Handyman in Burnaby

Postwar rancher renovations

A great deal of Burnaby's detached housing dates from the 1960s through the 1980s — ranchers and split-levels on generous lots. They are solidly built and dimensionally consistent, which makes them straightforward to work on compared with pre-war stock.

The common jobs are updates rather than repairs: replacing dated trim and doors, opening up small kitchens, refreshing bathrooms, and upgrading fixtures. Materials and layouts from that era are well understood, so estimates tend to be reliable.

Mounting into concrete high-rise walls

The towers around Metrotown, Brentwood and Lougheed are concrete construction, so anything mounted needs a hammer drill and masonry anchors rather than stud fixings. Once in, they hold extremely well.

The tradeoff is precision. A misplaced hole in concrete cannot be patched invisibly the way one in drywall can, so we agree positions before drilling. Some buildings also restrict drilling into demising walls or ceilings, which is worth checking with your strata.

Burnaby permit and inspection process

Burnaby administers its own permits and inspections, and its requirements are not identical to Vancouver's. For anything structural, or altering plumbing or electrical, we check the City of Burnaby requirement for your address specifically.

For most handyman work no permit applies. It becomes relevant with renovations, decks, and alterations to services — and it is worth getting right, because unpermitted work surfaces during a sale.

Response times across the city

Burnaby is compact and well connected, so travel within it is rarely the constraint. Getting to it from Vancouver at peak times can be, particularly eastbound in the afternoon.

We give you an arrival window when we book rather than a time we would have to miss, and we call if traffic is going to make us late. We would rather give you an honest window than an optimistic one that slips.