a few times most winters, and a spring severe-weather season that keeps everyone watching the radar.

That mix produces a constant run of small repairs, and the small ones are exactly what's hard to get done. Remodeling contractors are booked solid and aren't interested in a single sticking door or a dripping tub spout. Rentals near campus need a fast turnaround between a May move-out and an August move-in. Older homes need someone who knows how to treat century-old plaster and trim, and newer homes need someone who will fix the builder-grade shortcuts properly instead of covering them up. What most people want is one reliable person who shows up on time, quotes honestly and finishes the whole list.

That's the job we've set ourselves. We're a local Columbia outfit, general liability insured, and we would rather earn your next call than stretch out this one. We give a clear price before work starts, plan each visit so it covers everything on your list, and build for this climate: keeping water moving away from foundations, sealing against humid summers and icy winters, and using hardware that holds up. Wiring and plumbing connections are made by licensed electricians and plumbers on our team, so a new ceiling fan, a light fixture, a garbage disposal or a replacement toilet gets finished in the same visit as the drywall patch and the gate latch.

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 Columbia and the towns next door