Tony Sandoval Handyman Services Omaha

 As a professional handyman,  I am also a very experienced "fixit" person as well.  I repair furniture standard and flatpack (such as Ikea), small appliances, and more. I also assemble a wide variety of items such as flatpack furniture (Ikea, etc...), cabinets, shelves, storage systems, bicycles, grills, various types of equipment,  and more. I am able to have customers drop-off small to medium size items for repair or assembly.   Customers also can order items for assembly and have them delivered to my shop, them pick them up, ready to go, at their convenience. For medium to large items, I can go to the customer's location to repair or assemble bigger pieces of furniture,  storage systems, etc... In some cases, I can have small to medium sized items dropped off or delivered to my shop, then I am able to assemble or repair and deliver them to the destination location.  Someone will need to be at the destination to assist with unloading and deliver...

 Smart devices have gone through their entry level phases and the technology has begun to mature.  This in good for usability, prices, and overall operability.   However, in some cases, there can be such a thing as "too smart." Smart "systems" are the network connected collection of devices and services that is put together in a business or home that is interfunctional.  Often with an "Assistant" debicecsnd system coordinating the whole shebang.  Assistants like Alexa, Google Home, or even the Apple whatever it is.  These are usually represented with a speaker and/or video component such as the Google Nest or Alexa Echo. The "dumbest" smart devices operate as mostly standalone items that do simple tasks independent of other devices in the network.  A doorlock that is controlled only at the door with a key, code, or fob perhaps.  A smart thermostat that only does thermostat things when you give a voice command or operate it from a smartphone a...

 As I install and assemble a wide variety of products and devices for customers on a daily basis, I hear the common complaints people have referring to the perceived lesser quality of thise items.  I say perceived because in some cases it's a point of view that isn't taking all the information into consideration.  Planned obsolescence, as we see it exercised throughout American industry, takes a product, examines the variety of possible materials,  designs, and intended or desired results for that product and intentionally shoots for a "middle ground" that provides the majority of desired results, using the least expensive materials at a high production volume. So yes, these products are designed to fail. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.  Do some companies take it too far and just put out poor products?  Unfortunately true.  These companies are only out for the quick buck and are likely, probably anticipating, closing down quickly and under rush...

 I offer a Preventive Maintenance service agreement for rental properties, seniors, disabled folks, and professionals with busy lifestyles. Part of the SA is a monthly PM inspection to keep alarms working, lights changed, filters cleaned, and many other necessary home tasks. Another useful part of the SA is a locked in rate for other handyman that may come up. Things that may have been part of the monthly inspection or other projects that just come up  For this customer, the flexible dryer duct had gotten torn and disconnected from the dryer. It needed to be replaced. The customer tried to wrap duct tape around the torn area until I could arrive to replace it. Tears in flex ducts often catch lint and other fluffy stuff that blows through, eventually creating a blockage that results in clothes not drying properly,  dryers using more energy,  and possibly even causing a fire. So a new flex duct was installed and connected correctly to the dryer and the outside duct....

 Mounted a 72" tv for an apartment resident above the fireplace.  Getting recently moved in to a new apartment,  there's a lot going on.  Being able to come back from school or work and have a little nice stuff working in your favor while you're still unpacking can go a long way.

 Mounted another hanging rail for a local shop customer. One of their samples walls needed more room for additional materials as they bring more variety for their customers. Small businesses often need things done while their staff are busy doing the jobs they were hired for.  Being a professional handyman for businesses helps everyone win In so many small, local businesses,  choices have to be made whether to use staff that should be doing what they are trained to do, do support projects instead or spend the money to have a professional cone in with more experience getting those kinds of projects done right the first time. I get to help many small businesses get more done, better, while they keep doing what they do best and stay profitable. 

 Ducts and vents in houses and building carry air from different machines to bring or take air to different places.  Air movement through them causes dust and other detritus to get caught up and clog those airways.  That can cause a lot of problems.  Not just operational, but health problems for people and animals as well. One of the most obvious problems is blocked passageways.   If the duct or vent gets clogged, there's no air movement.   That makes the rest of the system work harder and wear out or break sooner and more frequently.   You might as well literally be throwing your money into the trash can. Keeping ducts and vents clean as part of a Preventive Maintenance program literally saves you money over the long run by not having to repair or replace the system due to unnecessary stress. Another thing that needs to be considered is fire safety.   A common problem with clogged ducts is the accumulation of flammable or even...

 Just like blaming referees for someone's favorite team underperformed, there is a disingenuous attitude put out by people who don't like or want competition that anyone who does work for what they claim is a low rate, it is pretty much always going to be a bad job of it. This is false on many fronts, and they know it.  But, they've got nothing better to stand on themselves so it's easier to preemptively cut down a whole group of potential competitors.  I won't deny, there are plenty of bad examples and bad apples out there doing work they should be ashamed of just to get a few quick bucks.  It happens in every industry where there are those that everyone has to live down. But... The multiple and various categories of builders, trades, and handyman types are filled with legitimate and earnest people just trying to make a living.  We use a variety of methods to offer incentives to customers.   One of those is pricing and rates. First and most obvious ar...

 One if the great things about life in the U.S. is that pretty much anyone can start their own business.  If one can get past unnecessary government hurdles, but that's a different topic. At the same time, not everyone can run a business well after they start it.  If we're honest about it, no one, absolutely no one, can be good at everything.   One of the best things we can do when running a successful business is to be aware of and honest about our own strengths and weaknesses.   Then we find others to delegate to who are strong where we are not so much. Sadly, many of us don't do that and those businesses suffer, and often fail, because of it.  It's sad because it's often preventable.   Why does it happen? Many different reasons; ignorance,  vanity, hubris.  A LOT of hubris. There are a lot of sayings that apply to the weak areas of running a business. "Counting pennies to lose dollars", is one.  That's not just about mo...

 There's something you need to know about filters.   Any filters.  The filter in your furnace, in your ice water pitcher.  The filters in your vehicle.  ALL filters. They are made to "fail." Maybe I should put an asterisk next to that.  When I say fail, they will or are designed and made with the idea of getting clogged and needing to be cleaned or replaced. In that sense, they are made to fail. Which means... filters are made to be inspected.  Regularly,  at specific intervals, on a schedule.  They MUST be checked and cleaned or replaced. This is to protect bigger, more sensitive systems that require clean flow through them.  Whether that be air, fluids, even gases.  The filter protects the system and keeps it operational.  When filters go without being inspected or maintained, bad things can happen.  Sudden shutdowns, poor performance, fires can be started.  Things can literally explode. Just because no one che...

 There are aspects of being a professional handyman that often go unseen by the public.  The public "sees" us fixing thing, making things, even building things.  To be a professional requires much more "behind the scenes". There is training and education.   We must continue learning, practicing,  and having access to information.  That is never-ending.  There are certain requirements that have to be kept up with.  Some of them are government things like licensing, meeting building code requirements,  registrations,  and more.  Then there are operational requirements such as carrying insurance,  obtaining certifications, and maintaining certain professional and trade organization associations.  Operationally, there are things that have to be be documented.   Work orders, invoicing, scheduling, and tax information daily.  Mileage, tracking expenses,  tracking revenues.  If you emoy others, ...

 A customer recently had a ramp built to help get in and out while they recuperate from a survey in which they had a leg amputated and are getting used to a prosthetic leg.  The ramp is for wheelchair access when not using the leg. I did not build this ramp.  Did you know that ALL ramps intended for wheelchair access are supposed to conform to ADA standards?   Yep, they are.  Whoever built that ramp either didn't know or didn't care. That's where I got called in.   While the customer doesn't want the ramp rebuilt,  as it's temporary anyway and will be coming down sooner rather than later...  I was asked to help improve certain safety features.  I put a rubber traction runner on top of the wood of the ramp.  It is basically made like a deck and gets very slippery when wet.  So, they wanted a traction surface put on it. Also, the builder left a significant bump at the bottom of the ramp.  That made it difficult to get t...

 This apartment customer needed to install a couple of ceiling fans.  A combined LED circuit light with fan inside in a bedroom,  and a more traditional ceiling fan with light kit for the living room. Note to apartment building managers... Wiring should be a uniform scheme throughout the building.  Not however the electrician at the time feels like doing whatever unit they happen to be in.  It helps.

 Thise of us who've been at the professional handyman biz for awhile have learned a lot of things along the way.  We've picked up a lot of different skills.  Many of us have gotten a degree for a particular specialty area.  But more important than the knowledge and skills we have and continue to accumulate,  there is one thing that stands more important than any of them, and all of them put together... We don't and can't know everything.   I know, we don't like the idea of disappointing customers. We want to be the go-to guy for them that they can rely on.  But if we REALLY want their trust, their confidence,  we have to be honest and admit when something is not in our skill basket. When a professional handyman isn't honest about having certain knowledge or a particular skill set, we set ourselves and our customers up for failure. I literally can't know everything. I cannot be good at everything.  No one in the world can.  It's call...

 If you have a house, particularly a rental house, maybe on short term rental like AirBnB or such... It's not uncommon at all to have a smart lock on at least one, usually the front, door.  Guests will be guests.  So will cleaning staff and others.  That means that inevitably,  someone will lock themselves out.  They'll forget a code number, they might lose an access fob or card.  They might lock the wrong lock.   Yep, one thing many owners/managers forget about is the doorknob lock and how some folks can't stop themselves from locking that on the way out.  Codes and fobs and thumbprints don't unlock doorknob locks. The smart locks often only control the deadbolt.  Though there are main access door smart locks that control door knob/handle control as well. I usually recommend having a set of keys hidden in a lockbox somewhere on the property, accessible on need-to-know basis only, that has a mechanical key to the front door deadbolt...

 Social media has created near mythic expectations of TV mounting that gets a LOT of customers in trouble trying to meet them. We can all admit, flush mounted screens and hidden wires is very desirable.  But, it's not as easy or as affordable as one might think.  There's some customization that has to happen.  That requires extra or different parts, knowledge, and time.  All of that equals more money than many people were expecting.  It can involve electrical work in moving or adding a receptacle.  Cutting a recess in a wall behind the TV that allows access for wiring and possibly extra components and devices. Just mounting a TV on a wall is straightforward enough.  But the "magic" of hiding all of the wires and connections can make things a lot more interesting.

 There are a lot of people out there doing work and call themselves a handyman.  But they don't actually fix anything.  They are builders.  They will replace, remodel, and do new build work but they don't actually fix or repair things. That's not a handyman,  that's a builder.  The reason they use the term handyman in most cases is so they can take "small" jobs when the work they prefer to do, building, is slow so they can try to keep up with the overhead.  I'm not knocking them,  but I wish they would stop confusing people by using the term "handyman" wrong. Before anything else, a handyman fixes things.  Our niche is preventive and ongoing maintenance and repair.   One of the most common problems is that far too many people have not only bought into the "replace instead of repair" mentality,  they have made it a social shaming thing.  The vendors of replacement products have been very successful in selling the idea that ...

 Mounted a 45" TV recently for a customer in an apartment bedroom.  They had attempted to mount it themselves but then decided to call me in when they had questions about getting it right.   It's never bad or wrong if you find yourself preferring to let someone with more experience jump in if you have doubts or a lack of experience.  That's called wisdom.

 Whether it's a restaurant, store, or shop of some kind, there are certain maintenance and repair issues that constantly pop up that a financial decision must be made... Do you have employees who have a job they should be doing, stop doing to do the maintenance or related task, or. Do you keep the employee focused on what they should be doing, making money on the job they were trained for, and bring in an experienced professional to handle the maintenance tasks as needed? Business properties need constant maintenance attention.   Some of the things that need to becdone are handled by the owner or leasing company as it's a structural issue. Other issues are not handled by the property owner or management company and is the occupant's responsibility.   Especially where it's the occupant's property, equipment,  materials, etc... in question. I provide a valuable preventive maintenance service agreement to local small businesses that takes care of common, preve...

 Being a rental property owner/manager means juggling a lot of balls.  One of those, sometimes several, are property maintenance issues.   Either it's a short term rental issue where the renter is not really expected to do much, if anything, in regard to maintenance or customization issues. They are there for a "hotel" experience.   The ongoing issues at the property aren't theirs to worry about. In a long term rental situation,  many times, the renter is responsible for day-to-day issues. The problem seems to be that most owners/managers find that the renters aren't very good at, or concerned about, actually doing those things.   Which lead to more expensive failures and problems down the road. Many owners/managers don't have the resources to keep a full time employee on to handle these issues.  I offer a solution that gives them a valuable compromise to address the situation.  I offer a monthly preventive maintenance service that ...