Carolyn Grove of Golden Valley needed a new front door. Although she considers herself a “do-it-yourselfer,” Grove is also a busy woman. She’s a single mom, breadwinner and caretaker to a parent with dementia. When her new door had been waiting in the foyer for six months, Grove decided to ask for help.
“I thought I could do it myself — switching it out — and realized that’s not happening,” Grove said.
Curtis Smith, Libby Grygar, Jeff Piper and Ryan Hering met at the Golden Valley Fire Department. In January, they began a new adventure: Firefighter Handyman.
The company charges $100 an hour; 30% of this goes to the business and 70% goes to the individuals working. The plan is for 5% of company profits to be donated to a Minnesotan organization that helps firefighters. Firefighter Handyman has not yet decided which organization will receive their donation.
“I actually have family members that are first responders, that are firefighters,” Grove said. “When I learned of this service, I thought that would be perfect for someone with more skills and the time to get the front door out of my entryway.”
Smith retired from the fire department after 18 years and the other three are still active firefighters. Grygar is with the Minnetonka Fire Department. Piper is with the departments in Golden Valley and Robbinsdale. Hering is with the Golden Valley Fire Department.
All firefighters have different skills, but these four found a particular interest in home repairs.
Finding the right tools to solve a problem, learning and working together as a team: there is a lot of similarity between how the group might deal with a call on the fire department. The main difference is the handyman calls are usually not an emergency.
“I think part of what started this is we’ve already all been doing this,” Grygar said. “We’ve been doing it for family and friends and realized that there’s a way to make a business out of it.”
The business has been successful so far. On Feb. 13, they were scheduled for three weeks out. Piper said they average three or four jobs a day, all over the metro.
“Just like being a firefighter, we protect homes,” Smith said. “We have education around construction. We understand what makes a house work. That directly goes into being a handyman and understanding what’s not only important to the customer, but also what’s safe for their home.”
The team stays away from hard plumbing or electrical — though they can shut off running water. Projects include patchwork on drywall, replacing smart or traditional door locks, tile work, replacing light bulbs, checking fire detectors and addressing ice damns.
A lot of clients so far have been elderly, disabled or simply very busy people.
Grygar said the business uses a lot of “fire lingo.” A repair crew is “dispatched” to a project.
“Firefighters, we typically work on call,” Grygar explained. “So that just also fits this where we’re an on-call model. It’s really flexible.”
The company is currently just four people, but hopes to hire more firefighters soon.
Although “handyman” is a masculine word, women are encouraged to apply as well.
“I hate that word,” Smith said. “But we had to use it because no one searches for a ‘handywoman’ or a ‘handyperson.’”
Because of their experience in the fire department, homeowners often ask people from Firefighter Handyman for their fire safety expertise.
“A lot of people will ask us, ‘If you see anything, let me know,’” Piper said.
Piper said he will often advise people to replace yellowing smoke detectors, which are only meant to last 8 to 10 years.
“We want smoke detectors in bedrooms and within 10 feet of bedrooms on the outside of the bedrooms, one (carbon monoxide) detector on each floor, just standard kind of code stuff,” Piper said.
Although Firefighter Handyman might unofficially act as an ambassador to the Golden Valley Fire Department, they are separate entities.
Visit ffhmn.com, or reach Smith at 612-747-3554 to learn more.
Most Popular
Comments / 0