The storefront repair list: keeping a small business space safe, open and presentable

The practical answer for a busy owner

For most small businesses, the practical setup is a commercial handyman who knows your space and works through a scheduled list, plus licensed plumbers, electricians and HVAC contractors for anything that requires a license. Before you hire anyone, check your lease to see which repairs belong to you and which belong to the landlord. Then put safety and the customer-facing items first: the entry, the steps and railings, the doors and anything a customer touches.

My husband Daniel and I run The DFW Handyman, and alongside homeowners we work with business owners who have brick-and-mortar locations: storefronts, offices and other spaces that need regular upkeep. The pattern is familiar. The owner is busy running the business, the repair list grows quietly, and no one has time to call around for help with a door closer or a broken shelf. This guide is about getting ahead of that.

Read the lease before you fix anything

Commercial leases vary widely in who is responsible for what. Some put most interior repairs on the tenant and keep the roof, structure and major systems with the landlord. Others shift more, or less, to the tenant. Some require the landlord's approval before any work, or require that anyone working in the space carry insurance and show proof of it. Read the repair and maintenance sections closely, and if the language is unclear, ask your broker or attorney.

Take dated photos of the space when you move in and whenever something changes. They help when you need to show what condition something was in, and they make conversations about responsibility much shorter. If your lease is coming up for renewal and the space no longer fits, a commercial real estate broker's guide to deciding whether to renew, move or buy is worth reading before you invest in repairs.

The repairs customers notice first

Customers judge a business partly by its space. A front door that drags or slams, a wobbly railing at the entrance, a scuffed wall in the waiting area or a broken display shelf all send a message before anyone says hello. Employees notice too, and a space that is falling apart is harder to take pride in.

These are the items we would put at the top of a typical storefront or office list, because they affect safety, first impressions or both.

• Entry doors that drag, stick or will not close and latch properly
• Loose handrails and railings at entrance steps, ramps and interior stairs
• Damaged door hardware, hinges and locksets
• Holes, dents and scuffs in drywall in customer areas
• Broken or sagging shelving and display fixtures
• Loose or damaged baseboards, trim and wall paneling
• Rusted or damaged metal awnings, gates and exterior railings

Accessibility is part of upkeep, not a one-time project

Businesses open to the public have obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Department of Justice's ADA primer for small businesses explains that businesses must remove barriers in existing facilities when doing so is readily achievable, meaning easily accomplishable without much difficulty or expense, and it lists installing accessible door hardware, adding an entrance ramp and widening a doorway as examples. The primer also says the barrier removal obligation is a continuing one, and that accessible features have to be kept in working order.

In day-to-day terms, that means the maintenance list and the accessibility list overlap. A door that has become too heavy to open, hardware that has become stiff or hard to operate, or an accessible route blocked by stored boxes are maintenance problems with legal weight. For questions about what your business specifically must do, talk to an accessibility specialist or an attorney. For the hands-on part, such as hardware installation, door adjustments and carpentry, that is work we do.

The back of the building counts too

Owners tend to focus on the front of the space, which makes sense, but the back and the sides wear just as hard. Service doors take daily abuse from deliveries and carts. Gates on dumpster enclosures and side yards sag, rust and stop latching. Metal awnings over entrances collect water and debris, and their brackets loosen. Exterior railings at loading steps take the full force of sun, rain and the occasional freeze.

These items rarely draw a customer complaint, so they slide down the list until one fails. A back door that will not lock or a gate that falls off its hinges is a security problem as much as a repair. Because we weld in-house, metal gates, railings, awnings and carports can be repaired or rebuilt by the same team handling your doors and carpentry, without a separate fabrication shop.

Why a schedule beats waiting for something to break

When repairs only happen after something fails, they happen at the worst time: a door that will not lock at closing, a shelf that collapses during business hours, a railing that gives way when a customer leans on it. Each one turns into an urgent call, and urgent work is harder to schedule, harder to do well and more disruptive to your day.

Scheduled maintenance flips that. Someone walks the space on a regular basis, catches the door closer before it fails, tightens the railing before it loosens further and patches the wall before it becomes a hole. We offer the same scheduled maintenance and repair service to business owners that we offer homeowners. If a railing at your entrance already moves, our guide to diagnosing a loose handrail explains what to check, and it belongs at the top of your list.

Planning work around your customers

Repair work in an occupied business needs more planning than work in a house. Customers and staff need safe paths around the work area. Noisy or dusty tasks need to be timed so they do not drive people away. Merchandise, equipment and files need protecting, and the space needs to be clean and usable again when the work is done.

Tell whoever you hire about your hours, your busiest days and any areas that cannot be disturbed. Group the work so the noisy and messy jobs happen together, and keep quieter tasks for times when customers are around. We plan visits with business clients ahead of time rather than squeezing them in, and we keep you informed throughout, so you always know what is being done and when. If a repair will leave a door or area out of use for a while, we tell you in advance so you can put up a sign or route customers another way.

One list, one contact, one record

The simplest system for keeping a business space in good shape is a single running list that everyone on your team can add to, with one person responsible for it. Ask staff to note problems with a photo and a location: back office door sticks, shelf by the register is loose. Then label each item by priority so the urgent and the cosmetic do not compete.

Keep a record of what was fixed, when and by whom, along with any warranty information. Our work carries a one-year warranty, so a dated record makes it easy to call us back if a repair does not hold. Over time the record also shows you where the space is wearing hardest, which helps you plan larger improvements and conversations with your landlord.

• Safety: railings, steps, doors that do not latch, anything that could fall
• Customer-facing: entry, waiting areas, restrooms, displays
• Staff areas: back offices, storage, break rooms
• Cosmetic: scuffs, touch-ups and trim that can wait for a grouped visit

Licensed trades and other specialists

Some items on a business list belong to licensed trades. Plumbing, electrical and HVAC work require state licenses in Texas, and we refer that work to licensed professionals rather than attempting it. Appliance repair is a specialty of its own. If your lease makes the landlord responsible for building systems, those calls may go through property management instead. Keeping those calls separate from the handyman list also makes it clearer who is responsible if something goes wrong later.

What we handle covers most of the rest: carpentry and trim, door replacement and hardware, drywall repair, tile and grout, shelving and built-ins, wall paneling, fence and gate repair, and welding for railings, gates, awnings and carports. If you are not sure who an item belongs to, put it on the list and ask. Our guide to what handyman work costs and what drives the price explains how we price the items that are ours.

Working with us on your business space

Call, text or send the contact form with your list, photos and a note about your hours. We will price each item flat-rate, with no fees or surcharges, before work begins, and tell you up front which items need a licensed trade. We are fully insured and bonded, and we can provide proof of insurance if your landlord or property manager asks for it. We are not an emergency service; we schedule work so it can be done properly, and we stay in touch at each step.

We are based in Plano and serve businesses across Frisco, the northern suburbs and Dallas neighborhoods including Far North Dallas and Preston Hollow. Daniel brings more than 25 years of hands-on experience across residential, commercial and industrial construction, and three percent of our proceeds go to local causes. For owners who want one trusted team keeping the space in order, we can put the recurring items on a regular schedule.

Questions people ask me