Tools for hiring a handyman

The Web opens the door to more choices, but careful screening is the key to success

If Mae West were around today and in need of some help at her home, it's entirely likely the legendary quotation attributed to her would now read, "A good handyman is hard to find" And she'd be right.

But even with this proliferation of Web resources, hiring the right professional isn't a snap. "Handymen are advertising all over the place," says Sheila Adkins, director of public affairs for the Council of Better Business Bureaus. "They're on the Internet, in the Yellow Pages. You don't know who's reliable. The best thing to do is use caution."

Even when people hire someone in whom they have faith, the results often belie their expectations. Stories abound of shoddy or incomplete work, pay disputes, messy workers, and more. Home improvement topped the list of most reported consumer complaints in a 2005 report by the National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators and the Consumer Federation of America, and it has consistently ranked among the top three complaints found by the survey for five consecutive years.

We're not sure whether Mae West ever found the man she was looking for, but there are several steps you can take to ensure that you find and hire a handyman who'll do right by you.

And now, on to Step 1: Create a project list.