Handyman questions, answered

The Outer Banks are more than 175 miles of barrier islands separated from the mainland by sounds as wide as 30 miles, so the service area is defined by drive time over a road network, not by a radius on a map. We cover the northern island chain as a rule and will tell you straight whether a call to Hatteras Island or a mainland address is worth the trip for the job. Travel time belongs in the quote rather than in a surprise at the end.

The Licensing Board for General Contractors publishes the list and it is a good one: the contractor's name, address and phone number along with the full name and licence number of the builder and the salesperson, a detailed description of the work, the total contract price, a payment schedule that parallels the work completed, work start and completion dates, and a statement of what is and is not included. Ask for those things up front and you have removed most of the ways this goes wrong.

No, and for the properties we work most often, nobody is. The house is empty, the owner is out of state, and the work gets done and documented. That is why the photo record and the written summary matter as much as the repair itself — it is how a manager and an owner both know what happened without walking the property.

Ask for the contract details in writing, ask whether they carry liability insurance and workers' compensation as a contract term rather than a promise, and check any licence number against the state board. The state makes it a Class 2 misdemeanor to contract for covered work without complying with the licensing article, or to falsely claim to be licensed. The NC Department of Justice also publishes a consumer complaint line for this, and the attorney general can bring suit for violations of the unfair and deceptive trade practices act.

Yes, and we ask about the age of the house before we quote. The federal Renovation, Repair and Painting rule requires anyone paid to disturb painted surfaces in homes built before 1978 to be certified, and EPA is clear that this covers all firms including sole proprietorships. It also applies to landlords and property managers, and about three-quarters of pre-1978 homes still contain some lead-based paint. North Carolina requires certification and permits, and paint testing is not required if you have documentation that the paint is not lead-based.

Nags Head, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, Southern Shores, Duck, Corolla and Manteo, plus the surrounding northern Outer Banks. Ask us about Hatteras Island, Avon, Buxton, Rodanthe or the mainland — the drive changes the day, and the availability changes with the season, so we would rather tell you the real answer than quote a number that does not include the travel.