Homeowners - pls talk to me about property maintenance companies

[deliakate]

I have seen them advertised, but not sure whether they offer what I am looking for....

Basically, DH and I have a largish, period home, but are inept at property maintenance. We both have lots of commitments and can't really get into it all ourselves, but I'm worried about wear and tear.

So I'm looking for someone who can come in and carry out things like gutter clearing, storm drains, nailing up the odd loose board/down pipe.... things like that. I could oversee obviously and keep a calendar of what and when, but I want one person/company to do it all...... does it exist? Anyone have any experiences???

Property maintenance companies are generally used by very large (as in multiple) property owners or lettings agencies. They will charge a lot for their services. I think what you want is a local handyman who you can call upon as and when - you need to ask around in your neighbourhood. Things like boiler maintenance and more technical jobs can be covered by monthly payments to schemes run by British Gas etc but for simple bits and pieces find a reliable handyman.

I was going to suggest the same as lala. I've a friend with a large house (and me cash than me) and she has a handy man who does lots of odd jobs. They have an agreed daily rate and gives him jobs as and when. They have a verbal agreement, which means he's guaranteed a certain amount of work each year and in exchange she gets good and prompt service.

You can also find online lists of what needs to be done each year. which helps manage that side of thing.

I use a local handyman, who I found via my best friend. We both needed loads of little, fiddly jobs doing, at various times, and he's fab for this. She found him on Facebook!

Now I've used him a few times, I seem to have moved up the priority list a bit, so the first few times I called him, I had to wait a few days before he could get to me, whereas last time I called him, because one of the radiators was leaking, he came on his way home that evening. Didn't charge me for that, either!! I have only hired him for the whole day once, and that was when I had all my interior doors replaced, so I booked him for the day to hang them all, other times it has just been for a specific task.