Handyman or Contractor…which one is more skilled

We were repairing some soffit on one of our clients house and while I was working the thought came to me who’s more qualified. What defines a handyman versus’s a contractor? I don’t know but as I’m rebuilding these soffits I’ll try to figure it out.

[marcinkolanowski]

A handyman in England is usually referred to as „Jack of all trades”, „Do it all Dave” or simply a decorator.. they usually a one man band and typically do small repairs such as painting, fixing woodwork, patching holes etc. I guess the contractor in Britain is called a general builder. They do all kinds of works including carpentry, plastering and bit of bricklaying etc. They usually have 2-3 guys and also use subcontractors for specific jobs like plumbing or electrics. The builder will usually be responsible for managing the project. They also make money by adding margins to subbies invoices.

[Longtrailside]

Short answer. Depends on the person and thier skillset and knowledge. We've all worked with people that make us shake our heads, or astound us with their abilitys under the same title.

[livesmart]

Looking good guys, I thought that handymen typically do about anything. Roofing to putting in kiddy pools but I understand what you’re saying about limited skill sets.

[antoniopolselli]

Awesome vid's you guys put out. Exceptional work. Thank you.

Of course there will be no consensus but in my experience there's at least three distinctions.

Contractors:
More likely to be licensed and insured.
Work in bigger teams on bigger projects.
Overall they still tend to focus on a couple of niche areas and sub out a lot more work so more specialized.

Handyman:
Solo act
More often for cash
Do everything

To be a good handyman requires enormous breadth and depth of skill and perhaps even greater organizational abilities. Every job has completely different requirements for tools, materials, logistics and procedures... Whereas contractors typically stick to one or two kinds of work. Although I think the term handyman is typically used and understood to mean work which is viewed (however myopically) to be smaller and simpler for which one man alone can do.

I enjoy your channel so much because you include so many different types of work at a very high level.

[livesmart]

I have 10, 000 hrs mowing grass so I guess I’m a professional 😝