“Pride comes before the fall,” it has been said before. By whom, I forget. But I find this adage to hold a lot of truth in it. This not only proves itself true in relationships or business dealings, it is also applicable to everyday humdrum things. It’s a man’s thing to tinker around and fix the leaky faucet that the missus keeps complaining about. Leave it to him to tighten that loose pipe or install the new sprinkler system. If you think you might have an aptitude for easy and basic mechanical repairs, hey, don’t let me stop you from honing your skills. But there are some kinks that are better sorted out by a professional handyman so that it doesn’t get worse.

Even if you the new household gadget comes with a manual that you’re pretty sure you can understand if you read it 6 times over, be smart enough to leave it to an expert.

A good handyman is one who is eager to work on a new challenge and excitedly listens to your description of the problem (and preferably doesn’t gloat about you having screwed up the In-Sink-Erator). Okay, maybe “excited” is a tall order and perhaps your handyman is a bit emotionally inept. At least choose one who doesn’t sound bored or exasperated and barely lets you finish your sentence before issuing his diagnosis and projected service rate. You can tell that a person loves his job and takes it seriously if he doesn’t go straight to number crunching until he’s finished hearing the whole synopsis of the household dilemma and then has a sufficient powwow with the homeowner or customer.

There are listings of repairmen or handymen in phonebooks, but since people barely know what those are anymore, you can always log on to the web and surf for handyman listings in your area. If you are able to, check for references and find out if their previous customers or clients were pleased with their performance and trusted them. You can also ask about their efficiency and their expedience in getting to the root cause of the problem. Before getting yourself in a terrible jam, make sure you also ask for their service rates for various fix-it jobs.

Not that they are known for their GQ Magazine appeal, but a dream handyman would be someone who is neat and orderly in appearance and professional in conduct. Remember, this is someone who is entering your home and may be there for several hours—walking in and out of your living room, kitchen or whatnot and will be exposed to your other family members. Safety and propriety are important so choose wisely.

A great handyman is one who can fix the problem so well that you won’t have to keep calling him back for repeated repairs (unless you’re clumsy and keep breaking what he fixed, then he’s probably milking you for more money by delaying the solution to your household conundrum). Bottom line is that he is a professional and has the experience and training to solve the problem, fix what’s broken, and advise you on what’s necessary. So if you have at least 1% doubt that you can fix what’s broken around the house, then check your pride at the door and pick up the phone. Call an expert, because if you can’t, a handyman sure can.