Service
Small Home Tasks
The little things still need doing, even when you are two thousand kilometres away.
A house does not stop having small needs because nobody is in it. Filters clog, bulbs go, smoke alarm batteries start chirping at three in the morning in an empty hallway, patio furniture needs to come in before the first real snow, and a box needs to go to the donation centre.
These are handled during a visit or booked as their own block of time. Materials can be supplied by you and left at the property, or picked up on your authorisation with the receipt attached to the job record.
The boundary here is firm and it is worth reading. Alberta treats plumbing, gasfitting and electrical work as compulsory-certification trades. Some tasks that get casually called handyman work are actually trade work, and a few of them appear on the second list below. When a request falls on that side of the line it gets routed to a licensed contractor, and a representative can attend to let them in.
Handled by an attendant
Non-trade tasks requiring no certification.
- Replace light bulbs in accessible fixtures
- Replace furnace filters
- Replace refrigerator water filters
- Replace range hood filters
- Replace smoke and CO alarm batteries
- Replace batteries in thermostats, smart locks, keypads and remotes
- Restart a modem or router; reconnect a Wi-Fi device
- Adjust thermostat settings (settings only, no wiring)
- Set timers and programmable switches
- Tighten loose cabinet and door hardware
- Lubricate hinges and tracks
- Install adhesive or screw-in hooks
- Hang pictures
- Assemble small flat-pack furniture
- Move small furniture within the property
- Put patio furniture away or bring it out
- Basic weather stripping and door sweeps
- Simple caulking at non-plumbing locations
- Basic smart-device setup and pairing
- Take approved items to a donation centre
Routed to a licensed contractor
Compulsory-certification trade work in Alberta, or work with a failure mode severe enough that it belongs with someone insured for it. A representative can attend to provide access.
- Thermostat replacement involving wiring — electrical
- Anything behind an electrical panel or device faceplate — electrical
- Replacing fixtures, switches or outlets — electrical
- Resetting a tripped breaker on an unknown fault — electrical
- Shower heads, taps, valves and supply lines — plumbing
- Toilet internals, fill valves and shut-off valves — plumbing
- Anything on a water heater, boiler or furnace — plumbing / gas
- Relighting or resetting any gas appliance — gasfitting
- Main water shut-off repair or replacement — plumbing
- Appliance repair and disconnection or reconnection
- Roof, ladder and above-grade exterior work
- Anything requiring a permit
Common questions
Can you replace my furnace filter?
Yes. Replacing a furnace filter is a non-trade task an attendant performs directly, and it is one of the more useful ones — a plugged filter is a common cause of furnace lockout, which is exactly the failure you do not want in an empty house in January.
You can leave filters at the property, or record the size in your property profile and have them picked up on your authorisation with the receipt attached to the job.
The same applies to refrigerator water filters, range hood filters, light bulbs, and smoke and CO alarm batteries.
Where the line sits: anything requiring work on the furnace itself, its wiring, its venting or its gas supply is licensed trade work and goes to an HVAC contractor. Changing the filter is a filter change; anything past that is not.
Can you fix things at the property?
Some things, directly. Most things, by getting the right licensed person there.
Attendants handle non-trade tasks: bulbs, filters, batteries, hardware tightening, weather stripping, basic assembly, moving small furniture, simple device setup and similar work. That covers a genuinely useful share of what an empty house needs.
Alberta treats plumbing, gasfitting and electrical work as compulsory-certification trades, and some things that get casually called handyman work fall on that side of the line — replacing a thermostat with wiring behind it, anything on a water heater or furnace, changing a shower head or tap, resetting a gas appliance, replacing a light fixture. Those go to a licensed contractor.
The workflow for anything beyond an attendant's scope is: document the issue with photographs, report it to you with a recommendation, get your authorisation, engage an appropriately licensed contractor, attend for access, and document completion. VacantHomes coordinates and records the work; it does not perform it, and does not warrant the contractor's work.
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