I strongly caution you against hiring Ben. In replacing a door he significantly damaged the frame. Amidst a variety of other unprofessionalism that I have added details to below, I requested that the damage be repaired. Within a few hours, he billed me for more than the original estimate and refused to arrange for a time to repair the damage, despite my reasonable offer to reimburse him for out of pocket immediately. He proceeds to invoice me for the original amount and adds a 10% late fee for every month. This finally comes to a head when he sues me in Small Claims Court. Frankly, given Ben's unprofessionalism, I was grateful for the judge to help me manage this issue. So, unless you like settling up bills in small claims court, I would not engage with him. Below are more details: Late January, I connected with ManVan Handyman via Yelp to install rain protection on my backdoor. Benjamin came to my home and gave an estimate of 4 hours + materials. We scheduled the work for the following week. Ahead of the workday, I asked Ben if I needed to prepare anything. He said nothing. Ben arrives late and parks his truck with a dog in it on the sidewalk in front of my house. I am working in my office in the front of the house. I introduce myself and make it clear that I am available should he need anything. Ben makes unprofessional statements about my appearance. After inspecting the area, Ben leaves my apartment, unlocking the front door without my permission, and then goes to purchase supplies. He returns by just walking in the now unlocked front door, without warning. His car is again parked illegally on the sidewalk with a dog in it. Dog starts barking. Ben commences work. He does not lay down a tarp or do any preparation of the location. He proceeds to use a saw and damage the door frame. There is a crack in the trim surrounding the door on the front and back frame and a 1.5 inch gap between the molding and the floor. There is a lot of smudging and dirt and dust everywhere. See photos below. Ben admits that he made a mistake and mismeasured the door and there is additional work needed. Ben has also invited a colleague into the house without my permission. Ben has also brought in his lunch and has created a mess on my kitchen table. His dog is barking from the car in the front of the house. A neighbor rings my doorbell and informs me they will call Animal Welfare if something is not done about the dog barking from the illegally parked car out front. When I tell Ben this, he replies, "you know, that's just the way it's going to be." I tell him he needs to address the issue immediately. He says he will and instructs his colleague to finish. I ask Ben when and how he will complete the job, as there is much damage to the molding surrounding the door. Ben says he can have someone finish the job that week and we should identify a time via text message. Ben leaves to deal with his dog. I have to specify all of the cleanup items for the colleague. Dust is still everywhere. The next day I receive an invoice from ManVan Handyman for $1200 to cover the first day of the work and materials. Note, this work that resulted in damage to my door frame was already above the original estimate. I reply saying the I will gladly reimburse for any out of pocket expenses that they send me receipts for. However, I note, I will not pay for any labor until the project is completed. The person on the text (I believe it is the colleague who came to clean up) replies by saying this is not their policy and they will not send someone to complete the job until the original invoice is paid. I request a phone call, and on that conversation I reiterate my offer to: Reimburse for any out-of-pocket expenses if they can send me copies of receipts To schedule a time for the team to complete the job I note that this job needs to be completed with professionalism as there were multiple issues with the service provided by Ben initially The person on the phone says they will talk to the team. I follow-up a few days later, they say they will not schedule a time to repair the door and that I must pay the entire invoice. They continue to send me invoices for work, and are include a $120 / month late fee. This late fee is far beyond a reasonable amount and represents a 100% annual interest rate on the invoice. In the meantime, I have contacted an alternative contractor to repair the work on the door. Their estimate is $800 for materials and 8 hours of labor at $127.5 / hour. So $1820 to repair the damage they caused. read more

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I hired Ben about a month ago to install some drywall and to replace a bathroom faucet for me. He did a decent job on the drywall and didn't charge for material costs like a lot of other contractors did. The one star comes from creating a mess and damage as he performed his job. He dented my ceiling and walls and did a shoddy job at covering it up/he did not let me know. As for the bathroom faucet, he only decided to install the faucet and not the drain and left metal shavings literally everywhere (again also didn't let me know he only performed a portion of the job). On a separate note, I wfh and I stepped ups stairs for a couple minutes. When I came down he was sitting at my dining table where I work, with his mask off eating lunch and using my mug as a prop for his phone while he was laughing at some news video. Overall just really bad etiquette. If you hire him, I'd monitor him closely, make sure he cleans up after himself and set ground rules beforehand. read more

Man and a Van Handyman - Damage to my ceiling - Handyman Near Me

I hired Benjamin to install a shower door in my newly remodeled bathroom. Long story short, he dropped one of the panes of tempered glass. The glass exploded up to 10 feet in all directions leading out of the bathroom, cracked the new shower pan, put numerous small nicks into the walls, and scraped up the floorboard. Ben also had to go to the ER, having been cut on the arm by the glass. I don't fault him for the accident, but my review centers around all the elements that led up to the accident and the aftermath. - Carelessness: After I helped him bring the shower door into the apartment, he unpacked it and leaned one glass pane against the wall while he went to install the other one. I wasn't in the room, but I heard a crash. When I came out, I realized the glass had slid out against the laminate floor, only stopping because it hit one of the legs of my couch. On the way down, the glass scraped off the corner of my wall as well as the edge of a glass shelf. The shower pane also had some chips in it from this incident. When Ben came out, he was speechless and didn't acknowledge his mistake or offer any way to resolve the issue. I told him I'd contact the company to see if we can order a replacement pane. We decided to carry on with the work, installing the glass and replacing it with a new, undamaged piece at a later date. - Lack of attention to detail: For one of the installation steps, Ben had to cut a stainless steel tube. He did this inside the bathroom with a handsaw. While watching him, I noticed that he kept knocking the wall tiles with the end of the tube while cutting. I later found a pretty large chip in one of the tiles that was likely a result of this (and not the glass falling). There were lots of other small things like leaving red markings on the grout that I was not able wash off (even with a Mr. Clean Eraser) and the shower rail not being level (causing the the sliding door to slide around on its own). - Lack of ownership: When Ben dropped the glass pane, his very first reaction was a loud "That's a manufacturer defect!" In my mind, the glass shattering is clearly a result of the drop combined with the earlier incident of the glass sliding out. At no point throughout the entire work and aftermath did Ben seem to take ownership of what happened. He blamed the difficulty of the project and the manufacturers. I admit that installing the shower door should have been a two person job. I don't think I realized the scope of the work. However, Benjamin should have advised against continuing if he felt like the job would be too difficult. While I appreciate that he wants to finish what he's hired to do, he puts both him and the work in jeopardy by not making these professional judgments. - Poor crisis management: Ben naturally (and understandably) had to run out to the ER to deal with a bleeding arm. After he was patched up and deemed okay, he sent his assistant some photos of his condition which she forwarded to us. However, he did not say what we should do in the meantime. My girlfriend and I ended up cleaning up the glass (we continued to find glass for weeks after the incident). When he came back from the hospital, one of the first things he did was ask us to pay him for the three hours he worked. He did not thank us for cleaning up after him, examine the damages, or make any offers to rectify the situation. Overall, Ben is probably fine for small projects. And when things go right, he's probably perfectly competent at what he does. But what I've come to realize working with contractors and handymen throughout a bathroom remodel process is that what happens when issues crop up (which they always do for larger projects) is almost more important than anything else. Ben's work and attitude did not inspire confidence. I do want to leave this review with one positive note: His secretary Cathy was extremely apologetic, professional, and responsive in helping me sort out the issue with their insurance. In addition, their insurance was prompt in reimbursing me for a replacement shower door and the labor needed to install it. I was also going to have the floorboards redone (which they also promised to cover), but I have not been able to arrange that work yet. All the other nicks and scratches I am either trying to fix myself or just live with them. read more

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Ben repaired the concrete in front of our commercial space. He was responsive and initially came on time, for the work done. Why the 1 star then? His work didn't last 6 months. In addition, while we tested his fix when he was there and things worked fine, his work caused a series of door related issues later after the concrete expanded. I texted him with no response back. Wouldn't recommend. Photo is after the fix read more

Man and a Van Handyman - Handyman Near Me

Great company and owner Benjamin and team! Very very happy with the personal attention, care, communication and professionalism that they provide. Several jobs completed, small and big jobs. Highly recommend. read more

TL;DR Like others have mentioned, Benjamin's only good quality is his availability. Benjamin came in for a simple wall patching and failed to fix the wall twice. When we asked for a refund, he said no, remarking that he has "a lack of empathy" for his clients. Edit: Seems like Benjamin has replied and lied about his work. Please see the other 1 star reviews people have made for him, feel free to review the snapshots of our conversations with him and don't fall for his lies. My hope is that you'll avoid the same pitfalls that we did. Cheers, Ben Long Form: We had Benjamin come in and fix two holes in our wall. On his first attempt, he taped over the larger hole and then plastered both. After blasting them with a heat gun so they would dry, he painted over them. There were many things wrong with this first attempt: - You could clearly see the dent left in the wall from the smaller hole, since he didn't use enough plaster. - You could see the tape through the paint for the larger hole - Many, many bubbles formed in the plaster of the larger hole - Even though his website says he specializes in retexturing, he didn't do any. - His paint job was completely different from the rest of the wall. We asked Benjamin to come back and amend his work. In our later conversation over text, he emphasized doing this "for free", as if it's some sort of extra perk, when instead fixing his own mistakes should be a given. Then, he mentioned he'd have to come back to follow up and so he could properly sand and paint the wall. If that was the right way to do it, why didn't he do it the first time? Again, there were many issues with his work: - Both of the holes developed even larger cracks than his first attempt - He plastered over huge sections of our wall unnecessarily, leaving more for us to sand down and repaint. - He used tape over the larger hole, when cutting it open and adding new gypsum board was required. He admitted this over text. After contacting many other contractors and reaching a consensus that our wall would have to be redone again, we asked Benjamin for a refund. He responded with unexpected vitriol, talking about how we were judging his work before completion. I cannot emphasize enough: Benjamin was already on his second attempt at fixing a simple problem when he said this. He had already declared the work over and done with. Then, he blamed our existing wall, the only thing he didn't need to fix, for the cracks that had formed in his patch. He said that because the crack appeared after he left, it wasn't his responsibility. If the drywall he put in cracks while drying, isn't that his responsibility? For some reason, he also threatened to take longer to finish the job, saying "I told you this job would have taken another hour to complete and I would have capped it at an hour, but that ship has sailed". He is now attempting to hold our wall hostage and extort us for another $280 for a wall he has already left wrecked twice. When asked about this, he glosses over having already ruined the wall once, instead saying it's not fair to judge him on his unfinished second attempt, which has cracked already, requiring a third attempt. When asked to empathize with the predicament he'd left us in, Benjamin said "I leave my emotions out of my business, thank you for noticing my lack of empathy". For someone who espouses integrity as a business value, Benjamin certainly displays very little of it. We are now worse off than we were before, since we still have to hire another contractor, who will have to cut out Benjamin's poor workmanship over the hole itself, sand down the rest of the wall he ruined, and then do what we had originally hired Benjamin to do. read more

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Benjamin was super helpful and did a great job installing a vinyl screen door on a door to the backyard. He came by and took measurements and helped me pick out the closest sized door and other hardware to buy at Lowes. He trimmed the door to fit perfectly and added additional wood trim around the door. He efficiently took care of the problems that came up and the door works great! It was exactly what we wanted and we couldn't be happier with the screen door! He was very careful with mask and gloves and was super nice to our dog. read more

Man and a Van Handyman - Handyman Near Me

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TL;DR: We hired Benjamin to recaulk two showers and a bathtub. In less than 90 days, his work had significantly started to fall apart (see photos) and the deterioration has continued rapidly. When informed about this, Benjamin offered a partial credit that wouldn't fully cover the amount of time required to fix his work (he charged $460 originally but only "credited" us $240). If we took up his offer, we'd essentially be paying him more money to "fix" his unsatisfactory original work as it has to be completely redone. Interpersonally, Benjamin has come across as slightly unprofessional which has added a layer of discomfort to the entire engagement. Based on our experience and other 1 star reviews, working with Benjamin is a gamble that I wouldn't recommend taking. More detail below: 1. Benjamin's work lacked attention to detail which resulted in ugly work. We actually didn't bring this up with Benjamin initially because we were more concerned with functionality rather than aesthetics. 2. We hired Benjamin to reseal our bathtub but a gap remains. The caulk in the showers has been consistently falling apart. Within a couple of weeks, Benjamin's work started to deteriorate. By the 3 month mark, it became clear that we would have to hire somebody else to redo Benjamin's work. 3. When I contacted Benjamin about the issue, he didn't offer to fix the issue free of charge. Instead, he "credited" about half of his original charge ($240) to our "account" (we paid via venmo). Essentially, if we wanted him to fix his work, we would have to pay him more money. We would risk falling into a cycle like the ones described in other 1 star reviews where we'd be paying Benjamin to continuously fix his own work. 4. The email exchanges with Benjamin bordered on sassy, passive aggressive, and unprofessional in tone. They were't bad but just added to an overall negative experience. 5. Benjamin left a big mess, and we had to clean up after him. 6. He was very talkative which wouldn't have been an issue at all had he performed fast/high-quality work. read more

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My first step was scheduling the work I needed on the phone with a very friendly assistant, who's name I didn't get but thank you to her! Ben showed up right at the appointed time, was very friendly and got straight to work replacing a toilet and light fixture. He got it all done fast so as not to disrupt the household for very long. Highly recommended. read more

Man and a Van Handyman - New toilet - Handyman Near Me

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Benjamin did a FANTASTIC job. We needed to replace a door in our home with a door that is from the same period (1890's). We found the door, but of course we could not find the exactly right size. Benjamin used the old door to add another 1/4 in to the width of the door, and it fit in perfectly. Really good work, he is knowledgeable, he gets the job done and he DOES NOT rip you off! We have already contacted him to work on other projects in our house. read more

Very happy with the process and outcome of working with Ben. I needed help anchoring a massive bougainvillea to an exterior concrete wall. Ben was quick to respond for scheduling and available to meet soon also. He listened to what my goal was, proposed a better solution than I originally had in mind, and was able to start later the same day. His pricing was transparent and reasonable. He clearly communicated throughout and completed the project well under the time than he'd originally estimated. read more

Do NOT hire this guy. I stupidly did by falling for his best attribute: his availability (bad sign). In weatherproofing a door with weatherproof tape, he removed 1/4" tape to reinstall new 1" tape and I didn't realize the door wouldn't close until he and his (unwanted) apprentice were leaving. In removing that 1" tape he screwed up the door further. I tried to give him a chance to correct his mistake after he texted me saying "I look forward to fixing my error." When he came by to rectify his mistake, he showed up 4 hours late with the wrong tape, which btw he himself called a "bonehead move." He also installed a hot water instant heater that leaked soon thereafter, and caused water damage, and then lmk he found it "helpful to know" that a plumber fixed his mistake for $175 and the issue was that he did not install the tubing properly. Benjamin lacks common sense. San Franciscans, you might also be desperate for handyman help, but Benjamin is not worth it. He will make your house worse. Do not hire this guy. read more

Fixed my door! Great personalities, clean, efficient. Responds quickly. Works at an hourly rate.

We had a leak in the ceiling and asked Benjamin to come and fix it. Without missing a beat he showed up patched and painted it! He did such a great job we decided to get him to pressure wash the back yard tile and walk ways. Shortly after that we had him paint the back steps! When it comes to paint this guy knows what he is doing! We even had a problem with the lighting in the garden. Fixed! Is there anything else to say! He fixes it no matter what it is. Thanks again for all the help! **** he comes prepared with mask and gloves and practices good social distancing!***** read more

Ben has been responsive, personable and a great guy doing the job right. Prices are fair and outcomes are solid.

Ben does a great job at explaining all the options that the job has in front of it, analyzing prices, the amount of work to be done and is very communicative on price. He will not up-charge you and he has a huge tool kit to fully complete the job! Ben is the go-to-person for all our handyman needs and is very fairly priced (as well as no surprise bills) read more

Benjamin was prompt, neat, and installed my shelves exactly as I spec'd. I would hire him again in a second.

After failing to perform to expectations when we hired him in October, 2021, Benjamin agreed he would return to finish the substandard work. When we attempted to contact him in October 2021 to follow up, Benjamin tried to sell us a new hardwood floor. Once we made clear we were no longer interested in any future work, Benjamin did not return our calls for over a week. Thereafter, he reluctantly, and rather poorly, returned and finished the job he had initially done. Our disappointment with him is not about his hourly rate, but about the quality of work exhibited.. read more

What an amazing service. I called early in the morning and they were able to fit me in. My dad had taken a fall and the Fire Department had to break into his house. The service was so wonderful. The person that scheduled my appointment was so helpful and kept me updated. I was worried about the pricing, but the front office assured me that they only booked 3 hours, so if the Handyman showed up and saw that the work would be more than that he would immediately let me know. I also sent them photos of the damage. Benjamin was a pleasure to work with. He kept me informed on the progress. He also showed me receipts for items that he bought. He also was able to stop by later in the day to make a minor adjustment. I was so lucky that they were able to come out so fast to help me out. I really loved the work he did. I highly recommend this service. read more

Benjamin at Man and a Van Handyman is great. We had just bought a new place and there were lots of small and medium size projects needed to really make it livable and he knew exactly what to do. He repaired some stuck old doors, installed shelves and cabinets, replaced hard to reach lights, and more. He's above and beyond professional and has a good eye for detail. I found him to be a great value. Highly recommended! read more

Scam. Benjamin was very communicative in setting up an assessment for a basically railing project we need done on our back porch. He arrived about 20 minutes late on a 1pm appointment (not a huge deal) on a Thursday, took measurements, and said he was off to the hardware store to get materials needed for the job. We didn't hear from him for hours. He finally texted at 6:05p that he had tried all the major stores (Lowe's, Home Depot) and two other shops with no luck. He returned to our home to collect payment for the work done -- $200. He suggested he would try to find the materials over the weekend and be in touch. By the next Tuesday afternoon we had not heard a word from him. I texted, and got no reply. I reached back out on Yelp, and he responded apologizing for the lack of communication and said he was still waiting to hear back from a vendor about our railing materials. By Thursday evening we had still not heard back from him with any update or alternative. I reached out again by text (no reply), so resorted to Yelp and got the same excuse -- sorry for no communication, week was "crazy", understand if we want to use someone else, but he's still "working on it". It is now Sunday, and we effectively have not heard back from him in over a week, other that his responses to us reaching out. We've now explored other options and requested a refund since there is no real proof of any work being done. read more

Benjamin has done two jobs for us - building furniture for a home office and then a drywall patch over a plumbing repair. Both times he was reliable and efficient. The dry wall work was complicated and he did a good job. read more

Hired Benjamin for two jobs. One of them was to replace some old outlets with GFCI outlets, a task which he seemed comfortable taking on. During the process of the install, he shorted out GFCI 3 outlets, so i was constantly running back and forth to the hardware store. Finally, he got one of them working and I just told him to put back the original outlet on the other side. 30 minutes after he left, neither outlet was working. He referred me to an electrician friend of his, who it turned out was not a licensed electrician either. So this process cost me $200, plus $60 for the 3 outlets that were burned out. I eventually hired a licensed electrician I had worked with in the past to do the job and they informed me that the way the wiring was set up in there was dangerous, and could have shocked anyone who touched the plates, so it's good that they shorted out. I decided not to continue with the other job after this experience. I am not able to comment on his skills in other areas, but I cannot recommend him for any electrical work--do yourself a favor and just get an electrician. read more

Benjamin is great. He can do almost anything. I highly recommend him! Managed several complicated jobs with ease. Very simpatico as well. read more

Prompt, professional, reasonably priced for SF, results look great!

Super friendly and great work. Fixed two doors that were shutting smoothly. One required sanding down and repainting, the other he removed some spacing next to the hinges. Both are solved! Scheduling was easy and price was very reasonable. Thanks! read more

Easy to schedule and work with to repair/replace two entry doors after moving into a new home. Already scheduled Ben to come back again to replace wood rotted door framing as well. read more

Great experience and was pleasure dealing with Benjamin. His quote was accurate, his calendar flexibility matched our needs, and he picked up the heavy items (door slabs) for us from Lowe's and delivered them to our home! Installation was swift and a job well done, with high up-beat music and positive attitude all the way. Highly recommend! read more

Man and a Van Handyman - New doors installed! - Handyman Near Me

He showed up to work ready to get the job done. He only did a few projects so far but we're happy with his work and will definitely call him again. read more

We really enjoyed working with Benjamin! He was able to come out to help us with our list of projects on relatively short notice, he was very responsive in working with us about scheduling, and the quality of his work was great. Our projects were fairly small , but spanned a lot of different things -- plumbing, electrical, flooring, small repairs -- and he did a great job with all of them, in a pretty short amount of time. We would definitely hire him again! read more

Great highly professional and personable. A true joy to work with! Will hire again for all home handy needs.

We had a leaky sink which needed re-caulking. Ben responded to my request on Thumbtack within minutes, and had same-day availability. He was able to purchase the caulking and come over to fix it within just a a couple hours. He took half the time to complete the job and charged me less than originally quoted. I appreciated that Benjamin offered to remove his shoes when entering the house, and he also took safety precautions with gloves and a mask. Quick, efficient, and quality work. I would work with Benjamin again. read more

Benjamin did a fantastic job mounting two heavy cabinets, one wood, one metal, to our plaster/drywall walls. He worked quickly and efficiently getting it all done in only an hour. He is professional, knowledgeable, and competent. I also love that it's a family business as Cathy is his mother! He was a pleasure to work with, I will be hiring him for more jobs again soon. read more

Man and a Van Handyman - Wooden cabinet installed in bathroom - Handyman Near Me

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So thankful! Our front door handle had become loose and we couldn't open the door. We also had a bathroom sink that was draining very slowly. I sent a message Monday morning and heard back within a couple hours. Benjamin came out the next morning and fixed both problems within an hour. He wore a mask, which was appreciated with how things are in the world now, and he took off his shoes before entering the house when I requested. He was also wonderful with my 2 year old who was very curious about everything he was doing. We discussed future projects and I look forward to his help again soon. I highly recommend Man and a Van Handyman! read more

We have had Benjamin work on a couple of projects in our loft and he's been an absolute professional with very reasonable pricing. Highly recommend him for any handyman work in your house. read more

I had a ceiling fan to be assembled and installed, including minor electrical work. Benjamin took care of it handily. Quick, efficient, communicative service. Will certainly be using him for future projects around the house! read more

I am happy with his attention to my issue. Benjamin re-installed a door hinge in five minutes. He also removed several inches at the bottom of the door. I can now open the door without having to pull it over the carpet. He was fast and efficient. I will hive him again when the need arises. He was half the price of the closest bid. read more

I had a relatively small but custom door installation that Benjamin did for me (installing a communicating door). Benjamin was very helpful in picking out the door slab and hardware. I was also especially appreciative of Benjamin's responsiveness ahead of the installation, answering all of my questions in a timely manner. The end result looks and works great, and I was happy that the final cost came in below Benjamin's initial estimate. I would be delighted to hire Benjamin for similar jobs in the future. read more

Called this morning to get availability. Got an appointment this afternoon to install grab bars in our shower. Benjamin showed up on time, checked the shower to see what was needed for the job, then went to get the materials. Within 2 hours he got the materials and completed the installation, including an additional run to the hardware store for some small parts needed. We really appreciate his quick response and work for this needed work. The grab bars look great in our shower, and he showed us how sturdy they are by hanging on to them. read more

We had multiple issues with our front door failing to close and latch properly and Benjamin was extremely efficient in fixing them all. We previously had another handyman come by a few days prior, and that handyman spent 2 hours attempting (and failing) to fix the issues that Benjamin ultimately fixed in under an hour. Further, he was punctual, professional, and a pleasure to work with. He was easy to communicate with and was able to come by within a few days of our first conversation. I would highly recommend him to anyone looking for a handyman, and would certainly hire him again. Many thanks, Benjamin! read more