Home Services-VA

We were asked to provide a long list of items.  The list seemed like more than 6 hours of work, but the whole list was completed.
Installed light fixture, fixed some hand rails in the stair well.  Installed some light switches and a TV stand.  Finished by installing several curtain rods.  All work was great and well done

He did an amazing amount of work in six hours! The guy was wonderful! There were no additional fees associated with the Big Deal.

He's very knowledgeable and very good. He's excellent. He did a lot of job in different places. He did many job, way more than 10 on different houses and he can do everything. He's really a handyman. He's very honest and he's can do everything. He can do electrical, plumbing and all. He never refuses to do anything and he really knows, that's very rare in a handyman.

The visit went well.  I had several minor things that needed repair:  the remotes for the ceiling fans weren't working properly (and no, they didn't need new batteries), I needed pictures hung, one of the bathroom sinks seemed to be clogged and I had a drip from one of the faucets.  There may have been additional items as well.  They were very careful and did a great job.  The clogged sink involved the way it was installed - an item that is used to cap something on the original plumbing was dropped into the drain pipe by mistake so depending on how it turned by the water flow, it could stop up the sink.  He removed that and I haven't had trouble since.  The pictures were hung professionally - he even made suggestions to make the grouping look more interesting!  The problem with the ceiling fan remotes were fixed wihout the need for me to spend additional money (something I like).  The only complaint I have is that he needed a cannister for the faucet in order to fix the leak, and since I was having surgery after they came to my home, we weren't able to connect to fix the faucet, so it's still dripping.  I did use a Angies List deal for this service.

He did an excellent job. There were unexpected delays in scheduling the work but once initiated the work was done quickly.

He is a skilled carpenter. Everything he did was great. The only negative was that he didn't do a couple of things that were on the list. I'd gladly have him back.

Fine.

High quality workmanship but difficulty scheduling the job

Very skilled contractor .

Oh, I really wish I could say more nice things about this one.
I reached out to Don from Angie's list, he came by and gave me a excellent price ($1200) for fixing the door, putting in the hookups for the washer/dryer, and fixing the rear hose bib.  
I really, really wish I had more nice things to say, because it was a great price for the work, and he did more than he had to do.
but there were issues.  He was late the first day, and there were issues with payment (he didn't get the deposit check in time);  we got that sorted out and he went and bought materials and came back with his son and started working.  The job wasn't finished the first day and I had to go to work the next day, I let him work in the house without me here.   That's the start of what went wrong;  he was supposed to call me and let me know if anything didn't get done, and I didn't hear from him.   I came home and found that, frankly, it wasn't *done.*  He hadn't fixed the door properly, the trim around it was still ripped up and it didn't look nice at all;  the hookups weren't finished (the wall around them),  and the wall downstairs which he'd had to open up to put in the hookups wasn't properly finished.     No phone call.  I went about my weekend expecting to hear from him on Monday -- I got a email saying he was going to come back to finish up the wall, but no mention of how the door was not done.    It took about two weeks to get him to come back, I had to threaten to pay someone else to finish the job;  and when he came back, I literally had to stand over him till he finished the work.
Is the work done?  yes.  Is it spectacular?  no, but for the price I didn't expect spectacular.  What I expected was 'show up, stay up', not disappear for a week and come back with some story of a family emergency - these things happen, but he didn't pick up the phone and call, he just disappeared.
He did more than I contracted with him for;  my problem is that he was really not so great about doing the things I'd contracted with him to do.
I really wish I could say more nice things, but there's not much to say.   His son is very nice, and I felt bad for him being stuck with the situation he was in.     
If you use him, be aware that he's not so great at detail and really keep an eye on what he's doing;  he's a great price but you really are getting what you pay for.

I purchased the Angie's List Big Deal for 6 hours of Handyman Labor for $250.

I have 2 other Angie's List Handyman Big Deal experiences (with other Handyman companies, who were all highly rated on AL), as well as assorted other workers over the years, to compare with my experience today.  The other companies were fine, and I have actually tried to schedule them for other work, but the other companies would either never call back, or else they were just too busy with AL Big Deals.  What's up with that, by the way? You'd think the goal would be to become a regular worker, without having to continually discount their work with Big Deals.

Don DeWitt was by far, and I mean stratosphere far, the absolute best handyman.

It was easy to reach him, and to get on his schedule within the week.  So what if he arrived 20 minutes late . . he gave me and extra hour free to compensate!

The quality of his work was matched by his professionalism: clean work area, no borrowing of my tools -- he had everything including oddball spare parts, worked continually with no breaks for 7 hours!, worked very fast, and was very pleasant and thoughtful.  He came up with smart, inventive solutions whenever parts didn't fit or situations didn't go as expected.  (and that happens with just about any home project, right?)  It was so obvious that he has tremendous experience and skills.

I will absolutely call him for my next to-do list!

purchased two Angies big deals.  Each was for 6 hours of handyman work for $250.  I wanted Don to finish a gutted area of my kitchen.  Specifically, the pantry in my kitchen was completely gutted to the studs.  Don was to completely finish it off (insulation, drywall, a small amount of new wiring), and use the remaining hours to build some custom shelves and do some deck repair.  So, like I said, I purchased the two Angies Big Deals.  Shortly thereafter I called Don, who at that point was responsive.  He came to my home to check out the scope of the job, and felt 12 hours would be plenty.  We scheduled the work.  We knew he would spend two full days at my house (more or less).  He came the first day, about a hour late.  But once he came, he got to work, doing some minor wiring and hanging the drywall.  The first day seemed to go well.  It looked like he was doing a good job, and he was very friendly.

I suppose you could say the first day went okay.

But despite repeated calls from me and from Angies List, Don was no where to be found for the 2nd day of the job.  In short, he stood me up.  Technically, he did work 6 hours and fufilled the first Angies Big Deal.  But since he did not return to finish all the work, I had to hire another handyman.  Well get this: the 2nd handyman pointed out how Don did a slip-shod job with the dry wall.  He used paper drywall tape, instead of the mesh type (which I guess is made from nylon).  My new handyman pointed out how Don did not mud the seams first before putting on the paper drywall tape.  The end result was air bubbles beind the tape because the gaps were not filled.  My new handyman told me how many guys try to cut corners and won't mud the seams before putting up the tape.  Basically, Don only appeared to be doing a good job.  In reality he was cutting corners.

Overall, I was livid.  Livid that Don stood me up on day 2, and livid that Don was cutting corners.

In summary, Don was to spend the 12 hours re-finishing my kitchen pantry, building some custom built-in shelves, and do a small deck repair.  He came out to work the first 6 hours, but never the 2nd.  He did return any of my calls or emails.

Don rebuilt the stairs before he put in the new flooring. This is because they were put in improperly when the house was buitl. He did not anticipate this nor did he charge me more but I gave him more than his bill was. He rebuilt the front door just because he noticed it was not working proplerly. He did not charge me for this either. All his work is frist class and whlie we had some delays due to ordering parts he came numerous times until it was finished. He even came back after I thought it was done to fix things he thought were not right that I did not even notice. He is coming back to my house!!

Don arrived on time. I showed him the jobs I needed done. We went to Home depot & bought supplies. The clock didn't start ticking until we got back. 

He was polite, friendly, and very professional. He seemed very confident with his work. Also cleaned up after him self... I would & will recommend him in the future.

We contacted Mr. DeWitt about fixing a second story sliding glass door that was leaking water into the level below. He responded quickly to my initial inquiry and scheduled an appointment within a few days. He showed up on time, examined the problem and proposed a solution which involved pulling up about a third of our decking to get to the flashing. He also looked at our front porch columns, which had shifted during this summer's earthquake and had become detached from the porch overhang. His pricing beat any other handyman we had contacted, so I inquired about a few more items from my "wish list". He priced these items very reasonably and proposed solutions which improved safety and saved us money.

Mr. DeWitt scheduled the date to begin the work, and he and his helper arrived at the time promised with the materials needed and ready to work. They worked quickly but neatly and dealt with further problems found on the front porch columns after the vinyl wrap was removed. He proposed budget-conscious solutions and reconstructed the column bases so that wood rot caused by water would not be a problem again. The work on the patio door was completed over several days; after it became apparent that over half the decking boards would need to be removed, he suggested that we just replace the whole floor, which was pretty worn, with new decking boards, and he gave me a break on the labor costs. The door has since withstood several very heavy rainfalls and has not leaked again.

His carpentry work on my kitchen cabinet over the microwave was outstanding. You would never be able to tell that the cabinet had been altered. He properly reinstalled my microwave at the proper height and I could not be more pleased. Through the entire process, he kept me informed about what was happening.  I would thoroughly recommend Mr. DeWitt and plan to call him again for further "wish list" items!

I am very pleased with Don's work.  He was very efficient and friendly.  You could tell from his years' of experience he knew what he was doing.  I intend to have him back in the spring to replace rotted wood on the exterior of the house.

He was excellent to work with. I submitted a list of jobs and he gave me a price. If he got done faster, I could give him additional work. If it took longer, it didn't cost me extra. (this was important to me as a previous handyman stretched a one day job into a two day job and I was not happy.) He did all the work quickly and expertly, and then started in on a second "to do if time" list. That was finished as well. He clearly knows what he's doing and is very easy to work with. I will be hiring him again very soon!!

Very well

The services are under warranty.  I pay them a yearly fee and then I pay them a service fee every time I have them come out.

They arrived on time, did an excellent job and cleaned up afterwards.  The job took 3 days instead of 2 - the workman did a careful and professional job.  We are now painting and it looks great.  We were charged the amount agreed to even though the job took longer.  The next nearest price was $50 more for only the interior ceiling part of the job.

Don did a great job. I needed 2 vanity tops removed and new ones installed, plus a few other odd jobs (remove old door and hang a new one, chalk around kitchen counter, replace wax ring on 4 toilets). He was very nice, very responsive, and did a great job. I will use him again!  Highly recommended.

We definitely have no complains. We are very happy with his work. He did the work on time. It was really good. It is by hour and we paid him for all the crew to get the jobs done. He was very talented and the crew he came was good. If you have a lot of things to be done, I would suggest you to call him. He would work with you to get the job done within the time. We were very pleased with him. This handyman painted over a doorbell and he had to come and do that. We had to call John and he was very good in coming out; we thought his assistant would come and take care of that. We have plans to use him again.

Donald DeWitt of Home Services-VA arrived approximately 15 minutes early, which was fine. He always arrives early for a new job so he can see exactly what needs to be done. These 15 minutes do not count against the contracted time. I purchased a special deal, which was half of what he usually charges, for six hours of work. We made a trip to Lowe's to purchase closet doors and other supplies. Don spent approximately 7 and 1/2 hours working that day--installing the new fan in the kitchen took longer than usual but he did not ask for extra compensation. Except for the fussy fan, Don finished each job quickly. Every job  outlined in an email was completed well and done with a professional and cheerful approach. He made suggestions about other issues that I said I would like fixed at a future date and explained how several things work. I would recommend Home Services-VA to anyone and will call the company again at some future date.

Great

We contacted Don at Home Services - VA for an estimate to put shelving in our garage, one coat closet and a small storage closet under the steps.  The storage closet also needed a light.  He responded promptly with a phone call, and was here the next day to look at the project and give us an estimate.  His estimate arrived via email within two days, and was the most reasonable of four estimates we received.  We accepted Don's estimate and scheduled the work for the following week. 

Don and a helper arrived at 9:00 AM as planned, and worked the entire day putting up the wire shelves around the entire circumference of our garage.  We had purchased the shelving ourselves; but additional was needed, and Don made the extra trip to pickup additional shelving and braces.  In addition to the garage shelving, Don installed additional wire shelving in our entry coat closet, as well as a small storage closet under the steps.  Getting the electricity to the light in the closet proved more of a challenge than originally thought, but Don handled the situation very professionally; and despite taking longer than expected, and making more holes in the wall than planned, Don completed the task perfectly.  He initally planned to complete all the work in one day, but the additional time to pickup more shelving and install the light, plus having to mud the drywall and have it dry in order to paint, made a second visit necessary.  He returned after the weekend to skim and paint the drywall to complete the project.  There was no additional charge for the extra time involved or for the trip to pickup additional items needed.  We paid for all parts purchased.

We are very happy with the results, and the large amount of additional storage we now have.  I know we will have other projects that come up, and we will definitely consider Don in the future.  We couldn't recommend him more highly.  He is definitly a wealth of information, and made several suggestions as the project progressed.