JP Handywoman

JP Handywoman grew out of a problem its founder had herself. Marie Meehan says she started the business after struggling to keep up with the maintenance on her own Jamaica Plain home, bringing more than a decade of construction work with her; she runs it herself and describes the company as woman-owned. The work is upkeep rather than renovation — one-off repairs plus a quarterly maintenance program that tracks what a house needs and when. The company also runs orientations for new homeowners and a maintenance class for people who would rather learn to handle some of it themselves. Its stated service area reaches Jamaica Plain, Roslindale and West Roxbury and out to Brookline, Dedham, Needham, Newton and Wellesley. This is the shape of service to ask about if you want someone keeping a standing list of small jobs moving, rather than a contractor for one big project. Before booking, pin down what the quarterly program covers and what sits outside it, how larger repairs get priced, and ask for proof of insurance.