Honey-Do Membership
A honey-do membership is an annual program with four scheduled quarterly visits, four banked hours per visit, against the written list on the fridge — from $600 a year for the standard four-hour quarterly tier on a typical Seattle home up to $1,800 for the quarterly full-day tier for households with the longest standing lists. The same vetted handyman shows up each quarter, opens the running list (a shared note, a text thread, a literal piece of paper), and works it end to end — sequenced so patches go first while the mud cures, doors next, hardware after, mounting and caulk at the end. Right for the house where items get added one at a time across the year but nobody ever works the whole list in one sitting.
Membership
What Does the Honey-Do Membership Include?
The honey-do membership is an annual program — billed once at the start of the year — that schedules four quarterly visits with four banked handyman hours per visit. The same assigned tech runs each quarter, opens the running list, sequences the work for dry time and room access, and works the block end to end. Right for the household where items accumulate over months (a sticky kitchen drawer, a picture you have been meaning to hang, an anti-tip the new bookshelf needs, a smoke detector at the ten-year mark, a row of cabinet pulls) but nobody ever sits down to work the whole list in one sitting. The membership covers handyman scope only — gas, hardwired electrical, in-wall plumbing supply or drain, structural framing, and roof replacement route to a licensed Washington L&I contractor when an item crosses that line.
The Written List Is the Whole Membership
A honey-do membership only works if the list is real. We give every member a shared note (a Google Doc or shared Apple Note works, a literal handwritten list on the fridge works too) that lives in one place. Items get added as they come up across the quarter — a wobbly toilet seat in the guest bath, a closet door that scrapes, three smoke detectors past the ten-year mark, anti-tip on the kids' new dresser, a caulk seam pulling in the master shower. By the time the quarterly visit lands the list has eight to twelve items on it. The tech opens it the morning of the visit and walks it with you on arrival.
Sequencing Around Dry Time and Room Access
A mixed list gets worked in the order that respects dry time and room access. Drywall patches go first so the mud can cure while the rest of the list runs. Caulking goes near the end because it cannot be touched for an hour. Mounting and hanging come after patches so the wall is sound. Multi-room lists get sequenced so one room is fully closed before the next is opened, so the cleanup happens once instead of four times. The order is built into the visit, not improvised on arrival.
Quarterly Cadence — Why Four Visits Instead of Twelve
Four quarterly visits at four hours each (16 banked hours a year) is the right cadence for households whose work accumulates into lists rather than a steady trickle — different from the monthly membership where two or three hours a month fits a steady flow. Quarterly works because the list has time to accumulate to a real block of work between visits, the tech has time to load specialty hardware against the actual list (longer-shank toggles for plaster walls, masonry sleeves for a brick fireplace, smart-lock kits), and the once-a-quarter visit feels like an event you can plan around rather than a recurring small appointment.
Specialty Tier for Older Seattle Houses
The $1,200 quarterly-half-day-with-specialty tier loads quarterly masonry, plaster, smart-lock, or other specialty hardware at no surcharge — built for older Wallingford, Capitol Hill, Ballard, and Queen Anne houses where plaster walls and original 1920s trim make every mount a different fastener. Two-tech quarterly ($1,500) puts two handymen on the same visit for longer lists, working different rooms in parallel. Quarterly full-day ($1,800) is the eight-hour quarterly version for households with the longest standing lists — typically pre-listing visits, post-renovation finish work, or after-move-in catchup.
How a Honey-Do Membership Visit Works
The sequence we follow on every quarterly four-hour honey-do block, from the shared running list across the quarter to the dry-time-respecting sequence on the visit day.
Running List Across the Quarter
You add items to a shared note (or text the dispatcher) as they come up across the quarter. Wobbly toilet seat. Closet door scraping. Three smoke detectors at the ten-year mark. Anti-tip on the kids' dresser. The list lives in one place so nothing gets forgotten between months.
Visit Confirmation the Week Before
The tech (or dispatcher) confirms the quarterly visit window and walks the list with you over text — what fits in the four hours, what needs to roll to next quarter, whether any items need specialty hardware loaded (masonry sleeves for a brick wall, longer-shank toggles for plaster, smart-lock kit).
Truck Loaded Against the Specific List
The truck gets loaded for your actual visit — not a generic punch-list kit. Wall-side hardware matched to your wall types, the specific cabinet pulls and detector models you supplied, drywall mud and primer if any patches are on the list, the right anchors and bits for every item.
Arrival, Walkthrough, and Sequence Decision
The tech walks the list with you on arrival and proposes a sequence — patches first (so the mud can cure during the visit), then doors and hardware (which fill the cure time), then mounting (after the wall is sound), then caulking (which cannot be touched for an hour). The walkthrough makes the order explicit so you know what is happening when.
Sequenced Execution Across the Four Hours
Patches in the first 30 minutes, mud curing while the next two hours run doors, hardware, and mounting. Caulking and final mounts in the last 30 to 45 minutes. Cleanup folded into the last increment, not added on after. Items that cannot fit get noted for the next quarter's banked block.
Visit Notes and Next Quarter's Starting List
The tech logs every item touched on the visit, anything flagged for next quarter (a closet door that needs a slab plane not on the truck, a wall stud that came up empty where a heavy mount was planned, a caulk seam that needs a second coat after the first cures), and what is already on the next quarter's running list. The note opens automatically on his tablet at the next visit.
Honey-Do Membership Pricing
Annual membership pricing depends on home size, the tier selected (standard quarterly four-hour, specialty hardware, two-tech quarterly, or quarterly full-day), and any travel premium for properties outside the standard Seattle metro radius. Members pay a discounted member labor rate on add-on work past the booked block and skip the per-visit trip charge while the membership is active. Request a free estimate for an accurate quote.
Tell us how long the list usually is when you finally sit down to work it — we will pick the tier.
Why Seattle Homeowners Book the Honey-Do Membership
A honey-do visit only works when the list is real and the tech sequences the work right. The failure mode is the all-too-common one — a tech shows up sized for one task, finds eight items, runs out of materials by item three, and tries to upsell the rest to a follow-up visit. Our honey-do membership is built around the running list, the specialty hardware loaded against the actual list, and the dry-time-aware sequence — so the four-hour block actually closes eight to twelve items in a single sitting, every quarter, on a list you have been meaning to work for months.
Same tech each quarter, list open before he knocks
Each honey-do member gets a primary tech who runs the quarterly visits and carries the running list forward. Last quarter's list is open on his tablet the morning of the visit; new items added since the last visit have already been reviewed for hardware needs. If the primary is out for a specific quarter, a backup runs that visit with the notes in hand and the primary takes the next one. Most members keep the same tech for years.
Truck loaded against the actual list, not a generic kit
Specialty hardware (longer-shank toggles for plaster, masonry sleeves for brick fireplaces, smart-lock kits, drywall mud in the right size) goes on the truck based on what is actually on the list — not a generic punch-list kit. The visit confirmation the week before captures wall types, door types, hardware on hand, and any items needing specialty loadout. Specialty surcharge applies only when those items are genuinely on the visit list.
Sequenced around dry time and room access
Patches in the first 30 minutes so the mud can cure. Doors and hardware fill the cure window. Mounting after patches so the wall is sound. Caulking at the end (cannot be touched for an hour). Multi-room lists sequenced so one room is fully closed before the next is opened, so the drop cloth and the vacuum move once instead of four times.
Member labor rate on overruns, no trip charge
If the list runs past the four-hour block, the extra time bills at member labor rate (lower than the public hourly), with your sign-off before the rate clock starts. Items that cannot fit get noted for next quarter's block. No per-visit trip charge while the membership is active — the trip cost is in the annual fee, not added every quarter.
Honest scope — handyman only, contractor handoff when needed
Honey-do visits cover handyman scope only. Anything inside a wall on a supply or drain line, gas appliances, hardwired electrical, new 120V or 240V circuits, roof replacement, structural framing, or work requiring a permit routes to a licensed Washington L&I contractor — we name the issue in the visit notes and recommend who to call, then come back for the finish work after their rough-in if you want us in the loop.
Insured, background-checked, 30-day workmanship guarantee
Every Handis handyman carries liability insurance and has cleared a background screening before the first visit. The 30-day workmanship guarantee applies to every item touched during a honey-do visit — a mount that shifts, a patch that cracks, a caulk seam that pulls, an anchor that backs out, a door we adjusted that starts dragging again. We come back and fix it at no extra charge.
Estimate
Tell us the home size and rough age (older Seattle houses with plaster need the specialty tier), how long the typical list runs when you finally sit down to work it, which honey-do tier you are thinking about (standard four-hour, specialty, two-tech, full-day), and any current items already on the list. We send a clear annual estimate.
Customer Reviews
Real honey-do membership visits from verified Seattle-area Handis customers.
Honey-do quarterly for my parents' house. They are in their seventies, the list never gets shorter. Four hours each quarter, the same tech every time, list lives in a shared note we all update. Last quarter — picture hung in the hallway, anti-tip on the bookshelf in the guest room, sticky kitchen drawer, three light bulbs in the vaulted ceiling, two grab bars in the bath. Mom calls him by his first name.
Specialty tier for our 1928 Wallingford bungalow. Plaster walls, original trim. Every other handyman had used drywall anchors that pulled out. The tech showed up with longer-shank toggle bolts specifically rated for plaster over lath, hung four heavy mirrors, one TV, two floating shelves, and a curtain rod in the bay window. Nothing has moved. Worth the difference over standard.
Two-tech quarterly because our list always runs long. Last visit was 14 items across the whole house — drywall patches in the kids' rooms, closet doors planed, three rows of cabinet pulls in the kitchen, anti-tip on a built-in bookshelf, two smoke detectors, a curtain rod, a sticky bedroom door. Two techs split the rooms and got everything done in four hours flat.
Quarterly full-day after we moved in. The previous owners had left a year of small repairs we did not realize until we lived there a month — every door scraped, half the cabinet pulls were loose, three smoke detectors were past the ten-year mark, the master bath had a caulk seam pulling. Full-day quarterly worked the whole list in one sitting. Worth every dollar of the upper tier.
Standard quarterly tier for two years now. The list grows fast in our household — five kids, lots of moving things, art going up, art coming down. Quarterly is the right cadence. We do not have to think about it between visits. The tech opens the shared note, knocks out twelve items every quarter, and we have a one-paragraph summary in the inbox the same evening.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about the honey-do membership — pricing, scope, the running list, the sequence, what fits in a quarterly visit, and what routes to a licensed Washington L&I contractor.