Handyman Sands End: terraces and riverside flats

Handyman in Sands End: two very different kinds of home

Sands End sits in the bend of the river at the southern edge of Fulham, and its housing splits into two clear types. Back from the water you have streets of small terraced houses. Along the river you have blocks of flats built on old industrial land. Our handyman can go from a Victorian sash window in the morning to a wall mounted TV in a riverside apartment in the afternoon, and the two jobs need quite different tools and fixings.

We are based at Jerdan Place in Fulham, so Sands End is close to home for us. Wandsworth Bridge Road, Townmead Road and the streets towards Imperial Wharf station are all part of our regular patch.

The terraces off Townmead Road and Carnwath Road

Hammersmith and Fulham Council's profile of the Sands End conservation area says the part north west of Carnwath Road and Townmead Road is mainly two storey terraced houses built between 1870 and 1910. They are modest houses, which means most repairs can be done from inside or from a short ladder, and work tends to be quick.

Houses from those decades share a list of wear points. Internal doors drop and need planing. Floorboards creak where old nails have worked loose. Window sills in painted softwood soften along the bottom edge where water sits. If your house still has timber sashes, broken cords and painted shut sashes are the faults to expect. The cord is the rope that holds the window up, and replacing it is a fairly tidy job.

The council also points out that old plot boundaries and boundary walls on Townmead Road survive, in a mix of walling materials and entrances. Keeping those walls in good order is part of what gives the street its character. We can repoint small sections, reset a loose coping stone and rehang a gate, and we will tell you honestly if a leaning wall needs a builder instead.

Riverside flats near Imperial Wharf

The council's South Fulham Riverside area has a south facing river frontage of 1,700 metres, and its local plan says the overriding need there is for new homes. The flats along this stretch, including the four eight storey blocks of Regent on the River described in the conservation area profile, bring a different set of jobs. Think flat pack wardrobes, blinds on wide glazed doors, TV brackets, shower resealing and doors that need a small adjustment once a new building settles.

Walls in newer flats are not always solid. If yours are plasterboard on metal or timber studs, a heavy TV or kitchen shelf needs fixings made for hollow walls, or a fixing straight into a stud. Our handyman checks with a detector before drilling, partly for strength and partly to avoid pipes and cables. If your block has a managing agent, it is worth checking if they need notice before any drilling or work in shared areas.

Storage and fitting jobs in compact terraces

A two storey terrace from the 1870s to the 1900s was never built with much storage in mind. In houses like these, the jobs that make the most difference are often shelving in the alcoves either side of a chimney breast, a cupboard under the stairs that actually closes, or hooks and rails in a narrow hallway. Each one sounds small, but getting a shelf level in a room where the floor and ceiling are not quite square takes patience.

Walls in houses of this age are often a mix of brick and plaster patched over the years. Our handyman drills a test hole first, checks for cables and pipes, and picks fixings that suit what we find. Where a previous owner has left a wall full of old plugs and holes, we fill and sand it before anything new goes up, so the finish looks clean once it is painted.

Letting a flat in Sands End

If you let a flat near the river, the gap between tenants is the time to get repairs done. Since 1/10/2022, private landlords in England must have at least one smoke alarm on each storey used as living accommodation, and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room used as living accommodation that has a fixed combustion appliance, such as a boiler or a wood burner. Gas cookers are not included. Alarms must be repaired or replaced once the landlord is told they are faulty.

We can fit and swap battery alarms, test them and note where they are. Alarms wired into the mains are electrical work, so a registered electrician fits those, and we arrange it. Around that we handle the usual end of tenancy list: filling holes from pictures, touching up paint, fixing loose handles, resealing baths and making sure every window opens and locks.

Gas, electrics and what goes to a specialist

We never do gas work ourselves, so a boiler in a riverside flat or an older terrace is not a job for our handyman. Any gas work is done by a Gas Safe registered engineer, as the law requires. We will arrange this for you. Bigger electrical work works the same way. A new circuit, a new consumer unit (the fuse box) or new points in a room with a bath or shower is done by a registered electrician who can self certify the work. We arrange it.

How to get a free quote in Sands End

Send us the job through the quote form, with your street and a photo if you have one. For a flat, let us know the floor and if there is a lift, as it changes how we plan the visit. We will come back to you from our Fulham base with a free quote.

Common questions