Author: Michiel

YES, WHAT A MILESTONE!

MrFix launched a crowdfund campaign in March 2016 to take the first step outside Amsterdam: ‘MrFix The Hague’. In 2019 we repaid the first half of the loans (with interest) and this week we repaid the second half. That means we’ve paid everyone back in full!

MrFix wants to thank everyone who has supported us with a loan or by buying fix-credit. You have ensured that we’ve been able to grow, glow and fix in a sustainable way these past years! Our sector is still full of tinkerers, scammers and crooks but MrFix has already cleaned up quite a bit of the sector. It may well be that:

– You place your job and within 1 hour you’ll hear which expert is coming at the time that suits you;
– The expert actually shows up within the agreed period of 1 hour; and
– You will receive an invoice afterwards, which you can pay online and functions as warranty.

MrFix has not only survived the past 4 years and completed the planned expansion to The Hague. We’ve accomplished to be active in whole of the Netherlands since 2019. This is thanks to our exclusive cooperation in the field of home maintenance with insurer Centraal Beheer. This allows us to grow even faster and help even more people. How cool is that?!

We are eager to further improve the job market and to link our trustworthy experts to Clients super quickly. Do you have a job that needs to be fixed? Place it via MrFix.nl. MrFix will help you get the job right the 1st time.

How do you make your balcony/roof terrace completely quarantine-proof?

The sun is shining! It promises to be a great Spring and Summer full of terraces, parks, friends and beach. Or not… now that Corona binds us all together at home, a nice outdoor spot is even more important. Summer is just around the corner so this is the perfect time to decorate your favourite outdoor spot! MrFix gives you 3 tips to make your balcony/roof terrace qurantaine-proof.

Balconbar/table

A balcony or roof terrace is often not very large. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be a nice place. By dividing up the space efficiently, you can get more out of your outdoor space. Think, for example, of a folding table attached to the wall. This way you can unfold it for dinner and fold it when you need more space. A furniture specialist can also make a custom-made table or bar for your (balcony) railing. You can adjust this to your taste and wishes with, for example, a built-in beer holder for the online Friday afternoon drinks!

(Lounge) couch made to measure

(Lounge) sofas are often large and have an awkward shape. So if you have limited space, it’s not very practical. However, you can have a sofa made to measure in order to make optimal use of the space. Such a sofa can become even more efficient by adding a storage compartment. Not only does it fit perfectly on your balcony, but it also gives you extra storage space.

Awning

When you have to work at home so much, it’s nice to be able to enjoy the weather a bit. You sit outside and open your computer, but after 5 minutes you go back inside because you can’t see anything on your screen because of the sunlight. Irritating! Luckily you can solve this problem with a sunshade. This way you can also work outside in bright sunlight. Moreover, a spot in the shade is quite nice when the temperatures rise even more.

We hope we’ve inspired you to make your outdoor area even nicer. If you want to realize one of these ideas (or an idea of your own!), MrFix is always there for you! We’re happy to help you make your dream balcony or roof terrace a reality. Ask what our furniture specialist can do for you and enjoy this fantastic weather in a Corona-safe way!

9 Master fixers confirm their confidence in MrFix

MrFix and its experts are suffering considerably from the corona crisis. In the second half of March about 40% of jobs got cancelled or postponed indefinitely as many people panicked. We have blogged about improving homes in a Corona-safe way, adapting your home office and even adapting offices, shops and restaurants to the ’1.5-metre economy’. That is helping, but times are still tough.

So we are extra happy & proud that nine of our best Master experts have decided to invest between €1,000 and €5,000 each in MrFix. As co-owners of MrFix they will be even more dedicated to your satisfaction. We are using the new funds to develop the automated WhatsApp system, repay our crowdfunding loan from 2016 and invest further to make the best home improvement service in Holland even quicker & smoother to use. Thank you Ton, Lakshay, Isa, Dennis, Darel, Suayip, Ismail, Iqtidar and Richard!

Going into the Easter weekend nobody knows how long we will have to keep a 1.5-metre distance from each other. Simply staying at home and working from home works for a few days or weeks, but in the longer term it risks damaging both personal and business relationships. So smart businesses throughout The Netherlands are adapting their shops, offices and restaurants to what we now call “the 1.5-metre economy”. MrFix can help make your business Corona-safe:

1. Our glaziers and other handymen can install (plexi-)glass separations to protect your cashier like this German firm makes
2. Our movers can move your furniture around to prepare your office or restaurant for the 1.5-metre economy. For example, MrFix customer Raymond tells here (sorry, in Dutch) how he rearranged his restaurant Barça from 120 to only 45 seats
3. A major issue is safe access to buildings: many of our locksmiths and other experts are adapting (revolving doors) and building access control systems. We like the simplicity of the traffic light solution at the shop entrance shown at the start of this article

Of course you’re worried: we see many customers hesitate and postpone jobs although our experts work Corona-safe. This hits our experts hard: most are self-employed and have no other income to fall back on. Please show solidarity with the experts and hire them via MrFix:

1. Due to the lack of work, you can now get an expert faster than ever…
2. We can afford to be pickier because even the best expert has a gap in his schedule these days. That improves quality
3. If you have the time and inclination to do repair jobs yourself, our expert would be happy to help you get started or help you finish the hardest part of your job.
4. Some smart Customers are requesting jobs like this one for a furniture expert yesterday: “Replace/Extend windowsill to create home office desk”. Or get an all-round handyman to assemble your standing desk. Our experts have a lot of experience creating effective working spaces!

Our handyman service has not experienced problems due to COVID-19 yet. But Customers are starting to ask questions now the Dutch government has decided to close schools & restaurants. We ask both Customers and experts to follow the following guidelines so our experts can continue fixing & improving your homes safely!

WHO guidelines for keeping safe

Our advice is simple: follow the World Health Organisation recommendations for staying safe. You can find them here with instruction videos. In summary:

1. Wash your hands frequently & thoroughly with an alcohol-based hand rub or else soap and water
2. Maintain 1.5m+ of distance between yourself and anyone who coughs or sneezes
3. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth
4. Practice respiratory hygiene: cover your mouth & nose with your bent elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze. Then dispose of the used tissue immediately
5. Seek medical care as soon as you have fever, cough and difficulty breathing
6. Follow advice from your healthcare provider

Specific guidelines for MrFix jobs in Holland

We have considered the various types of home repair & improvement jobs that MrFix offers and concluded that none of them require humans to touch each other or be within 1.5 metre of each other. Now the expert decides which jobs he takes on (at his own expense & risk) and when he carries them out. Just like the Customer decides whether to confirm the appointment that MrFix proposes on behalf of the expert.

As far as MrFix can see it is safe to proceed with requesting and executing jobs as you long as you follow the guidelines above. Specifically:

1. Do not shake hands or come closer than 2 metres (reliable sources say 1 metre is not always enough)
2. Do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth
3. Practice respiratory hygiene
4. Avoid inspection visits (anyway a good idea) and exchange information via the WhatsApp group instead
5. April 2020 update: drive to the job alone or at most in pairs: 3 people in 1 car currently get fined!
6. Do not request jobs and do not go execute jobs if you have any of the symptoms; fever, cough or difficulty breathing
7. Pay via iDeal or credit card: not at a mobile payment terminal or in cash (which we always advise against and therefore do not facilitate)
8. Read the updates (so far in Dutch only) and Q&A (in English) from the RIVM, the Government institute for Public Health. It recommends face masks for medical personnel only, for instance.

Please request Corona-safe home improvement here or contact MrFix if you have any questions or comments. Stay safe!

We keep Customers and experts out of trouble

Our handyman service helps Customers find a reliable expert fast. It is very hard to find a reliable expert: we estimate that 40-50% of home repair jobs involve serious misunderstandings, shoddy or undeclared work and/or outright fraud. MrFix will post tips for Customers and contractors to avoid the worst mistakes and problems: this is the first.

Quote vs Estimate

Customers ask us every day for quotes while they mean estimates and vice versa. The difference is simple: a good expert always estimates how much time the job will cost him and therefore also has an estimate of the labour cost if the hourly rate is clear. He can (but rarely does) share this estimate with the Customer: “The job will cost me ~X hours so it will cost you ~€Y in labour”. If the Customer prefers, the expert can also quote a fixed price: “I ask €Z for the job, no matter how many hours it costs me”. Z can be lower than Y if the expert can work entire man days on the job, but also higher (because the expert runs the risk of the job taking longer than he estimated).

So what is wiser to request: an estimate or a quote?

That depends:

• A quote (or a proper estimate of material cost) usually requires an inspection visit, which costs you time and often money too (the first hour of inspection is deducted from the final invoice, though). If you would like the expert to advise you and/or measure, it is usually better to ask for an inspection & quote
• A quote is ideal if the job is big and well defined, such as “paint 350m2 of smooth walls over with roller – 1 coat, RAL 9010″. And if it is that clear you can even avoid the inspection
• An estimate is better if the job is relatively small and hard to define / estimate, such as “Stop bad smell in bathroom“. Without more information you can’t even get a serious estimate for such jobs
• If you know and trust the expert (or home repair service MrFix) then an estimate of man hours should suffice. Please note that the minimum possible estimate is 1-2 man hours.

MrFix has advised Customers for years to follow a simple rule of thumb: for jobs of less than a day’s work / ~€1,000 ask for an estimate. For bigger jobs a quote is usually the wiser option, even though that often requires an inspection visit.

Just request your job via the form you find at the top of most pages of our website and click the green button “First a quote” on the right. Then we will get you a quote or estimate according to our rule of thumb. If you want something else then you can indicate that under “DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF JOB” or contact us to discuss.

MrFix already was the fastest handyman service in The Netherlands: we have been arranging solid experts for your home repair & improvement jobs within 3 hours. From this month onward we tell you within 1 hour (yes, one hour!) which expert will start executing your job (or inspecting it, if you prefer a quote first).

The quickest way to request your job is to fill in the form at the top of the relevant page of our website. You can also call us on 020-6750333, email us at [email protected] or even send us a WhatsApp at 06-15380087. However, we do need a minimum of information: what should the expert do, where (job address) and on which dates & times is he welcome?

The form on our site asks exactly the information we need to find you an expert fast. Moreover, the site processes your job request 24/7, invites experts 24/7 and mails you the appointment proposal 24/7 on behalf of the expert who accepts your job.

During office hours (Mon-Sat 8.30-18h) we clarify job requests and create the WhatsApp groups with Customer & Expert. That is why we promise that MrFix will find an expert within 1 hour only during those hours, although we usually succeed in the evenings and on Sundays as well!

A dozen of our experts have received five Customer reviews of 4.5* or more and are now Master Fixers. We celebrated today aboard a boat of our Customer Rederij De Jordaan… MrFix discriminates on the basis of one thing only: Customer satisfaction. Ismail, Bert, Marsel, Ulysses, Marvin and our other experts understand the importance of making Customers very happy and do it all the time!

Raid on construction site of new US embassy

Labour inspection SZW raided the construction site of the new US embassy in Wassenaar last month. There have been allegations of excess working times of construction workers, illegal foreign workers and the construction site being an unsafe workplace.

Unsafe working environment irresponsible

The new US embassy is located at the border of The Hague and Wassenaar. The complex of 11.000 square meters is heavily secured. Some 250 constructions workers are active on the site, mostly from foreign countries: Romanians, Turks and Bulgarians. Investigations by Dutch newspaper AD imply that part of the personnel have consistently been working longer hours than allowed since the start of the project. The investigation is ongoing.

Safety of professionals is top priority

Regardless of the results of the current investigation, we believe the working conditions of professionals are top priority. Structurally working for too long under poor circumstances lowers the quality of output by professionals. Furthermore, the safety of the fixer and the Customers are at stake. MrFix only sends you a fresh, well-rested professional that gets your job done right first time ☺

Clean chimney for Pete this year? Our regular chimney-sweepers offer you a sweet Saint Nicholas Day deal. For just €70,- (incl. VAT and call-out charge), they sweep your chimney so that Pete doesn’t suffer grime stains. Naturally, we won’t send you a bungler…

Call 020-6750 333 or mail [email protected] and MrFix fixes it!

P.S. The fire insurance often doesn’t cover damages if the chimney is not demonstrably swept clean. MrFix sends you a neat invoice (with iDeal link) afterwards.

People die in Holland every year due to carbon monoxide leakage

Every year people die from suffocation due to carbon monoxide leakage from boilers. Carbon monoxide is highly toxic and even lethal when people are exposed to high concentrations. The main cause is people failing to check their boilers regularly. A properly checked boiler reduces the risk of carbon monoxide leakages. However, there is another problem: the quality of installers varies strongly. As a layman, you risk hiring a cowboy installer who fails to improve the condition of your boiler and reduce the risk you run.

Stricter competency requirements are a necessity

The Fire Department, but also the Consumers’ Association and UNETO-VNI want to introduce a mandatory quality label for the approval of boilers. At this moment, there is just voluntary labels like OK-cv. In other countries such as the UK installers have to meet strong competency requirements and are obliged to keep retraining in order to meet standards. In The Netherlands we recognise the seriousness of the carbon monoxide leakage problem but the necessary measures have not yet been put in place.

Mandatory label improves resident safety

We strongly believe your safety is paramount, so we fully support the introduction of a strict, mandatory label. Until such a mandatory label is actually there, MrFix comes to the rescue: we always screen our installers before we send them out, so that you are always sure of a safe living environment. A thorough check of your boiler, including cleaning, venting and refilling costs only €85!