Thumbtack: Home Repair Made Easy for Home-Based Creators (2023)

Home-based creators have newfound responsibilities to care for and maintain their homes like never before. But most creators I know aren’t handymen. Even if they are, they likely prefer to focus on content creation instead of finding and repairing tiles and plumbing issues. This is where Thumbtack comes into play as an intuitive, reliable, and non-salesy platform to help you with every enhancement and maintenance need.

By the way, I should mention that I’m not a handyman or a home improvement guru. Instead, I’m a homeowner and a home-based creator sharing my own experience to help you navigate the muddy water of home ownership. Hopefully, you’ll pick up a tip or two that might help you in the near future!

Why do you need Thumbtack at all?

You may be wondering…

“If I already have home insurance and a home warranty, do I still need hire plumbers and technicians?”

The short answer is yes, you still need to hire homecare contractors nd technicians from time to time. I’m referring generally to plumbers, electricians, tile installation/repair, painters, cleaning services, movers, handymen, etc.

Because even home insurance and home warranty (together) still do not cover your every need for the house.

Here’s why.

Homeowners insurance typically covers your dwelling, other structures on your property, personal property, personal liability, medical payments to others, and loss of use costs.

A home warranty protects your home from unexpected breakdowns and repairs. It typically provides coverage for a variety of common appliances found in homes. This coverage often includes appliances such as refrigerators, ovens and ranges, dishwashers, microwaves, washers and dryers, and garage door openers. Read more about Choice Home Warranty: Best and Only Home Warranty You Will Ever Need (2023)

What if you want to improve and enhance something you already have such as regrouting your shower tiles? Or installing new floors? Or build a part or a whole basement? Neither home insurance nor a home warranty will cover them for you.

This is where Thumbtack comes in to bridge the gap between home insurance and a home warranty.

How legitimate is Thumbtack?

I was skeptical at first. I think we have all once regretted entering our personal information into some car insurance website, only to find endless texts and random calls from companies who want to sell to us.

Thumbtack is entirely different. It’s a marketplace that’s well designed and thought-through for repair pros and homeowners. It’s entirely free to use.

Hiring contractors and organizing my home repair projects is a breeze. Thumbtack is such a transparent and wonderful service that I immediately recommended to many friends and family members.

What is Thumbtack?

Thumbtack helps you easily navigate the exact type of service you need. Inside the Thumbtack app or their website, you can easily search for and hire contractors directly, read their reviews, and submit helpful images of your project.

To get started, simply download the Thumbtack mobile app. Alternatively, you can access Thumbtack via their website as well.

What types of services are offered at Thumbstack?

I was surprised by the variety of services available. I can only speak to my experience with the “Home” category, which I can give them an A+ experience.

How does it work?

I’m going to share my desktop experience for convenience but their mobile app works incredibly well which helps me manage various house projects on the go.

Thumbtack allows you to easily do the following on both desktop and mobile:

• Find contractors and technicians in your area based on your needs
• Navigate full contractor details including reviews, featured projects
• Contact the contractors directly (and often get a response back within minutes!)
• Upload images to share with contractors for your project
• Set up phone calls directly within the app
• Request estimates and manage payments

These are just a subset of the commonly used features.

The user experience is top-notch, especially given the complexity of home repair projects. Thumbtack really helps you reduce stress and make hiring and getting the project with ease.

1. Search for services within your area (by zip code)

The auto-fill in the dropdown helps tremendously to search for what you need. My home repair vocabulary can be so limited sometimes, this really helps get to what I’m actually looking for.

2. View a full list of contractors in your area without ads or distractions

I love how organized this list is. Unlike Yelp and other apps, Thumbtack doesn’t hide important information or flood you with ads and sponsored content. The contractors you are looking for are right there. If they are at the top of the list is because they are good and have outstanding reviews.

3. View the full profile of selected contractors

I like how the information is organized on this page. I can easily see the contractor’s photo or a company photo. Review ratings and details from real customers. I can message the contractor directly as well as request a quote. Furthermore, on the right-hand side of the screen, you can provide additional details related to your project to help with the estimate and cost.

For example for my tile project, Thumbtack even knows to provide filters to help me navigate the questions I need to answer related to tiles. This level of proactive assistance is worth highlighting since not every contractor I’ve worked with is good with communication (even though they may be excellent at their work).

Below the contractor’s details information, you will see a list of “Featured Projects”. This was helpful to see real projects, photos, and customer experience to best evaluate if I want to hire the contractor. I also notice people leaving feedback mentioning quality, professionalism, and steller clean-up after the project is done.

4. An easy Inbox to organize and navigate projects and conversations with ongoing contractors

Instead of relying on your cell phone for ongoing conversations, Thumbtack has an Inbox built-in you can use to send and receive text, links and images.

What I think (real scenario of finding a tile guy)

• I found a contractor around midnight and sent a message to him
• He responded within minutes and scheduled a visit for the next day
• He showed up on time and explained every detail to us
• His estimate was very reasonable so we hired him and scheduled the appointment right away

Conclusion: Is Thumbtack worth it?

110%! With each and every Thumbtack project, I have become less stressed and more confident with my home repair. Can you imagine that?!

For most homeowners and home-based creators, taking care of your home is so essential yet it can be a real source of headache.

Instead of avoiding home repairs, Thumbtack helps me stay ahead of it, and even dare I say that I enjoy the learning process to be in tune with my home.

Thumbtack contractors are easy to work with, and fun to talk to. I have learned so much from them and will definitely continue to use Thumbtack services for years to come.

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