ALMOST EVERYTHING
About us
Owner operated single employee. Services as described below. Rates are $50 per hour plus materials with a one hour minimum. There is a service charge of $20 for distances over 20 miles round trip. Payment by cash or check. No debit or credit card payments. Senior discount of 10% for age 62 and over.
Business highlights
38 years of experience
Services we offer
CABINET AND DOOR INSTALLATION AND ADJUSTMENTS, EXTERIOR WALLS, FIXING LEAKS AND DRAINS, HANDYMAN SERVICES, INCLUDING REPLACEMENT OF ELECTRICAL SOCKETS AND SWITCHES, KITCHEN AND BATHROOM DESIGN., KITCHEN REFACING, MINOR FURNITURE REPAIR, MINOR INTERIOR PAINTING, MINOR PLUMBING & ELECTRICAL REPAIR, MINOR PLUMBING REPAIR, MINOR REPAIRS TO DOORS, TOILET INSTALLATION, WINDOWS, null
Reviews
4.661 Reviews
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 85% | ||
| 3% | ||
| 2% | ||
| 5% | ||
| 5% |
Showing 1-25 of 61 reviews
Steve M.
May 2016
Herb personally answered my phone call and made arrangements to be at my house within 90 minutes of my call. He showed up on time with an impressive collection of tools and supplies - anything he might need for the job. The work was completed to my satisfaction, including cleanup, and he even took some extra time to caulk the seams in the enclosure beneath the sink to prevent damage from any future plumbing leak. Herb was pleasant, businesslike, and very fairly priced - so I will definitely call him again when I need handyman work done.
KAREN C.
Mar 2016
unknown
P S.
Dec 2015
unknown
Michelle B.
Sep 2015
Herb was great - very professional, efficient, and helpful. Would use him again next time I have a long list.
Debi M.
Sep 2015
Herb responded to my urgent call within an hour, and worked doggedly on a problem gate latch for over 2 hours. The problem had been chronic with the latch and we had used other workmen in the past who didn't really understand the problem and most likely compounded it. It certainly looked like a mish-mash of attempted fixes, with screws sticking out in all directions. It was an old latch and we preferred to keep it, so he figured out the problem, and hopefully solved it for good! He worked feverishly with his own tools, and left everything in perfect shape. A perfect gentleman with a great work ethic and fair prices.
Allison M.
Aug 2015
Door sweep/weather stripping added to the front door appeared great. Upon use, I noted that the stripping was not tight against the door nearest the hinge side. Inspection uncovered that the two screws nearest the hinge side of the door were not actually screwed into the door at all. I had to drill a pilot hole through the stripping and the door, find a screw that fit and attach the back end of the stripping myself.
The door sweep/weather stripping added to a door between the garage and the backyard had a very large gap to fill. Herb showed me, after performing the installation, that he was not able to make a solid seal because of a dip in the grading of the concrete AND the over 1 inch gap there to start with. I ran down to Home Depot and bought a roll of sponge rubber weather strip (under $5) and sealed the gap with no issue. Took 2 minutes, actually less. He measured the door and gap before going for his supply run and should have purchased what was needed to complete the job. Once he saw his plan did not work, he should have gone back to buy what was required to finish it right. The additional stripping is sponge and rubber and will eventually need replacing, but that's fine. It's maintenance.
I tried the bathroom sink handle and it was tightened beautifully. I made the mistake of assuming the same for the sink faucet. After my discovery of the issue with the door sweep, I went to check all he had done, which is when I discovered the sink faucet had not been tightened at all.
Herb was easy to reach by telephone and came precisely on time, but given the quality of the 'finished' work, pretty unimpressive overall. I think there's no doubt he has the skill to have completed each job successfully, but for whatever reason, he did not. I had to go behind each job and finish it properly. I'm a bookkeeper not a handyman/woman, that's why my sink needed attention to begin with. What's the point of hiring a professional if I have to get on my hands and knees. That's what I wanted to avoid. Price would have been fair had the jobs been actually finished.
The door sweep/weather stripping added to a door between the garage and the backyard had a very large gap to fill. Herb showed me, after performing the installation, that he was not able to make a solid seal because of a dip in the grading of the concrete AND the over 1 inch gap there to start with. I ran down to Home Depot and bought a roll of sponge rubber weather strip (under $5) and sealed the gap with no issue. Took 2 minutes, actually less. He measured the door and gap before going for his supply run and should have purchased what was needed to complete the job. Once he saw his plan did not work, he should have gone back to buy what was required to finish it right. The additional stripping is sponge and rubber and will eventually need replacing, but that's fine. It's maintenance.
I tried the bathroom sink handle and it was tightened beautifully. I made the mistake of assuming the same for the sink faucet. After my discovery of the issue with the door sweep, I went to check all he had done, which is when I discovered the sink faucet had not been tightened at all.
Herb was easy to reach by telephone and came precisely on time, but given the quality of the 'finished' work, pretty unimpressive overall. I think there's no doubt he has the skill to have completed each job successfully, but for whatever reason, he did not. I had to go behind each job and finish it properly. I'm a bookkeeper not a handyman/woman, that's why my sink needed attention to begin with. What's the point of hiring a professional if I have to get on my hands and knees. That's what I wanted to avoid. Price would have been fair had the jobs been actually finished.
Pamela M.
Aug 2015
.
Marian P.
Aug 2015
Very well - will use his services in the future!
Liam A.
Jul 2015
Did a great job swapping out two kitchen faucets. Herb was punctual and had all the tools he needed to complete the job.
Hulan B.
Apr 2015
Herb resolved the problem as usual.
Daniel C.
Feb 2015
It went very well. He had to move the strike plate multiple times on the front door because the house has settled but he got it just right. What a pleasure to simply shut and lock the door. No more moving it back and forth to get the deadbolt to engage.
We had lost some of the parts for the patio door mechanism but he use some old parts (not visible) and made it all work. It looks great.
The doorbell work went just fine too.
Herb is a nice guy who does small jobs for a good price. He will tell you if he thinks the job is too much for him so as not to waste your time and money.
I am happy with the work and would definitely use him again.
We had lost some of the parts for the patio door mechanism but he use some old parts (not visible) and made it all work. It looks great.
The doorbell work went just fine too.
Herb is a nice guy who does small jobs for a good price. He will tell you if he thinks the job is too much for him so as not to waste your time and money.
I am happy with the work and would definitely use him again.
LINDA W.
Feb 2015
Professional work.
Carolyn P.
Jan 2015
unknown
Lisa S.
Dec 2014
I called Herb to rehang a pantry door in our kitchen and to fix a 'running' toilet in one of our upstairs bathrooms. He arrived the next day after talking on the phone. He assessed both jobs and claimed he could fix both. Three long days later our toilet upstairs was not fixed and was in worse condition than before he started. He CASUALLY stated that he was unable to fix the toilet and only charged me the cost of the parts he replaced and recommended I call a plumber to fix it. He then hung the pantry door and left. The pantry door is hung but not level with the duplicate door next to it, nor does it close completely. But that was the least of my problems, the morning after Herb left I awoke to water dripping from my light fixture in the kitchen below the bathroom with the bad toilet! I had to call a plumber emergently and turn off the water to the whole house and wait for them to arrive, that night at 8pm. I called Herb and he offered no help. I've given up on trusting any handyman after this experience! In the future I will only go directly to professionals.
David T.
Oct 2014
Having just purchased a 10-year-old home, I hired Herb to help
with several of the smaller jobs that arise on such occasions and which I did not
judge to require specialized attention. Having had many bad contractor
experiences before, I negotiated very specifically with Herb and we worked out
what I believe were mutually agreeable terms. He was game for such negotiations
and did not seem to be affronted by my desire to have clearly-agreed terms on
the front end to avoid misunderstanding that would lead to animosity on both
sides on the back end.
Herb repaired a toilet, traded out some old halogen
lights with new LED fixtures, installed curtain rods, a medicine cabinet, a
shaving mirror, and a recessed in-cabinet trash receptacle. These were small
projects that many people could do themselves; for those of us either
incompetent or simply preferring not to undertake such tasks, Herb is an
affordable and competent handyman.
Consistent with some other reviews, Herb has not always
arrived promptly on time. He has, however, always called to give a revised
estimate of when he would arrive. If your time is precious, this might be
a problem, but it didn?t bother me and he has never been substantially late.
The most he ever overshot his schedule time was perhaps forty-five minutes, in
my experience.
Complaints in other reviews that Herb is slow in his work are not unfounded. Much of
the work he did for us took significantly longer than I expected.
Still, I hired him because I don?t really know what is involved in such work and
so am not in a position to judge. In all fairness to Herb, I have rarely found
that these kinds of jobs go as quickly as I thought they should, regardless of who was doing the work for me; which is to
say, this sense of frustration on my part is by no means unique to Herb and so
does not necessarily reflect poorly on him.
One of the curtain rods he installed proved to hang too
low, so the curtain dragged the floor. He reinstalled it and did not bill for
the work. He may have made up for that time elsewhere, as other work that I
expected to be quick and simple dragged on for hours. A trip for supplies
seemed to take a remarkably long time given that the job (installing some under-counter
lights, which had been purchased previously) seemed straightforward, unlikely to
involve complex or hard-to-find parts, and there is a Lowe?s five minutes away from the house.
Still and again, I am not competent to judge, as I really do not know what is
involved.
For small jobs that do not require specialized knowledge
or equipment and are not (literally or figuratively) heavy lifts, Herb has
demonstrated competence. He is genial and pleasant to have around the house. (That alone is worth a good deal; I have had any number of tradesmen who were surly and I just did not like having around.) I
was particularly pleased that he told me up front that he would not be able to
perform certain tasks for me, rather than just attempting but then doing them
badly. His price, in my experience, is unbeatable.
with several of the smaller jobs that arise on such occasions and which I did not
judge to require specialized attention. Having had many bad contractor
experiences before, I negotiated very specifically with Herb and we worked out
what I believe were mutually agreeable terms. He was game for such negotiations
and did not seem to be affronted by my desire to have clearly-agreed terms on
the front end to avoid misunderstanding that would lead to animosity on both
sides on the back end.
Herb repaired a toilet, traded out some old halogen
lights with new LED fixtures, installed curtain rods, a medicine cabinet, a
shaving mirror, and a recessed in-cabinet trash receptacle. These were small
projects that many people could do themselves; for those of us either
incompetent or simply preferring not to undertake such tasks, Herb is an
affordable and competent handyman.
Consistent with some other reviews, Herb has not always
arrived promptly on time. He has, however, always called to give a revised
estimate of when he would arrive. If your time is precious, this might be
a problem, but it didn?t bother me and he has never been substantially late.
The most he ever overshot his schedule time was perhaps forty-five minutes, in
my experience.
Complaints in other reviews that Herb is slow in his work are not unfounded. Much of
the work he did for us took significantly longer than I expected.
Still, I hired him because I don?t really know what is involved in such work and
so am not in a position to judge. In all fairness to Herb, I have rarely found
that these kinds of jobs go as quickly as I thought they should, regardless of who was doing the work for me; which is to
say, this sense of frustration on my part is by no means unique to Herb and so
does not necessarily reflect poorly on him.
One of the curtain rods he installed proved to hang too
low, so the curtain dragged the floor. He reinstalled it and did not bill for
the work. He may have made up for that time elsewhere, as other work that I
expected to be quick and simple dragged on for hours. A trip for supplies
seemed to take a remarkably long time given that the job (installing some under-counter
lights, which had been purchased previously) seemed straightforward, unlikely to
involve complex or hard-to-find parts, and there is a Lowe?s five minutes away from the house.
Still and again, I am not competent to judge, as I really do not know what is
involved.
For small jobs that do not require specialized knowledge
or equipment and are not (literally or figuratively) heavy lifts, Herb has
demonstrated competence. He is genial and pleasant to have around the house. (That alone is worth a good deal; I have had any number of tradesmen who were surly and I just did not like having around.) I
was particularly pleased that he told me up front that he would not be able to
perform certain tasks for me, rather than just attempting but then doing them
badly. His price, in my experience, is unbeatable.
Response from ALMOST EVERYTHING
"A note about [member name removed] comments: [member name removed] was very particular about the work that he wanted done and wanted assurances that i could do each of his projects before he agreed to hire me. After an exchange of emails he was satisfied that I met his requirements and he agreed to my conditions to cover travel expenses from the East Bay to San Francisco.and to my hourly rate. Regarding the drapes dragging on the floor: There were 2 sliding glass doors in the same room that needed drapes. They both were the same size and height. I took the measurements and installed the drapery rods on the first door, taking care that the drapes did not drag on the floor. In doing the second set of drapes I used the same measurments to hang the drapery rods. [member name removed] seemed perturbed that the drapes in the second case did drag on the floor. Either there was a difference in the height of the door frame between the two doors or there was a difference on the height between the two sets of drapes. I told him that I would make the necessary adjustments free of charge and also told him that if there were any other problems that arose from my work that I would also fix those at no cost to him, I rehung the drapery rod on the second glass door, raising the height of the rod 1/2 inch which resulted in the drapes not dragging on the floor. In regards to installing the under-counter cabinet this took longer because the position that I had to assume was awkward - lying on the floor on my back. The trip to Lowes to get some parts was unsatisfactory because there were no floor sales people to help find things at the time that I was there. I did not find the necessary parts and had to go to another location in a different part of the city to obtain the parts needed to complete the installation."
KAREN C.
Sep 2014
Herb answered the phone when I called. He booked the appt for the same day. Arrived on time and was ready to go. Completed installing the fan timely. I would use his services again and I would recommended him to family and Friends.
ELAINE M.
Aug 2014
I did a kitchen remodel in June, but wanted to re-use the original bottom cabinets. The job entailed removing the existing cabinets allowing the new flooring installation and then replacing the cabinets before the quartz countertops were fabricated. The project was complicated by the fact that the cabinets had originally been cut down in order to be installed over tile. The reinstallation would be on the subfloor.
Removal of the cabinets went without a hitch. When reinstalled, they had to be shimmed and leveled to standard height. After the countertops were installed, it was apparent the the installers had used a narrower thickness of plywood then is required by industry standards. The result was that my cabinet drawers would not open or close. When I presented this dilemma to Herb, he had a solution. Instead of having to remove the countertops (no small feat - not counting having to deal with the contractor) Herb adjusted the hinges on the cabinet doors, allowing a larger gap between the drawers and the doors. Issue solved!
The entire installation of the cabinets looks seamless and professional and best of all functions perfectly.
Removal of the cabinets went without a hitch. When reinstalled, they had to be shimmed and leveled to standard height. After the countertops were installed, it was apparent the the installers had used a narrower thickness of plywood then is required by industry standards. The result was that my cabinet drawers would not open or close. When I presented this dilemma to Herb, he had a solution. Instead of having to remove the countertops (no small feat - not counting having to deal with the contractor) Herb adjusted the hinges on the cabinet doors, allowing a larger gap between the drawers and the doors. Issue solved!
The entire installation of the cabinets looks seamless and professional and best of all functions perfectly.
MAX R.
Aug 2014
This was my worst experience ever with a handyman. Though Hurb is well intended this job was just too much for him. He expected it to take a few hours. He spent 19 hours over three days, after which I told him not to come back. I hired someone else to finish the job. His problem was that he was kind of random in the way he did things. Like he wanted to put the curtains on the doors before he cut the hole for the door knob. He also seemed to be unaware of how he could break things. There were several times where he had to stop and glue something back together. He also was very slow, which I don't mind to much if he does a careful job, but the errors were too numerous to mention. When he said he was finished there was a 3/4 inch crack at the top of the doors. Terrible. I pointed out the obvious crack which he had not noticed. He said he would come back the next day and fix it. I told him not to come back. His work was expensive and the results a disaster. I hope this isn't the normal standard for a Angie's List "A" level handyman.
Response from ALMOST EVERYTHING
"First of all, the job had problems to begin with. After removing the existing doors, they were of different lengths, indicating that the jamb was not square. I used the existing doors as a template to match the mortise locations for the hinges. The new doors were very heavy and difficult to move and work on. I needed help from the owner to move them and set them on the deck in order to do the hinge mortises and trimming the bottoms to length. After the hinges were installed on the new doors, the doors cut to length and hung, they did not fit properly because the opening was not square. There was an uneven gap between the doors requiring the doors to be shimmed out at the hinge side. The astragal (center strip between the doors) that the owner had providied was narrower than the astragal on the original doors and had only a quarter inch overlap. This was insufficient to cover the space between the doors, leaving a gap at the top. The owner is correct about the pace of my work but that was mainly due to the difficulty of working with the type of doors that had an exterior coating of some type of hard composite material that made the mortising and drilling the holes for the lockset more difficult to do and more time consuming. If the new doors were wood without the composite coating the work would have gone much faster. In hindsight, I probably should have not taken on this job because of the type of doors that the owner wished to install. This was a job that needed two persons to do the work because of the heaviness of the doors and the difficulty of installation."
Sam F.
Jul 2014
unknown
Jane L.
Jul 2014
Fine
Susan T.
Jun 2014
Herb is smart, honest, professional, and wonderful to work with.
Tamar A.
Jun 2014
Herb was wonderful. He is kind, thoughtful, mild-mannered, and brilliant at his job. He came to help us with some important last-minute needs just weeks before I was due with our first baby (and very stressed!). This was around the holidays when it was tough to squeeze people in, but he made it happen for us. He came up with a money-saving creative solution for fixing our fence, he installed our faucet for us, and he replaced our door knob. We 100% recommend Almost Everything! Can't be beat.
Virginia M.
Jun 2014
The structure that our provider made is just lovely. It is elegant and much stronger and pleasing than the previous structure. This was a project that others had turned down. It was too small a job for contractors and too big a job for our local handyman. We are grateful that Herb agreed to tackle it. He is meticulous in getting a project done right. We are very pleased with the finished results. The only difficulty was that we had to help quite a bit to bring the project in on time. Some of that was because the project was more difficult than any of us imagined and it took more effort than one person could do. That said, my husband and I were quite willing to do that. I think Herb would do good work on any project, but for those heavy manual projects, I would recommend making sure there is an assistant or volunteering to assist him. Again, we are super happy with the end product!
p.s. Cost of project includes materials.
p.s. Cost of project includes materials.
Janet B.
Mar 2014
I was origionally quoted for 1-2 hours of labor, the job ended up taking 5 hours and almost my entire Saturday was lost, because he moved my appointment from 1:00 to 3:15. I did not see a receipt for the cost of the white metal shelves and brackets, usually other handymen will give you the receipt for the products they buy. The installation of the product is very good, and they are holding up well so far. I feel that I was over charged for 6 small inexpensive shelves.
Response from ALMOST EVERYTHING
"The original quote was over the phone and did not apply to the shelving system that was selected to be installed. The client wanted deep shelves and I suggested that she select the Closet Maid wire shelving available form Home Depot. The closet was small with dim lighting and a cramped working situation. The distance between the right and left walls was not consistent making it necessary to custom cut each shelf to fit in the space between the walls increasing the time to do a proper installation. A proper installation means that each shelf has to be anchored so that it is level and spaced at the proper distance between shelves. This sort of job can take longer to install because of the variables. After the installation the client expressed satisfaction with the result and did not question the time involved. I billed the client for 1/2 hour less that the actual working time. The cost of materials including the shelving stock, specialized hollow wall anchors and screws was $120, which is not necessarily inexpensive. The client gave me separate checks for the materials and work time and I would have given her a written receipt had she asked for one. The checks are defacto receipts."
Xxx X.
Mar 2014
Project went smoothly and everything was installed properly. In the course of the project, Hebr had to get a new hinge for the kitchen as the old one was of poor quality and could not be adjusted. He also had to get a replacement of the new medicine chest as it was defective. Bottom line is all the work was completed as promised in one afternoon.
Licensing
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FAQ
ALMOST EVERYTHING is currently rated 4.6 overall out of 5.
No, ALMOST EVERYTHING does not offer free project estimates.
No, ALMOST EVERYTHING does not offer eco-friendly accreditations.
No, ALMOST EVERYTHING does not offer a senior discount.
No, ALMOST EVERYTHING does not offer emergency services.
No, ALMOST EVERYTHING does not offer warranties.