10/10 would recommend! Details below.
Crash! That's the sound my old overloaded kitchen cabinet drawer made when it fell off the rails and dropped onto the pots and pans below. Agh! Not something I needed during an already hectic day. "Lord help me..." I muttered as I started my online research wearily, hoping to find a competent and honest handyman who would be available soon.
Well, God answered my agnostic pseudo-prayer by leading me to Minde's listing here on Yelp. Bless all you Yelpers who left the good reviews for me and others to find. Now I'm adding my own review to do my part in giving credit where credit is due.
I called Minde around 1:30PM on that fateful Tuesday afternoon. I texted him pictures of my broken kitchen cabinet railing and cracked plastic bracket at 1:40PM (along with pictures of a couple other issues I had), Minde arrived at 3:30PM, and by the time he left at 5:45PM, all outstanding problems I'd just been living with around the house were fixed! Below is the breakdown.
1. Kitchen drawer. He had stopped by Home Depot to buy the replacement bracket for me. I offered to reimburse him and he said, "It was $3.50 or something. That's OK." After 20-30 minutes or so, my drawer was fixed. Good as new. Phew!
2. Living room curtain rod. I'd put up a new curtain rod myself around 2020. Since I don't have the correct power drill to go through concrete, the screws weren't all the way in, and the rod was not completely secure. So, for the past 5-6 years, I've had to be careful not to pull the curtain with too much force lest the entire thing come crashing down... Minde fixed it in no time - using some screws he brought, and even vacuumed after drilling, etc. so that the area was cleaner than before the repairs, i.e., fewer dust bunnies. Lol. He is extremely well-organized and had the proper drill, screws, ladder with dust catcher, vacuum, etc.
3. Bathroom faucet. My guest bathroom's sink had had a half-installed faucet with the water turned off since December 2022. My sister (who was visiting from out of town) had started the installation but couldn't finish because I was missing some parts, and by the time I got the parts, she was gone. And I've been far too busy/lazy to fix it myself, so it had been sitting there nonoperational for years. What a waste. Minde fixed it in less than half an hour. He even checked for leaks. Thank God! One of the O-rings was dried out and cracked, so there was some leaking. Minde installed a new O-ring he had on hand to fix the leak, and wiped down the area under the sink so that it was, again, cleaner than before the repairs.
4. Bathtub overflow plate. About 6 months ago, my bathtub's overflow plate broke off. The screw that was holding it in place had broken off, and a rusty piece of it was stuck inside the attachment opening. I purchased a new overflow plate and screw but couldn't get the broken-off piece of screw out of the attachment hole. I'd tried on several occasions using WD-40 and some screw remover bits I borrowed from my brother. But no luck. So, for the past several months, I'd taped an old shower cap over the overflow hole (yes, I know it's for water to go into so doesn't need to be kept dry, but I felt better with it covered). It looked tacky and I wasn't happy with it, but again, I was far too busy/lazy so just lived with it. This took Minde the most time, but he fixed it too! He was honest. He said right off the bat, "This one, I don't know if I can do..." But he did!
In sum, in a little over two hours, Minde resolved 4 issues, some which had been weighing on my mind for years. All while chatting about Lithuania (where he is from), me playing DJ by streaming Lithuanian music, and Minde sharing about Lithuanian traditional dance, etc. So, I found it to be an incredibly fun and culturally enriching time as well. His quoted price for all of this work was more than fair (in my opinion, based on a couple other quotes I got for the curtain rod repair alone). Seriously, my kitchen drawer breaking that day was a total blessing in disguise.
Minde, thank you again for helping out me and my family that day. Your professionalism and efficiency are second-to-none. I hope we don't need to call you again anytime soon (haha). But I'm so glad we know who to call if/when we need help next time! read more