Handyman Services in Houston, TX
Browse 2 local handymen in Houston. Check reviews, compare pricing, and contact directly — no middleman fees.
Common Handyman Services in Houston
Here are the most requested handyman services in the Houston area.
Flood Repair & Resilient Rebuilds
Cutting back and replacing drywall, pulling and replacing flooring, swapping bottom-row cabinets and baseboards, rewiring low outlets and drying out HVAC. For a home that has flooded before, the better conversation is about rebuilding differently — tile instead of carpet, closed-cell insulation, raised outlets, removable base cabinets — so the next time costs less.
Moisture, Mold & Wood Rot
Sealing, resealing, exhaust fan installs, replacing soft trim and subfloor, and tracking down where water keeps getting in. Houston gets roughly fifty inches of rain a year with no real dry season — rain in every month — so surfaces stay wet long enough for problems to develop behind them.
Pier-and-Beam & Crawlspace Work
Re-leveling and shimming, sistering joists, repairing subfloor, fixing skirting and dealing with crawlspace moisture. This is Heights and inner-loop work: older Houston homes sit on piers with a crawlspace you can get into, which is both a maintenance burden and a genuine advantage when a pipe leaks.
Slab-Era Repairs (Katy, Cypress, Sugar Land)
Door and window adjustment, crack patching, and the cosmetic side of slab movement in newer suburbs. On a post-tension slab there's no crawlspace access, so a plumbing leak surfaces as a slab leak — a handyman handles the symptoms, but locating and repairing the line itself is specialist work.
Storm Cleanup, Fences & Roof Patching
Fence and gate repair, gutter work, fascia and soffit patching, and small roof repairs after wind. Beryl in July 2024 was only a Category 1 and still knocked out power for 2.2 million customers across the region while damaging thousands of roofs and fences — the long tail of small repairs is steady work here.
Mounting, Assembly & Honey-Do Lists
TV mounting, shelving, ceiling fans, furniture assembly, doors and locks, and the running punch list — steady year-round from inside the loop out through Katy, Spring and Pearland.
Need something not on this list? Most handymen in Houston handle a wide range of odd jobs. See the full list of handyman services.
Finding a Handyman in Houston
Houston's defining repair story isn't a single storm — it's recurrence. Harris County holds more severely repetitive-loss flood properties than any other jurisdiction in the United States, close to one in eight of the entire national total. That's a different problem from a one-time disaster: it means thousands of standing homes have been gutted and rebuilt more than once, and will be again. The work that follows has a recognizable shape — drywall cut back and replaced, flooring pulled, bottom-row cabinets and baseboards swapped, outlets rewired, HVAC dried out — and the homeowners who've been through it twice start asking different questions, about tile instead of carpet and removable base cabinets instead of built-ins. The second thing worth knowing before you hire here is a permitting trap that catches even experienced contractors: in Houston, a property in the floodplain may need a floodplain development permit even when no building permit is required. That's the inverse of how permitting usually works, and it bites because repairing flood damage is itself regulated development. Beyond water, Houston has its own pests and its own foundations — the Formosan termite first turned up in Texas at the Ship Channel in 1956, and the metro splits between pier-and-beam bungalows in the Heights with crawlspaces you can actually get into and post-tension slabs out in Katy and Cypress where you can't. Whether you own a 1920s bungalow inside the loop, a newer place in Sugar Land, or a house out toward Magnolia or Dickinson, a handyman who knows Houston's water and its paperwork is worth keeping on speed dial.
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How to Hire a Handyman in Houston
Two Houston-specific things to raise before anyone quotes. First, the floodplain question, which is genuinely the most useful thing on this page: a property in the floodplain may require a floodplain development permit even when no building permit is needed, because repairing flood damage counts as regulated development. Ask about it before demolition, not after — Houston Public Works runs a Floodplain Management Office at 832-394-8854 that will tell you. Second, be skeptical of what you've read about Houston contractor licensing. A wall of surety-bond and insurance sites claims the city requires general contractors to carry a $5,000 bond and $300,000 of liability coverage. The city's own permitting guide says plainly that general contractors are not required to be licensed. There is a real $2,000 bond, but it applies narrowly to driveway and sidewalk work — not to general contracting.
- Confirm they carry general liability insurance. Texas doesn't license general handymen and Houston adds no city contractor license, so insurance and references are your main protection.
- Understand Texas licensing. Texas issues NO statewide handyman or general-contractor license — the limits are on the type of work, not the price of the job. Electrical and air-conditioning/refrigeration work require a Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation license, and plumbing requires a license from the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners. For anything touching wiring, AC or water lines, ask to see the trade license.
- Ignore the $5,000 bond claim. A large number of surety-bond and insurance sites assert that Houston requires general contractors to post a $5,000 bond and carry $300,000 of liability coverage. The City of Houston's own permitting guide states that general contractors are not required to be licensed. The one real bond — $2,000 — applies to driveway and sidewalk permits specifically.
- Check the floodplain BEFORE work starts. A floodplain development permit can be required even when a building permit is not, because flood-damage repair is itself regulated development. Houston Public Works' Floodplain Management Office (832-394-8854) can confirm. Substantial-improvement rules kick in at 50% of appraised value.
- Know the permit exemptions — and the word "aggregate." Houston publishes specific thresholds below which no building permit is needed: 100 sq ft aggregate of drywall, 128 sq ft aggregate of fascia, trim or soffit, 100 sq ft aggregate of roof covering, fences to 8 ft, sheds to 120 sq ft, decks to 200 sq ft and 30 inches high, retaining walls to 4 ft. Aggregate means repeated small jobs are added together, not treated separately — four 90 sq ft drywall patches are not four exempt jobs.
- Don't assume no zoning means no permits. Houston genuinely has no zoning, but that governs land use, not construction — building permits are still fully required. Private deed restrictions, recorded with the Harris County Clerk, are what actually limit use on most properties.
- Get a written estimate that breaks out labor, materials and timeline, and ask for references or before/after photos from recent Houston-area jobs.
Handyman Costs in Houston, TX
Typical rates for common handyman jobs in the Houston area.
Estimates based on 2026 Houston-area rates, which run close to Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth — federal wage data shows the three metros within a few percent of each other, so be wary of anyone claiming Houston is dramatically cheaper. Actual costs vary by provider, job complexity, materials and which part of the metro you're in; many pros charge a minimum or first-hour fee of roughly $85–$150. * Texas requires a licensed plumber for plumbing work — faucet and toilet repairs are shown for reference only.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a handyman need a license in Houston?
Texas issues no statewide handyman or general-contractor license, and the City of Houston adds none of its own — its permitting guide states plainly that general contractors are not required to be licensed. What Texas regulates is the type of work, not the price: electrical and air-conditioning/refrigeration work require a Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation license, and plumbing requires a license from the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners. There's no dollar threshold that changes this.
I read that Houston requires a $5,000 bond and $300,000 of insurance. Is that true?
No, and it's worth addressing directly because the claim is everywhere. A large number of surety-bond vendors and insurance sites assert that Houston requires general contractors to post a $5,000 bond and carry $300,000 of general liability coverage, and the claim is repeated often enough that search summaries will sometimes state it confidently. The City of Houston's own permitting documentation says general contractors are not required to be licensed. There is a real bond in Houston's rules — $2,000 — but it applies specifically to driveway and sidewalk permits, which is curb-cut work in the public right of way, not general contracting.
Do I need a permit for a small repair?
Houston publishes specific thresholds, and there's one word in them that matters enormously: aggregate. No building permit is needed for up to 100 square feet aggregate of drywall, 128 square feet aggregate of fascia, trim or soffit, 100 square feet aggregate of roof covering, fences up to 8 feet, sheds up to 120 square feet, decks up to 200 square feet and 30 inches high, or retaining walls up to 4 feet. Aggregate means repeated small jobs get added together rather than counted separately — so four separate 90-square-foot drywall patches are not four exempt jobs. If your home is in the floodplain, see the next question, because the permit answer can change entirely.
What is the floodplain permit trap?
It's the inverse of how permitting normally works, and it's the single most useful thing on this page. In Houston, a property located in the floodplain may need a floodplain development permit even when no building permit is required — because repairing flood damage is itself treated as regulated development. So a job that's comfortably inside the drywall exemption can still need paperwork if the house is in the floodplain. Substantial-improvement rules also apply at 50% of appraised value. Houston Public Works runs a Floodplain Management Office at 832-394-8854 that will tell you where you stand. Ask before demolition, not after.
Why do some Houston homes flood over and over?
Because of where they sit, and it's a bigger pattern here than anywhere else in the country. Harris County holds more FEMA-designated severe repetitive loss properties than any other jurisdiction in the United States — close to twelve percent of the national total. These are homes that have flooded and been repaired multiple times, and most of them are still standing and still exposed. For a homeowner in that situation the useful conversation isn't just repair, it's rebuilding differently: tile instead of carpet, closed-cell insulation, outlets raised above the usual height, base cabinets that come out without demolition. It costs a little more once and considerably less the third time.
Does Houston have no zoning? Does that mean no permits?
Houston genuinely has no zoning — the city's planning department confirms its codes do not address land use. But that governs what you may use a property for, not how you may build, and building permits are still fully required. What actually constrains use on most Houston properties is privately recorded deed restrictions, filed with the Harris County Clerk and partially enforced by the City Legal Department. So "Houston has no zoning" is true and "therefore I don't need a permit" does not follow.
How much does a handyman cost in Houston?
Roughly $55–$100 per hour, with a minimum or first-hour fee around $85–$150. Worth flagging a trap in researching this: Houston is one of the most misinformation-polluted handyman cost queries online. One major cost guide publishes a Houston hourly figure that is character-for-character identical to its Austin page, and another generates its Houston per-job prices from a national table using a city multiplier. Federal wage data puts Houston, Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth within a few percent of each other, so treat any claim that Houston is dramatically cheaper with suspicion.
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