AURORA | When you have a hankering for fresh-baked cookies, Grandma is probably a good person to call. The same holds true if you need some newly knitted mittens, or maybe just a hug.
But what if the faucet won’t stop leaking? Or the backyard fence needs mending, or the ceiling fan is wobbling?
In Aurora and around the metro area, Grandma is a good bet for those needs, too. For nine years, people faced with a home-repair hassle have been dialing Grandma’s Handyman Service, hiring Yvonne Costin — she’s the grandmother of seven who founded the company and gives it the name — and her crew to tackle small-scale maintenance and repair projects.
“That’s what customers need, they need to be able to get the small jobs done at a reasonable price,” Costin said in an interview at the home office that serves as the hub of her company.
Last month, the Aurora Chamber named Grandma’s the 2012 Small Business of the Year at its annual awards banquet.
Costin, 73, launched the company back in 2004.
Before she launched the company, Costin was retired from a career that included stops in accounting, public relations and insurance and didn’t have much experience in the building trades or in home repair. But she comes from a long line of builders, and most of her nine siblings are in the building trades, so she jumped in.
“Everybody was in the building trades so it’s in the blood I guess,” she said with a laugh. “I can’t believe I’m doing this but I really enjoy my work and I have no intentions of retiring.”
Costin doesn’t do the repairs herself, instead focusing on scheduling her technicians and making sure the business runs smoothly. But she does make personal visits on some calls, and she’s been known to teach her technician a thing or two about the art of home repair from time to time.
Grandma’s generally sticks to the smaller-scale jobs, Costin said.
That means they probably aren’t the right people to call if you want the whole kitchen remodeled, but they’d be happy to fix that leaky sink or a temperamental door knob.
“It’s mostly the do-it-yourself tasks that you would do yourself if you had the time or the ability,” she said. “We do that work that some people can do but they don’t have the time. They want to spend their free time with their families or with their hobbies.”
That lengthy list of projects Grandmas can tackle has helped her gain some loyal customers over the years.
“The list (of projects) is very long,” said S. Walker, a Centennial woman who has hired Grandma’s for several projects at her home in recent years.
Walker said the projects range from the bigger ones like installing a door, to smaller things like changing light bulbs and hanging pictures.
The first time she called Grandma’s, Walker said the voice on the other end wasn’t exactly what she expected from a handyman.
“She has a very distinctive grandma voice,” she said with a laugh.
Costin said running Grandma’s is rewarding, but it is becoming harder and harder to find qualified technicians.
“A person who does remodeling and builds houses is not a handyman,” she said.
Being a handyman, she said, means being able to think on their feet, and innovate when needed so small repairs remain small.
Being a handyman is a tough-to-develop skill, Costin said, and one that is too often unappreciated.
“I get really upset when I hear people say he is ‘only a handyman,’” she said. “He’s not only an electrician, only a plumber, only a carpenter, he does all of those things.”