Preferred Home Repair Handyman

Tommie H.

Carleton is an excellent handyman with skills in many areas. He diagnosed and repaired a leak in the kitchen sink, (not the faucet I was blaming). It was a 30 year old garbage disposal which he removed, installing leak-free new plumbing hardware. I was especially impressed by his thoroughness in detecting and correcting the small leaks that result from new pipe installation until the job was done right. I am leak-free. He also removed a large unsafe mirror from a wall and is fixing the old glitchy doorbell. Carleton worked clean, smart and hard. As other reviewers have noted he is also very polite and professional. I look forward to his help in getting my beautiful older home in good condition. Thanks YELP Reviewers for identifying an excellent local home repair expert for me.

Bridget M.

Carlton is truly as good as it gets! I had a number of small jobs on the agenda and thought that it would take him about 4-6 hours. He completed everything in 3. He is not always able to fit you into his schedule in 24 hours, but good things come to those who wait! He is courteous, kind, and competant.

Kelly P.

Working with Carlton was such a pleasure! I am a DIYer who ran into a complex problem that I couldn't solve on my own. Carlton let me watch as he worked, and explained what he was doing along the way, so I learned a lot of things for my own future projects. He's a good communicator so he's able to figure out just how you want things done. Since I'm on a tight budget, he was happy to do the work I couldn't do, and then explained how I could finish the rest. His rates are very reasonable. He's a smart and interesting person too, so not only did I get the job done, we shared some great conversation while he worked. An enjoyable experience all around. Thanks again, Carlton!

Gloria B.

Just to echo the other reviews, Carlton was great. He was responsive via email, showed up on time, and did the work cheerfully and professionally (even though it was a tedious 7-hour plus job). He fixed a number of mis-aligned doors in our 100-year old house and they now work perfectly. I felt like he was honestly accounting for his time, and he was polite and unobtrusive. I would definitely call him again!

Michael L.

We found Carlton because of all the other five-star Yelp reviews. I'm happy to add another. Carlton is now our go-to guy for all home repair. He always arrives right on time. When he sees our nice wood floor, he always asks if he should put shoe covers on (but his shoes are never dirty). He uses his time efficiently, getting enough of each job done so that if he does have to make a supply run, he knows everything he needs to get. Every repair he has done has lasted. A couple of things harder to quantify, but important: Carlton's energy is pleasant to be around. I've had handymen in my home who bring a macho, tough-guy feel with them and even if they do a good job I'd rather have a gentle person. Carlton respects our serene (if nutty) environment. And he's a true artist. One job we asked him to do was repairing some damage that the plumbers had to leave when they fixed our shower: a patched wall and tiles that had to be pulled off. Carlton not only matched the color of the paint, he went and got a spray which matched the texture. He matched the color of the grout between the tiles and laid them back in perfectly. One of the tiles had been broken so he put that one in the least conspicuous place and lined the cracks up carefully. When you look at that wall now it looks perfect. You can only tell a repair had ever been made if you look very closely. Call him well in advance because he is busy.

Brandon L.

Carlton was excellent, and deserves 5 stars. He was in constant communication by email, and was able to adapt easily and confirm when I needed to reschedule. He showed up on time. He did excellent work, including making a run to the hardware store. After realizing that he would need additional pieces later at the hardware store, he stopped the clock and didn't charge me for the time it took him to get there. He was open to a minor suggestion for improvement after I reviewed the job. And he guaranteed his work, which was a sink installation in our home. All in all, he was excellent and professional and I highly recommend him. Thanks Carlton!

Irene Y.

I've never seen anyone work harder and more cheerfully as Carlton. I do a lot of home improvement work on my own, and I can't say that I've put in half as much effort in my own projects as I've seen Carlton put in (and by the end of it all I'm nowhere near as friendly as he's been). All the other reviewers are completely accurate in their description of Carlton and his work - he does a great job!

Toni M.

After reading M.F.'s review I bookmarked this business. We had lost two handymen in the past year or so. Handyman Rick died and Mike, whom I haven't reviewed, took a full-time job at a bank. Our recent garage door mishap included breakage of the strip of wood (or plastic) w/ rubber insulation that protects the edges of the door. I called Carlton and we scheduled an appointment for today at 1:00. He can be reached either by phone or email, but email tends to be more efficient. His email address is fixitman@sonic.net. Carlton arrived at 1:00 exactly. We discussed whether to replace part of the strip or the entire piece on that side and agreed it would look better to replace the entire piece. He measured, removed the strip and went to Home Depot to buy a replacement. Alan and I had looked through our leftover paint cans for the right color but couldn't find it, so I took the smaller piece of the strip down to the East Bay Paint Center in Albany, where we'd bought the exterior paint, to match it. By the time I returned the new strip was installed and the caulking was dry. Carlton painted it and the job was done. It was a pleasure to work w/ him and I have no doubt we will call him for the next job.

Ying S.

Yelp has never let me down and it keeps its perfect record by referring me to Carlton. I wanted to get a couple of replacement heater/bath ventilation fans installed which would inevitably also involve drywall cutting and patching. I contacted Carlton over email with a detailed description of the job. He was extremely responsive, quoted me his hourly rate, and provided an estimate of how much time it would take him to do the work. Carlton arrived right on time, wore contractor booties when he saw that my house was a """"shoes-off"""" household, and his estimate of how much time it would take was right on the mark. He was good about containing his work area and cleaned up when he was done. I will not hesitate to contact him for any other work I need done in the future and would most certainly refer him to anyone else looking for a handyman.

Michael A.

Carlton put a cat door in a wall for us, going through hardi-plank siding. He was professional, polite, and friendly. His work looks great, and we're very pleased. Price was affordable. Wouldn't hesitate to call him again.