Do you, like me, have a habit of making December the month to fix, hang, build, and install everything around the house that needed your attention all year long? If this sounds familiar, let me introduce you to The Odd Job Couple. Tim Warzeo and his wife, Nik Warzeo, took to Instagram during the summer of 2022 to showcase their skills, whether it’s fixing leaky faucets, painting house exteriors, laying down flooring, or hanging mirrors to name just a few. Since then, the duo has taken on projects, big and small, in houses across the St. Louis area. “I like to do things that aren’t going to break someone’s bank, but really enhance their space,” says Tim Warzeo, who has a background in maintenance, machinery, and art installation. While he focuses on scheduling and on-site projects, Nik is the creative mind behind the company’s Instagram account, usually the first point of contact with new clients. I recently talked to Tim to find out more about this business. Here’s some of our conversation.
What are some of the most popular requests you get from homeowners? We get a lot of requests to hang light fixtures, ceiling fans, to fix faucets. I get a lot of broken garbage disposal requests. I hang a lot of artwork. I’m getting more requests to paint.
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I saw on social media that you recently built and installed wall shelves. We’ve done them before. I’m not a master carpenter, but I have built tables. I have this buddy from high school and for his birthday his wife wanted to surprise him with a small table for his grill. I was like, You know, we’re gonna just do it. And it turned out great. It’s on our account right now. I’m not going to be able to build you a built-in–-that’s not really my specialty or my forte, but we do lots of odd requests.
What’s your favorite type of project? I don’t hate putting in faucets. I don’t hate fixing toilets. You know how contractors have a big job? They’re going to remodel your whole bathroom and it’s going to cost however much money it’s going to cost? Well, my favorite thing is that instant gratification job. I just put up a chandelier down by Forest Park. My favorite thing is to put something up and then, when people see it, they’re like, “Oh my gosh, I love it.”
How do you handle an assignment when you’re not sure if you can pull it off? I’m fairly upfront and honest with people. I want them to feel good when we’re done. If I don’t think that I can do something that’s going to make them super happy, then I won’t do it. So if someone was like, “Hey, could you build me a small deck?” I’m gonna be like, “Absolutely not. I will not do that.”
What is the most surprising thing you’ve learned about people through your job? Most of us are just trying to be happy and make it and everybody’s got stuff going on. Obviously everyone has their own religious or political or socio-economic views on stuff. But when you get into someone’s home, and have conversations with them, everyone’s pretty great.
Follow Veronica on Instagram, her House of Lou podcast, or send her an “Ask Veronica” email at [email protected]. To sign up for her weekly newsletter, click here.
