In The News

Bob and Jayne Horenkamp know how hard it can be to get someone to come out and do small home repairs. "If you call somebody because you need a hole patched, they will laugh and hang up," Bob Horenkamp said. The couple owns several investment properties in Chicago, as well as other places in the United States. They'd often call up someone to do repairs on their buildings, but would have difficulty reaching someone. Even when they did, sometimes no one would show up to do the work. "You'd be waiting around all day and they'd never make the appointment time," Bob Horenkamp said. "We kind of got a feel for, we need an upgrade to this industry." And so the Lincoln Park couple has opened a Mr. Handyman franchise in Oak Park, located in a small building at 1523 N. Harlem Ave., just south of North Avenue. The new franchise opened a month ago and has one full-time handyman working with it, Jayne Horenkamp said. Enough orders have come in that they're hiring a second. Rather than remodel jobs, Mr. Handyman focuses on projects that take from two hours to two days, Bob Horenkamp said. That can include drywall replacement, ceiling fan installation, gutters, down spouts, work like that. The handyman business is a second career for both. Jayne Horenkamp worked for GE in acquisitions, while Bob Horenkamp owned a computer consulting firm that did work all over the country. "I got a little tired of hitting the road all week," Bob Horenkamp said. He wanted something more community focused. And while Jayne Horenkamp said she knew she was helping people through her work at GE, she never had a chance to really see it. The handyman business is different. "You definitely get to see how you help people," she said. Oak Park resident Jeff Condon had work done on his house by the Horenkamps' franchise. He was pleased with the service and the quality of the people who worked for him, he said. He'd recommend them to anyone in the area, he said in a phone message. "The job was done professionally and at a reasonable price, as they promised," Condon said. Though the couple doesn't do any of the repair work themselves, Bob Horenkamp is a bit of a handyman himself. He's rebuilt the stairs at his home, hung LCD television screens from the walls, run wiring and constructed new closets. He's also renovated some of the buildings the couple has bought. "The neighbors at our condo ... thought he was the maintenance guy," Jayne Horenkamp said. For the moment, the Horenkamps cover a service area ranging from Norridge to the north and Berwyn to the south, west to River Forest, with Oak Park on the east. They can serve other areas, so long as another Mr. Handyman franchise hasn't already claimed the area, they said.

That crank window in the basement isn’t going to fix itself. Turning off the kitchen faucet won’t actually stop the leak. Turn it back on, see what happens. The cracked plaster in the foyer is as cracked as it was yesterday. The new ceiling fan looks nice in its box, but it sure would look sharp hanging from the ceiling. Who’s going to do these things, you? Not with those 10 thumbs. And calling just anyone might not be a great idea. There’s that dreadful one- to four-hour window of arrival, or the possibility of welcoming a lunatic into your home. With these discrepancies in mind, two handyman repair businesses in Oak Park have recently sprung up, wisely taking advantage of a weakened real estate market where homeowners are generally more willing to spend to repair rather than sell and buy. Brent Showalter, who with his wife Jill, also a local business owner (Yuppie Puppy Pet Grooming), have lived in Oak Park for the last 20 years. With Brent having to travel frequently for his previous job as a high-end home designer, repair work on the house fell on whomever Jill could find in the phone book.  In October Showalter opened Hometown Handyman. Not too far up the road from Showalter on Harlem, Bob and Jayne Horenkamp recently opened Mr. Handyman, a franchise that incorporates similar aspects of home repair services. "With the downturn in the economy, most people are trying to protect their most valuable asset — they’re home," says Jayne. "We wanted to provide a reliable service that could help them do that." Opened early last month, Mr. Handyman is still building its clientele list. The company currently employs a single technician but plans to hire more in the near future. "We take hiring very seriously, with drug testing, extensive background checks and several interviews. I want a handyman working for us that I myself would be comfortable with in my own home," says Jayne. "Our technician, Kim Shatall, has 30 years of experience in this field. He could build a house from the ground up if he had to, and he’s well respected." Mr. Handyman offers many of the same services as Hometown Handyman, including gutter cleaning, deck repair, deck staining, ceiling fan installation, light electrical and light plumbing work, door hanging, fences and water damage. Mr. Handyman became a franchise in 2000. There are currently 11 in the Chicago area. "It has its advantages being part of a franchise," says Jayne. "We meet with the other Chicago-area Mr. Handyman companies on a regular basis to go over experiences and bounce ideas off one another for any type of job that we may be working on." Prices vary for each company depending on the work done but Hometown Handyman charges $85 per hour, with no initial service fee. Mr. Handyman charges $136 the first hour, and $24 each additional 15 minutes. The first hour includes a $40 service fee. Mr. Handyman also offers an all-day rate of $740. "A homeowner can set up a list of things for our technician to work on throughout the day or one big project to complete," says Jayne. "We want the homeowner to have their house exactly how they want it." Article Link