Handyman in San Mateo

Small fixes for Shoreview and Hillsdale tract houses

Shoreview was begun in 1945, 1,200 homes were built there in 1949 alone, and by 1952 it housed 3,000 families in modest postwar tract houses. Hillsdale's one-story houses belong to the same era. After that many decades, the same parts wear out in almost every house: latches, hinge screws, tub caulk, fence gates and toilet parts. None of it calls for a big contractor, but it adds up to a list.

Text a photo of each item, and a short list can often be priced before anyone drives over. We group the items so one trip covers as much as possible. Jobs that need a permit are contracted through our licensed partner Bay Builder Inc.

Worth knowing about San Mateo

• About 70.4% of the city's 42,641 housing units were built before 1980 and 9.5% in 1939 or earlier. The 1950s are the largest single building decade, at 21.3%.
• Hillsdale, started in 1939 and resumed in the late 1940s, has one-story Minimal Traditional and Post-War Minimal houses. Shoreview built 1,200 homes in 1949 alone.
• Filled former baylands reach as far west as El Camino Real. The City's Safety Element says settlement on that fill, typically on the east side, cracks buildings and foundations.