San Francisco handyman jobs you pick, with no bidding
Handyman jobs in San Francisco come to you as short texts: what needs fixing and what part of the city it is in. Signing up costs nothing, and when a lead suits your trades, you buy it and deal with the homeowner yourself.
- Each text names the job and area
- Buy only the leads you want
- No bidding and no commission
How leads reach you
Sign up on this page
Confirm your email and mobile number, then pick your trades and the areas you cover.
A job arrives by text
When a homeowner in your areas asks for your kind of work, the text says what and where.
Take the ones you want
Pay only for a lead you choose. No subscription, no bidding, no cut of the job.
Call the homeowner
You get their details and agree the price and the time with them directly.
Start getting leads
Six short steps, about five minutes. Have a photo of yourself ready.
To sign up, call or text (415) 449-8213.
You're signed up, .
Leads that match your trades and areas will come by text from (415) 449-8213. Save the number so you know it's us.
Jobs are waiting: check your texts now.
Texts are off for this number because it replied STOP before. Text START to (415) 449-8213 to turn lead texts on.
Your profile is also waiting for review for jobs inside the HandymanNow app. Log in with when the app opens to everyone.
What city homeowners ask for
Most requests here come from buildings more than a century old, from fog-soaked avenues near the ocean, or from newer towers with management rules. Each one changes how long a job runs and what goes in the van.
Pre-1915 wood, paint and plaster
Some 48,000 wooden Victorians and Edwardians were built here between 1849 and 1915, and a large share of the survivors sit west of Van Ness, where the 1906 fire was stopped. Paint lies thick on doors and sash, old plaster is cracked, floors slope from room to room, and a later stucco front can still hide original windows.
Wet wood on the western avenues
Streetcars and the 1918 tunnel turned the dunes of the Sunset and outer Richmond into rows of stucco-fronted houses, many by Henry Doelger, set on 25-foot lots without side yards. Every ladder and box of tile goes in at the street door or through the garage. Fog swells frames and rusts hardware, and repeated floor plans mean one fix often recurs down the block.
Finish work after a retrofit
Since 2013, San Francisco has made owners of soft-story wood buildings, with open garages or shops beneath the flats, screen them. Steel frames and shear walls are a licensed contractor's job. The follow-up is often handyman work: patching and painting around new framing, rehanging garage shelving, easing doors that started binding afterward and reinstalling trim.
Condos with house rules
Mid-rise condos have gone up across Mission Bay under a redevelopment plan dating from 1998, and the Marina's older blocks sit on 1920s fill. In managed buildings, expect concrete and steel walls, a booked elevator, fixed loading hours and written limits on drilling or hanging things, all worth asking about before you arrive.
Your jobs, in the HandymanNow app
Leads by text start the day you sign up. The app adds jobs from homeowners who book inside it, once your profile is reviewed.
- Go online when you want work
- Get requests from homeowners nearby
- Message customers and navigate to the job
- Update the job as you go and see your activity
Why city handymen work this way
Judge parking before paying
In this city, parking and stairs can decide whether a job is worth taking. Because every text names the area, you can think about the block, the hill and your route before you spend anything on a lead.
Deal straight with the owner
A lead you buy comes with the homeowner's contact details. You call or text them, work out the scope, and settle price and timing between the two of you. No commission is taken from the job.
Change your mix by text
If you add plaster work to your trades or want to stop hearing about a region, text the change. Reply STOP whenever you want the lead texts to end.
Questions handymen ask
Can I take San Francisco leads and skip the rest of the Bay Area?
Yes. You choose the regions you work in when you sign up, so you can pick the city by itself. If you later want work on the Peninsula or across the bay, send a text to add that region, and matching leads from there start coming to the same phone.
Do condo and apartment jobs come through?
Leads reflect what homeowners asked The Handyman SF for, through its web pages, phone line and texts, so condo work comes through when condo owners ask. Building rules on elevators, loading and drilling are something to raise with the owner on your first call, once the lead is yours.
What should I ask on the first call about an older flat?
Ask which floor it is on and how many stairs lead up, where a truck or van can stop, whether the door or window is original, and whether anyone has stripped or painted it recently. You and the homeowner agree the price and time directly, so this is also when to set expectations.
I only do finish work, not structural. Is that a problem?
No. You list your own trades at sign-up, and leads are matched to them. Seismic bracing, foundations and permitted work go to a licensed contractor; patching, painting, door adjustment and trim afterward are ordinary handyman jobs, and plenty of the city's wood apartment buildings have had a retrofit.
How does the HandymanNow app fit into city work?
It opens with the same email and password as your sign-up. The Android app is rolling out to everyone now and an iPhone version is coming soon. Once your profile is reviewed and approved, you can go online, receive job requests from homeowners using the app, message them, navigate to the address and update each job's progress.