JBP Handyman

A few weeks back we did a ceiling repair for a long time customer. He had water damage from a recent leak and a DIY repair he did himself in the 80's. We fixed the leak, repaired the ceiling from the leak and cleaned up the old repair that had cracked.

A few weeks back we did some repairs and painting for a returning customer in West Grove. They are getting ready to sell their home and wanted to finish a few projects they had started a while ago on their own. In the laundry room we repaired some water damage on the ceiling, installed a new door with frame and trim and then painted the ceiling, door, frame and trim. The basement needed a new slab door custom cut to fit and painted. We also did some trim installation at the ...bottom of the stairs. A bedroom on the first floor needed a corner seam repaired and then 2 walls painted with a custom color match. The master bedroom required water damage repaired on the ceiling and then a fresh coat of paint. The pantry bifold doors needed to be rehung with new hardware because the old hardware had been lost years ago. And the door to the garage had a damaged threshold that we repaired.

Awhile back we were asked to redo the exterior trim and paint a double set of doors for a long time customer in North Wilmington. We removed the rotten trim, installed new composite trim and painted everything with a Emerald exterior trim paint from Sherwin Williams. While we were there, we repaired a kitchen chair that the cross bar had dislodged. We also replaced 3 electrical outlets that had failed. And while we were at it we hung some pictures too.... Last we repaired a hall table that had been damaged in the move. The scrolled back had been snapped off clean. We reinforced the back and glued and screwed it back together. Once we blended the stain you cant even tell it was broken.

We recently did a shutter replacement for a new customer in Avondale. The old shutters were well worn and storm damaged. All were drastically sun faded, 2 were broken in half and several were only hanging on by 2 pins out of 6. All told it was 12 sets of shutters in 3 different sizes.

We did a window replacement for a long time customer in North Wilmington. The old window did not stay open on its own and the old counterbalanced couldn't be repaired.. We replaced the old window with a new vinyl window. We also refinished the recessed sill with a white trim paint. While we were there we took care of hanging some pictures and decorations.

From time to time we do repairs for a moving company. It's never a good thing when a mover damages something.. but accidents happen when moving heavy furniture. And we are there to save the day. This case had a gouge in a hardwood floor, multiple dents and scratches in a hardwood staircase and several scratches and dents in drywall plus 1 hole. We were able to sand, stain and blend the hardwood scratches. Scratches are simple but nuanced. You sand them out, match the stain an...d protect with polyurethane. It's almost as much art as science. Dents in hardwood are harder. We had to repopulate the grain first. This allows the wood to expand and even itself out. Then we lightly sand, stain to match and protect with polyurethane. We also spackled and paint matched the drywall issues. See more

A close friend is preparing their house for sale in Landenberg. They needed a little help getting everything ready to show. They had painted the hallway and did a really good job. But due to time constraints never got a chance to put a fresh coat and clean up the line at the ceiling. So we spent a couple hours this week helping them out.

We took care of a quick lunch list for a returning customer in Unionville. We started by installing a new sliding screen door on the back porch. Then we swapped out an old shower head for a new 2 piece shower system and changed the HVAC filter in the attic crawlspace. Next we hung a curtain rod rod and curtains in a second story atrium window. This immediately made a huge difference on the temperature in the room. Then we put in a window A/C unit that we removed in the fall. Last we did a custom window mount for a portable A/C unit in a bedroom. This was tricky because it was not a new unit. We had a box of parts and no directions. So we modified the parts to make a quality window mount for the exhaust vent.

We had a pretty productive week this week. A repeat customer in Landenberg had us refinish her wrought iron furniture. All told it was 3 chairs, 1 round center table, 1 loveseat, 1 end table with a glass top and 1 tea cart with a glass top. The furniture had a lifetime of wear and chipped paint. We sanded everything down, smoothed it out and gave it a fresh paint job. We even got into those hard to reach places that had some surface rust starting. Not pictured is the new ple...xiglass we purchased for the tea cart and end table. We opted for the antique style wavy glass look. At 1/4 thick, the plexi glass is plenty sturdy to handle actual use but still safe in the event something is dropped on it. We had to break out the pneumatic tools to get into all the detailed crevices. But going the extra mile allowed us to pick up the detail in the final coat of paint. You can actually pick out the petals, pistils and stamen on the flowers in the arms and backs of the chairs.

During one of the rainy days last week we took care of a quick project for a new customer in West Grove. We installed new blinds in 3 bedrooms, the bathroom and the living room. The bedrooms and bathroom were standard installs. The only modification required was to adjust the height of the bathroom blinds by removing unnecessary louvers. The living room was trickier. It was a 104 inch window set. The customer did not wish to custom order blinds to fit this size. We carefully mounted 3 standard sets side by side to cover the distance.

Today we finished up an ongoing project for the last few weeks. From start to finish the project only took 4.5 days. But the weather never seemed to cooperate. This project was for a first time customer but long time family friend in West Chester. The shed was damaged, covered in algea, doors were rotting and just generally needed an overhaul. We started by removing the old doors and the t-111 walls on the front. We secured the framework in the walls and hung new t-111 and ne...w doors. We thoroughly pressure washed and treated the whole shed with an algaecide. Then we installed new trim to cover the damaged lower sections on the walls. (These were not rotten. They just had 30 years of mechanical damage so they were beat up.) We replaced the trim on the rear door that had rotted away at the bottom. Then we installed a walnut fascia board on the front to dress it up a bit. We moved the ramp to center it on the doors and attached it to the new fascia securely. We also laid fresh river rock to help dress up and hold the ramp in place. Then we painted the whole structure. See more

We got a call a few weeks back from a new customer in Lincoln University. They needed a new storm door installed. The old one had been ripped off the hinges by a storm. We got the new one installed in short order. We did have to customize the opening slightly to accommodate the door. But the end result was a flush, square and true door. During the quote process we discovered that I had known the family for several years. I coached the son in Flag Football for several years. And their son played on the school team with my son before we moved. This really is a small town.

We got a call about some storm damage last week. A new customer in Kennett Square had us repair the aluminum flashing on the fascia board for their house. Working 2.5 stories up is always tricky. But we got it fixed.

A long time customer in Kennett Square had some storm damage last month. Several shutters had loosened and one had been knocked completely off. We reinstalled the missing shutter and secured the loose shutters. All told 8 out of 14 shutters needed attention. While we were there we also pressure washed the house and shed.

Over the past month, we've been fighting the weather to get caught up on early spring projects. A few weeks ago we painted a set of storage benches for a repeat customer in Landenberg. They started out as a standard white. We custom color matched a grey and a purple to compliment the decor in their studio.

Tuesday we were in Chadds Ford for a repeat customer. This time we repaired the end post for the siding. The homeowner wasn't sure if it was bird damage or storm damage. But it was beat up pretty bad. We removed the bad piece and installed the new one. It was a straight forward job, we had to loosen the ends of the siding to create clearance. Then we attached the end post and reattached everything. We were even able to match the color almost exactly.