Former Golden Valley firefighter takes up work as a handyman

Sometimes things in the house get damaged.

Just ask Mark Bellis of New Hope.

“The sliding doors are original to this house,” says Bellis. :That latch has been bothering me for the past few years. I tried to think of a solution, but nothing worked. ”

So Bellis called in Curtis Smith to fix the sliding door.

“It's a quick solution and it's cheaper than having a door expert come in and charge a hefty fee,” says Smith, founder of Firefighter Handyman.

Smith may not be what you'd call a “door expert,” but he knows his way around the house.

After all, he worked as a firefighter in Golden Valley for 18 years.

“These guys in the different fire services are very resourceful,” Smith said. “They know a lot about construction, they know a lot about how houses work, so that means they know how to do all these handyman jobs.”

As you know, Smith is not doing this work alone. He's part of his team of four firefighters who started Firefighter Handyman, a business that provides home repair services around the metro.

“We tend to do smaller jobs,” Smith said. “It's something that might be considered DIY.”

However, not all “do-it-yourself projects” can be done by homeowners themselves.

Curtis Smith, founder of Firefighter Handyman, works on repairing sliding glass doors.

trust factor

Bellis figured that if firefighters could save lives, they could also be trusted to do basic home repairs.

“So for me, it's easy to trust them to come to my house and solve problems that I can't solve on my own,” Bellis said.

Calls to Firefighter Handyman service cost approximately $100 per hour, and you will not be charged if the service cannot be repaired.

“The reality is we're not trying to make millions of dollars,” Smith said. “We are really looking for firefighters to support our fire department.”

This is a worthy cause that helps firefighters and helps homeowners deal with nuisance projects around their homes.

“They worked on my house and it went perfectly,” Bellis said.

The company is looking to increase its staff, so any active firefighter who can work 15 to 20 hours a month is welcome to apply.

Firefighter Handyman also plans to donate 5% of its annual net profits to organizations that support firefighters.

Golden Valley | New Kibo

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