Hi, I'm Jake.
I fix the small things around the house that nobody else will come out for. And when it turns out to be bigger than a small thing — the roof, the driveway, the water in the basement — I don't disappear on you. I write down exactly what needs doing, bring you contractors I've already checked out, and stay in it until it's finished.
- I'm the one you'll talk to on the phone.
- I'm the one who comes out and looks at it.
- On the small work, I'm the one who does it.
- On the big work, I write the scope, vet who bids it, and sit beside you while they pitch.
Omaha metro and about twenty miles out. Monday to Saturday, 8am to 5pm. If you get my voicemail, I call back the same day.
Water in the basement, northwest corner, every spring. What I found: ground falls toward the house along the north side. Two downspouts letting out a foot from the wall. No crack in the foundation and nothing staining the block above the slab.
- Waterproofing co. — interior drain tile and sump$14,800
- Foundation co. — dig out and seal the wall$21,500
- Drainage crew — regrade, bury both downspouts$2,900
An example of what the walk-around turns up. Names and figures are illustrative — but this is the most common overcharge in Omaha, and it comes up most springs.
The work I do with my own hands
What I do
Start with the jobs that are too small for a contractor to bother with and too much to be climbing a ladder for yourself. One person, one truck, usually within the week.
Grab bars and handrails
In the tub, by the shower, next to the toilet. Handrails on the steps inside and out. Anchored into studs, not drywall.
Trip hazards
Door thresholds, loose stair treads, curled rug edges, the step down to the garage that catches everybody.
Lighting
Brighter bulbs in the halls and stairs, a light in the closet, motion lights on the path to the door.
Doors and handles
Lever handles in place of round knobs, doors that stick, locks that are hard to turn with sore hands.
Bathroom fixes
Raised toilet seats, comfort-height swaps, hand-held shower heads, a seat in the shower.
The regular things
Smoke alarm batteries, furnace filters, gutters, hard-to-reach bulbs. Anything that means getting up on something.
A standing monthly visit
Same day each month. I work through your list, and I tell you what I noticed that isn't on it yet.
Yard and seasonal
Leaves, snow off the walk, hoses in and out, storm windows, the things that come around every year.
A free walk-around
Outside and in, whichever you're comfortable with, and a written list of what's worth doing and what can wait. No charge, no obligation.
Free — and you don't have to let anyone in
The 40-minute walk-around
I walk your house from the outside and write down what I see: the roofline, the gutters, where the water goes when it rains, the driveway, the walks, the caulk, the deck, the paint, the wall out back. I take photos. You get a plain-English list in big type, and I tell you which of three piles each thing belongs in.
Do this year
It's costing you money already, or somebody could get hurt. Water going the wrong way is almost always in this pile.
Watch it
Two to five years out. Nothing to do today except know it's coming and start setting money aside.
Leave it alone
It looks bad and it isn't hurting anything. Don't let anyone sell you this. There is usually more in this pile than people expect.
Nobody knocks on your door and nobody comes inside unless you ask. No charge, no obligation, and the list is yours whether you hire me, hire somebody else, or put it in a drawer. If I don't find anything worth doing, I'll say so and go home — that happens more than you'd think.
Not sure whether yours is a small job or a big one? That's what the walk-around is for.
Call 402-260-1004Told to you before I start
What it costs
One price for the job, and you hear it before I start. Not an hourly rate — I don't want you standing in the doorway watching the clock, and I don't want to be paid more for working slower.
Something not on the list? Most small jobs land between $79 and $189, and I'll tell you which before I touch anything. If it turns out to be worse than it looked once I'm into it, the price doesn't move — I quoted it, that's on me. The only thing that changes a number is you asking for something different.
No trip charge and no minimum. If you don't like the number, you say no and I go home, and there's no charge for that. If the work's done and you're not happy with it, don't pay me — no forms, no argument, no manager to ask for.
Build note — delete this box before launch. These are placeholder figures. Replace them with Jake's real prices. Being upfront about price is the first thing this audience looks for, and a wrong number is worse than no number.
Same phone number, same man in your driveway
When it's bigger than me
A roof is four people and a day. A driveway is a crew, a permit and licensed trades. I don't pretend otherwise, and I don't hand you a phone book either. I write down exactly what the job is, bring you contractors I've already checked out, and make sure the numbers you get can actually be compared to each other.
Roofs
Shingles in the yard, a stain spreading on a bedroom ceiling, or a roof that has simply run out of years. Tear-off, decking repair, ice-and-water at the eaves, flashing done properly at the chimney and the walls — flashing is where most roofs actually fail, not the shingles. Also the honest answer that it has five years left, when it does.
Water in the basement
Almost never a foundation problem to begin with. It's dirt sloping toward the house and downspouts dumping at the wall. Regrading, buried downspout extensions, drain tile, a sump if it needs one. Cheapest fixes first, and often that's the end of it.
Retaining walls
Leaning out toward the yard, bulging in the middle, or shedding block. Rebuilt with the drainage and the geogrid behind it that the first one didn't have — which is almost always why it failed in the first place.
Concrete
Driveways, sidewalks, steps, stoops, patios, garage floors. Tear-out and repour when it's needed — and mudjacking when a slab has only settled, which costs a fraction and I'll say so if that's what you're looking at.
Bathroom remodels
The bathroom you've been meaning to do for six years. Full gut and rebuild, or a tub swapped for a shower you step into instead of climb over. Permits pulled, licensed plumber and electrician on it, and a real finish date in the contract.
Painting, inside and out
Prep, caulk, primer, two coats. The prep is the whole job and it's the part that gets skipped when somebody is racing to a number. South and west sides first if the budget is tight — that's where the sun does the damage.
Decks and fences
Boards gone soft underfoot, a rail that moves when you lean on it, posts rotted at the ground line. Rebuilt or replaced, and sometimes just re-decked over sound framing, which is a much smaller number.
Siding, soffit and fascia
Siding lifting, soffit sagging, fascia rotted out where a gutter has been overflowing for three years. Usually found while looking at something else, and usually cheaper to catch now than after another winter.
Accessibility work
Roll-in showers, ramps, widened doorways, stair lifts. Same as the rest — except here we find out what the programs further down will pay before anybody writes an estimate.
After a hailstorm
Before you sign anything with the man who knocked on your door, call me. I'll go up, take photos, and tell you straight whether you actually have damage — plenty of people don't. I'll stand there when the adjuster comes, too. No charge for either.
What I actually do on a big job
Six steps, and you're in charge of all of them
These jobs go wrong for the same three reasons every time: a vague scope, a price that moves, and nobody you can get on the phone once the deposit clears. Here is how I take those off the table.
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I come and look, and I write it down
No charge, no sales presentation, no clipboard price that expires tonight. I take photos and I put the job on paper — square footage, how many layers are coming off, what's rotted, what has to be replaced, what doesn't. That written scope is the whole trick. Most people get three bids for three different jobs and can't tell why the numbers are miles apart.
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I bring you two or three contractors I'd use on my own house
Not a directory and not whoever answers first. People I've watched work, in the trade you actually need — a roofer for a roof, a concrete crew for concrete. If nobody I trust does that kind of work, I'll tell you that instead of sending you to a stranger.
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I check them before you ever meet them
Registered with the Nebraska Department of Labor, licensed with the city where the work needs it, insured with the certificate sent to me and not just claimed on the phone. Workers' comp. Real references from jobs that finished more than a year ago, because anybody looks good the week they hand over the keys.
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They all bid the same written scope
Same document, same inclusions, same exclusions. Now the numbers mean something and you can put them side by side. I'll read all of them with you and tell you what's missing from the cheap one — there is almost always something missing from the cheap one.
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I'm standing there when they walk it
You don't have to face the sales pitch alone, and you don't have to know the words. I ask the questions I'd ask on my own house, in front of you, and you get a plain-English answer while I'm there to hear it. Nobody is signing anything that day.
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You sign with the contractor — and I stay reachable
The contract, the permit and the warranty are theirs and they're in your name, which is exactly how it should be: the man doing the work is the man who has to stand behind it. I'm still on the phone while it runs. If it stalls, if something looks wrong, if you don't understand a change order, you call me and I'll go look.
What these run
Nobody can price your roof from a website, and anyone who quotes you one is guessing at your expense. But you deserve a number before you talk to a soul, so ask me on the phone and I'll give you the honest range for your size of house — including the times it comes in lower than you feared.
The question nobody in this trade answers straight
How I get paid on the bigger jobs
You should always know who is paying the man giving you advice. So here it is, plainly.
The contractor pays me, not you
The walk-around is free. The written scope is free. Sitting with you while three companies pitch you is free. When you hire one of them, that contractor pays me a fee for the work I already did and for bringing them a customer they didn't have to chase — usually 8 to 10 percent of the job.
If you hire nobody, I'm paid nothing, and the scope is still yours to take anywhere you like. If you already have a contractor in mind, bring them the scope and have them bid it. I'd rather you got a fair price from your own man than a bad one from mine.
Why I'll say it out loud. Every referral service, home-warranty outfit and matching website takes a cut. Most of them just don't tell you, and a few of them sell your phone number to six companies at once and let them fight over you. I'd rather you hear it from me and judge me on whether the advice holds up.
What it doesn't buy. It doesn't buy a recommendation. I'm not sending you to whoever pays the most, because the only thing I have to sell after this job is what your neighbors say about me. If the cheapest bid is the right one, I'll say so. If your roof has five years left in it, I'll tell you that and go home, and then I've earned nothing that day and I'm fine with it.
On small repairs there is none of this. You pay me directly, one flat price, and nobody else is in it.
Build note — resolve before launch. Confirm the 8–10% figure and the wording above, and have someone verify the disclosure language against Nebraska rules. Contractors must be registered with the Nebraska Department of Labor, and Omaha licenses certain trades — check that nothing on this page reads as Jake contracting for or supervising the work himself.
Free, and yours to use without hiring anybody
If this is about getting in and out of the house
Accessibility work is its own thing, because there is money for it that nobody advertises. Before anyone writes you an estimate for a roll-in shower, a ramp or a widened doorway, it's worth twenty minutes finding out whether one of these will pay for part of it.
The VA pays for medically necessary home changes
Roll-in showers, ramps, widened doorways, grab bars, and the plumbing or electrical work medical equipment needs. Up to $6,800 for a veteran with a service-connected disability, up to $2,000 otherwise, and it applies whether you own or rent. Two much larger grants — Specially Adapted Housing and Special Home Adaptation — sit on top of it for specific qualifying disabilities.
The catch: a physician has to document it as medically necessary, and you apply on Form 10-0103 through the Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Service at your VA medical center. It is not automatic and it is not fast. 1-800-827-1000.
Nebraska Medicaid covers home changes for people who qualify
It exists to keep people out of nursing homes, so it pays for what makes staying home possible: grab bars, ramps, bathroom modifications for wheelchair access, assistive technology — and chore work like snow removal and minor repairs. Open to Nebraskans 65 and over, and to people under 65 with physical disabilities, who are Medicaid-eligible and would otherwise need nursing-home level care.
The catch: it runs on income and assets, and there's an assessment first. Being on Medicaid is not the same as being on the waiver — two different doors. 1-855-632-7633.
A small repair program almost nobody knows about
ENOA covers Douglas, Sarpy, Dodge, Cass and Washington counties, and runs a handyman program, lawn care and snow removal on a sliding scale based on monthly income, for people 60 and over. Smaller dollars than the VA or Medicaid, but a shorter wait and lighter paperwork — which makes it the right first call more often than people expect.
The catch: limited capacity, and it starts with a phone call. I'll point you there and I get nothing for it — not a fee, not a referral, nothing. 402-444-6536.
Some Medicare Advantage plans pay for bathroom safety work
Original Medicare does not cover this. Certain Advantage plans have offered grab bars and bathroom safety modifications as supplemental benefits, and which plans do changes every year — with fewer carrying it each year, so it's worth asking now rather than assuming.
The catch: it's plan by plan. Call the number on the back of the card and ask specifically about home safety benefits. Nebraska SHIP counselors help with this free and unbiased. 1-800-633-4227.
None of this applies to a roof or a driveway — those are ordinary home repairs and no program pays for them. It's worth saying plainly so nobody wastes an afternoon on the phone.
Not sure which of these applies to you? That's the normal state of affairs. Tell me the situation and I'll sort it out.
Either way you make one call, to me
Two kinds of work, handled two different ways
Almost everything people call about falls into one of these. It's worth knowing which one you're looking at, because the answer changes who shows up, how long it takes, and what it costs.
Small jobs — I do these myself
One person, one truck, usually within the week. No sales visit, no financing conversation, no crew in your house for three days.
- Grab bars in the tub, shower, and by the toilet
- Handrails on steps, inside and out
- Raised toilet seats and comfort-height swaps
- Door thresholds, loose treads, trip hazards
- Better lighting in halls, stairs, and closets
- Lever door handles in place of round knobs
- Smoke alarms, filters, gutters, hard-to-reach jobs
- Standing monthly visit to catch things early
You pay me directly, one flat price, nobody else involved. This is most of what people need, and it's the part that gets put off longest. A grab bar costs less than a single day in a hospital.
Bigger projects — I scope it and stand next to you
Work that needs a crew, a permit and licensed trades. Days, not hours. What matters most here is an honest scope and bids you can actually compare, so that's where we start.
- Roof torn off and replaced, or repaired if that's all it needs
- Drainage, grading, buried downspouts, drain tile, sump
- Retaining walls rebuilt, with drainage behind them this time
- Concrete — driveways, walks, steps, patios, garage floors
- Bathroom remodels, from a tub swap to down-to-the-studs
- Painting inside and out, prep and two coats
- Decks, siding, soffit and fascia
- Roll-in showers, ramps, widened doorways, stair lifts
I'm not the general contractor on these and I'll say so plainly. You hire the contractor directly, so the man doing the work is the man standing behind it. What I do is write the scope, vet who bids it, sit with you while they pitch, and stay on the phone until it's finished.
Peanut · placeholder, not the actual handyman
One phone, one person
Who you're actually calling
Jake Ingraham. Omaha metro and about twenty miles out. There's no call centre, no dispatcher and no "your call is important to us." You get me, or you get my voicemail and I call back the same day.
No question is a silly one
Ask twice, ask again next week. Nobody here is going to sigh at you.
Explanations take as long as they take
You'll hear what I found and what I did, in plain words, as many times as you'd like.
Family can be kept in the loop
With your permission, a son or daughter gets a photo and the invoice after each visit — and copies of the bids on a bigger job.
Nothing gets sold at the door
Nobody arrives with a folder of financing options. You get one number for the job you asked about, and no discount that expires tonight.
The free information stays free
What you qualify for is yours to use, whether or not you ever hire me or anyone I know.
Someone on your side of the table
Whether it's a grab bar or a whole roof, there's one person you call — and on the big jobs, he isn't the one holding the pen when the contract comes out.
I read these myself
Tell me what's going on
Answer what you can. Nothing here is required except a name and a way to reach you, and nobody is going to be pushy about the rest.
That didn't send
Please call 402-260-1004 instead — it's quicker anyway, and Jake would rather hear from you than lose the message.
Got it. Jake will call you.
Usually the same day, and almost always within one business day. If you mentioned an evening or a morning that works better, he'll try for that window.
If it's urgent, don't wait on us
Somebody unsafe on the stairs tonight is not a form problem. Call directly: 402-260-1004.
While you wait, one thing worth doing
If there's a veteran in the household, call the VA at 1-800-827-1000 and ask specifically about the HISA grant and Form 10-0103. That clock starts the day you ask, and it's a slow clock. Starting it now costs you nothing and loses you nothing if you decide against the work.
If the person is 60 or over, the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging information line is 402-444-6536. They're the right first call for smaller repairs and they'll talk to anyone.
The part most contractors won't put in writing
On my own work I don't bill by the hour. One price for the job, told to you before I start, and it doesn't move because the work took longer than I thought. That's my problem, not yours. Hourly billing means you're watching the clock and I'm getting paid more for working slower, and neither of us trusts the other by lunchtime.
On the bigger jobs, the thing I'm actually selling is a straight answer. Coming out to look is free and the list is yours, and one of the three columns on it is leave it alone — the things that look bad and aren't hurting anything. It's usually the longest column. If a $40 part solves your problem, I'll tell you a $40 part solves your problem. If your roof has five years left in it, I'll tell you that and go home, and that's a day I've earned nothing.
I'd rather have it that way. The only thing keeping this phone ringing is what the neighbors say about me.