Stuck Hatches and Heirloom Mirrors: Ten Little Jobs We'll Never Forget

There's a job board in our van — a proper one, screwed to the bulkhead — and it's covered in the sort of requests that would make a national company's booking system fall over. Things like 'loft hatch, Mrs E, URGENT (cat involved)'. We've never had the heart to wipe it clean.

The truth is, the little odd jobs are the best part of this trade. They don't pay much and they rarely take long, but they're the reason people remember your name when the kitchen extension finally needs doing. Here are ten of our favourites.

1. The Loft Hatch That Wouldn't Budge

A chap in his eighties rang because he hadn't been into his loft since his wife passed and the hatch had painted itself shut. Two decades of emulsion will do that. We didn't just free it — we fitted a proper insulated hatch with a handrail and a drop-down ladder, then helped him up (slowly) to find the Christmas decorations he'd been after. He made us a brew we're still talking about.

2. The Mirror That Came Down With Grandma's House

A heavy gilt mirror, three generations old, needed moving from a hallway in one house to a hallway in another — a twenty-minute drive. No van hire, no carrying it themselves, no chance of trusting it to a courier. We wrapped it in blankets like a newborn, drove at the speed of a Sunday stroll, and hung it on the wall with fixings that'll outlast all of us.

3. 'Can You Just Look at This Gate?'

Ninety minutes later we'd rehung a sagging garden gate, planed the edge, oiled the hinges and adjusted the latch. The customer was mortified it took so long. We were delighted. That's a proper little job, that is.

4. The Christmas Lights That Defeated a Ladder

Every December, someone rings in a mild panic because the lights on the front of the house have given up mid-December. One year it was a single blown fuse. Another year it was squirrels. We keep spare festoon cable in the van from November onwards now — it's cheaper than a wreath and we get a mince pie out of it.

5. The Wardrobe With a Secret

A customer asked us to 'stop a wardrobe wobbling'. Turned out it was leaning because a floorboard beneath had rotted where a slow leak from the bathroom above had been quietly dripping for months. One wobbling wardrobe, one caught leak, one very relieved household. That's the thing about odd jobs — sometimes they're the early warning system.

6. Rescuing a Set of Keys From a Locked Shed

Not our usual line of work, but the customer was locked out of the only place the stopcock key lived, and water was going everywhere. We removed two boards, handed the keys through, then refixed the boards properly. Emergency plumbing by carpentry.

7. The Shelf That Had to Hold 'Anything She Throws At It'

A woman wanted a shelf above her tumble dryer strong enough for a full basket of wet washing. We found the studs, used proper heavy-duty brackets and tested it with the actual basket. She then threw a rugby ball at it. It held. We consider this our most rigorous quality assessment to date.

8. Moving a Piano. Yes, a Piano.

Eight feet, along a hallway, with a turn at both ends. We said yes before we'd properly thought about it, then recruited the customer's two sons and a lot of towels under the feet. It took an hour and we ached for days, but we'd do it again tomorrow.

9. The Bird Box With a View

A gentleman wanted a bird box mounted 'where he could see it from his armchair'. We fitted it to a pole by the patio doors, at exactly the height from his seat. He sent us a photo of the blue tits in spring. Best invoice footnote we've ever had.

10. 'While You're Here...'

Our most common request, and honestly our favourite category of job. The dripping tap mentioned in passing. The door that sticks. The smoke alarm that chirps. Small firms don't run on timers and ticket queues — if you're there and it takes ten minutes, you do it. That's not extra chargeable work in our book. That's just being neighbours with a toolbox.

Why the Little Jobs Matter

There's a reason the big companies won't touch these requests: their business model can't afford to care. A call centre can't schedule 'cat involved in loft incident' and a franchise can't price a grandmother's mirror. But a family firm can, because for us the little job isn't a loss leader — it's the relationship.

So if you've got something odd, small or slightly embarrassing on your list — the hatch, the gate, the wobbly whatever — ask us. We've got a board in the van with space on it, and frankly, it could use some new material.