The Charleston Lowcountry and York County on the South Carolina side of the Charlotte metro, across Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Lancaster and York counties. Each town below has its own permit authority and its own housing stock, and both change what the work involves.
The list on the fridge. A dozen small jobs, each too small for a trade to send a truck for, which is exactly why they never get done.
Charleston County · City of Charleston
Charleston County · Town of Mount Pleasant
Charleston County · City of North Charleston
Dorchester County · Town of Summerville
Berkeley County · City of Goose Creek
Charleston County · Charleston County
Charleston County · City of Charleston
Charleston County · City of Isle of Palms
Berkeley County · Town of Moncks Corner
Berkeley County · City of Hanahan
Berkeley County · Charleston / Berkeley / Dorchester
Berkeley County · City of Charleston
Charleston County · Charleston County
Charleston County · Town of Mount Pleasant
Charleston County · Town of Seabrook Island
Colleton County · Colleton County
Charleston County · Charleston County
York County · City of Rock Hill
York County · Town of Fort Mill
York County · City of Tega Cay
York County · York County
York County · Town of Clover
York County · City of York
Lancaster County · Lancaster County
Doors that stick, a running toilet, rotten trim on the sunny side, a wobbling ceiling fan, blinds that were never hung, caulk that has given up around a tub. Individually none of them justifies a call-out. Together they are a day.
That is how we price it: by the visit rather than by the item, so the fifth job costs you far less than the first. The efficient version is to write the whole list down before we come, because the marginal cost of one more small task once someone is already there with tools is close to nothing.
Some things on a list are not handyman work, and we will say so — anything structural, anything behind a panel, gas, or a leak whose source nobody has found. Those get the right licensed trade rather than a patch.
The useful thing to know about handyman work in South Carolina is that it is not a licence category. The state's list of residential specialty classifications names plumbers, electricians, heating and air installers, roofers, siding and insulation installers, floor covering installers, masons, drywall installers, carpenters, stucco installers, painters and solar installers. No handyman. The word describes a scale of work, so the only sensible question about any item on your list is what that particular item requires.
The thresholds are the same in every town above, because they are set by state law rather than locally: a specialty registration is required once an undertaking exceeds five hundred dollars, a residential builder licence above five thousand, and a Contractor's Licensing Board licence above ten thousand. What changes by town is the permit office and, on the islands and in the newer subdivisions, whether an association has to approve anything visible from outside.
Most items on a genuine handyman list are not permitted work. The ones that are — anything structural, anything gas, anything behind a panel — go to the licensed trade that holds the classification, and that contractor pulls the permit in their own name.
Between them, the towns above fall under 19 separate permit authorities.
In the Lowcountry, permits come from the City of Charleston for Charleston, West Ashley and Daniel Island, the Town of Mount Pleasant for Mount Pleasant and Park West, the City of North Charleston for North Charleston, the Town of Summerville for Summerville, the City of Goose Creek for Goose Creek, Charleston County for James Island, Johns Island and Ravenel, the City of Isle of Palms for Isle of Palms, the Town of Moncks Corner for Moncks Corner, the City of Hanahan for Hanahan, Ladson falling to Charleston, Berkeley or Dorchester County depending on the address, the Town of Seabrook Island for Seabrook Island and Colleton County for Edisto Island.
In York and Lancaster counties, from the City of Rock Hill for Rock Hill, the Town of Fort Mill for Fort Mill, the City of Tega Cay for Tega Cay, York County for Lake Wylie, the Town of Clover for Clover, the City of York for York and Lancaster County for Indian Land.
It matters here mostly for triage: knowing which office covers the address is how we tell you at the estimate which items on your list are a same-visit job and which are going to wait on a permit.
Knowing which office that is matters mainly because it tells you how long the permitted item will take, which is usually the difference between finishing the list this week and finishing it next month.
Yes, and it is the reason to write the whole list down first. The visit is the fixed cost in every town on this page.
Two items and twelve items involve the same travel, unloading and setting up.
Anything that should be permitted and inspected, anything behind an electrical panel, gas work, and any leak whose source has not been found.
Patching a symptom without finding the cause is the most expensive kind of cheap work.
Only for anything visible from outside — a fence panel, a door colour, a light fitting, a rail.
It is worth checking before we come rather than after the work is done, and it is more common in the newer York County subdivisions and on the islands.