Maybe We Can Help Each Other... Affordable Lawn Care / Handyman Services

[Throwin Lead]

Em,
Don't forget to print a winter flyer too!
EM's ice dam removal! LOL! Seriously though a fall flyer targeting yard clean up, painting and wall papering (depends on ur skill level) will get you work too. Don't forget advertise on Craigslist.

Set some cash aside, look on Craigslist to find a decent 2 stage snow blower. In a deep snow like we had this winter folks will gladly drop $100-$125 to have their driveways opened up.

A friend was unemployed during the *BIG SNOW*, had a 2 stage snow blower and made a killing in Garden City where he lives. Odd thing about it - it wasn't planned at all. It started by him plowing his own drive, then the neighbor called, then the other neighbor called, and it snowballed (no pun intended) so much he had a solid 2-3 days of digging folks out with his snow blower.

The advice about liability insurance, state license, etc is very good advice - especially the liability insurance. It's too cheap in cost to ignore it!

One small story about doing odd jobs. The elderly spinster neighbor next door to me got new carpet. As a result all the doors dragged on the carpet. She found a handyman he came out and took off about 3/8 -1/2 from the bottoms charging her $30 per door for 6 doors. When he was done she had an older bathroom faucet that needed replaced which she had already purchased. He installed that for $30. In about 3-4 hrs time he made $210 CASH MONEY doing easy repairs. She asked him for a price to paint her bedrooms he told her $75 for walls, $100 walls and ceilings if he has to move furniture add $50 per room. He was back the next week painting - 3 days, each day at $150. She bought the paint.

He pulled down over $600 from this lady in 4 days! His "day" was a solid 6 hours at her home. Started at 8am done & gone by 2PM. Total job including the initial visit averages out to $30/hr cash which in the working world is about equal to a wage of $45-50/hr before taxes.

Don't sell your work cheap. Give a good product at a reasonable price, treat the folks good and you'll have more work than you know what to do with!

And don't forget to advertise about dem ice dams n'at!

[Emptymag]

Ugh. Ice dams... gonna have nightmares tonight.

[D10]

If you ever need someone designing a garden then you let me know. Coming from the land of tulips gives me a head start + I have a degree in agricultural designs.

I can do that by email for a small fee. of course

[Emptymag]

Nothing particularly impressive about this, but unless you luck out with the right location/type of downspout, a rain barrel installation can be more than some people are capable of handling themselves.

"Oh, look babe, a rain barrel - that would be GREAT for the environment!"

Fast forward to "babe" standing there scratching his head, looking at his newly purchased "earth saving" rain barrel, not realizing that it needs to be placed on a sturdy, LEVEL base, and even though he doesn't know how to use a screwdriver, he now needs to read a ruler, mark precise measurements, and use a hacksaw (that he doesn't own) to carefully cut a section from the downspout in order to attach the overflow diverter. (which must be LEVEL, or the whole thing doesn't work)

Sigh. "Anyone know a handyman who could hook this thing up?"









This one is a Fiskars brand sold at the local big box store. it was chosen because of the overflow diverter that sends rainwater down the downspout when the barrel fills up. Most downspouts discharge directly onto the ground, so a homemade rain barrel is relatively simple to create, with an overflow hose near the top, that simply dumps the water on the ground when full.
Since this particular downspout goes underground, the diverter was needed. Overall, it's a nice rain barrel. It holds 57 gallons, and was priced at $100. I considered buying a diverter alone (can be purchased seperately) and making my own barrel using a trash can, but by the time you factor in the cost of the can, faucet, and labor, you only save about $20. That said, I did find a source for large industrial drums made of plastic that would work great, and only cost $15 as opposed to the $40 that a heavy trash can costs.
Anyone need a rain barrel?



After about 45 mins of steady rainfall from a relatively small roof...




The garden where the water was to be used is beyond the fence seen in the first photo, and is slightly below/downhill from where the rain barrel is located. I ran a cheap garden hose with an on/off valve at the end, down along the wall, and under the fence, where it can be used to fill watering cans or water the plants that are nearby. The water comes out nearly as fast as it does from my kitchen faucet thanks to the magic of gravity.




Well, that's it for today's edition of This Old Handyman.

Tune in next time for a flagstone pathway for your back yard getaway...

[Emptymag]

Here's a job I did recently for someone who wanted "a path" installed. "You get the stones and put it wherever you think would look best" were my instructions.



I located a place that was willing to sell the stones by the piece (most will only sell a full pallet) and hand picked the stones (325 lbs. of them) I though would be best suited for the job. I delivered them to the site and after thinking it over, decided a short path with a "curve" would be a visually interesting addition to this "naked" section of property between where the grass mostly ended, and where the hillside started down into the woods.

Rather than simply laying them on the ground and calling it a day, I dug the ground as needed, and used sand to level/stabilize each stone to make them safe to walk on without them moving/shifting. After they were in place, I delivered some mulch to cover the area surrounding them.

I neglected to take a "before" photo, but it was nothing more than an area with no grass that looked like it needed "something". Now it looks like a nice spot to sit and sip a glass of iced tea.

[falcn]

Boy am I glad I looked into this thread.

I have some work for you. I don't have the tools yet!

We just bought our first house and there is some yard work to be done. We need our hedges cut down to about half their current height on the front of the house and along the drive. Heck might as well get you to cut the grass too, since I haven't bought a mower yet.

Also we're interested in a rain barrel installation on the garage - large industrial plastic barrels are A.OK!


Ryan

[Emptymag]

Boy am I glad I looked into this thread.

I have some work for you. I don't have the tools yet!

We just bought our first house and there is some yard work to be done. We need our hedges cut down to about half their current height on the front of the house and along the drive. Heck might as well get you to cut the grass too, since I haven't bought a mower yet.

Also we're interested in a rain barrel installation on the garage - large industrial plastic barrels are A.OK!


Ryan

Contact info sent.
Thank you for your interest.

[Emptymag]

If anyone knows of someplace where I could dump grass/hedge clippings and perhaps twigs/small branches, I'm all ears.

Unfortunately, I can't think of anyone who has property where they dump such items. Surely there are places where I can pay to dump them off, but that will add to the price of the jobs. I'm still looking into it - right now, I mulch the grass at the one property I cut, and another lets me bag it and set it to the curb, but as things pick up, I will need a place to dispose of these items.

A job I did last week had me hauling a bunch of stumps home with me. I just put them out to the curb for trash pickup, and that's what prompted me to post this.

My wife is happy I'm working, but bringing home bags of stinky grass clippings isn't going to fly for too long.

[falcn]

The grass looks good. Thanks for cutting it today.

I can't remember if I told you, but mulching (mower setting) it would have been fine with me.

[YosemiteSam]

If anyone knows of someplace where I could dump grass/hedge clippings and perhaps twigs/small branches, I'm all ears.

Unfortunately, I can't think of anyone who has property where they dump such items. Surely there are places where I can pay to dump them off, but that will add to the price of the jobs. I'm still looking into it - right now, I mulch the grass at the one property I cut, and another lets me bag it and set it to the curb, but as things pick up, I will need a place to dispose of these items.

A job I did last week had me hauling a bunch of stumps home with me. I just put them out to the curb for trash pickup, and that's what prompted me to post this.

My wife is happy I'm working, but bringing home bags of stinky grass clippings isn't going to fly for too long.

I wish for your sake you were closer. I have lots of dumping space for biodegradables