Self-taught. Hands-on. Licensed & bonded since 2014.

How It Started

I didn't set out to become a handyman. Life made the decision for me.

Hi, I'm Trevor — owner of TJ Handyman, LLC.

My first real estate purchase was a four-unit brick building with an unfinished basement — and honestly, no real experience being a landlord, let alone a renovator. One of the units needed serious work, and when the contractor quotes came back, they were more than seven times what my wife and I had actually saved for the job.

That gap between what we could afford and what we were being quoted left one option: learn to do it myself. This was before YouTube tutorials existed, so I bought every home renovation book I could find and taught myself drywall, carpentry, woodworking, plumbing, and electrical work from the ground up.

Then came the hard part — actually doing it. I worked a full-time office job during the day, and spent nights and weekends turning that knowledge into real, working skill through a lot of trial and error. Slowly, that first unit came together. Then the rest of the building needed work too, and I kept going.

By 2014, the building was fully renovated — and along the way, I'd built up a serious set of tools, hands-on experience, and skills I never expected to have. Around the same time, I was ready for a change from the corporate world. So instead of looking for another office job, I started TJ Handyman, LLC.

Every job I take on today carries that same mindset: learn it right, do it right, and treat every home like it's the one I couldn't afford to get wrong.

— Trevor