The Smart Fix Handyman vs Make Ready Home: An Honest Fort Worth Comparison (2026)

TL;DR: Deciding between The Smart Fix Handyman and Make Ready Home in Fort Worth comes down to what job you need done. We handle repairs, installations, and small to mid remodels with W-2 employees and a one-year labor guarantee. Make Ready Home is a design build remodeling company focused on full kitchen and bathroom renovations with in-house designers and 2D/3D renderings. Different lanes, both with real reviews behind them.

I’m Chance O’Shel. I run The Smart Fix. I grew up around custom home construction in Texas, spent years in real estate, worked as a firefighter, and now I coach every tech on our team. When I was doing real estate inspections in Tarrant County, I saw the same story every week. Homeowners hired the wrong company for the job. A remodel outfit for a leaky faucet. A one-guy handyman for a full kitchen tear-out. Both parties walked away frustrated.

This piece is here to help you pick the right lane. I am not trying to bury Make Ready Home. They do quality remodeling work in the same city we serve, and their team has real experience. I will lay out the honest picture and let you decide.

Our Methodology

I pulled information from both companies’ public websites, Google review counts as of 2026, and phone calls our office has taken from folks shopping around. Where I quote a price for Make Ready Home, that is a range we have seen homeowners tell us they got quoted in Fort Worth. It is not their published rate. If any detail here is off, reach me at 817-310-8511 and we will fix it. See the disclosure at the bottom.

The Smart Fix Handyman vs Make Ready Home: Side by Side

What The Smart Fix Handyman Does

We built this company to fix the two things Fort Worth homeowners kept telling me were broken. Handymen who do not show up, and remodel companies who will not touch a smaller job. Our sweet spot runs from a $95 minimum call all the way up through mid-sized bathroom refreshes and kitchen updates.

On a typical day in Fort Worth, our crews are handling:

• Drywall patches and full room repaints
• Door adjustments, replacements, and lockset fixes
• Ceiling fan and light fixture installs
• TV mounting and shelving
• Fence and gate repair, deck board swaps
• Bathroom vanity and tile replacements
• Faucet, toilet, and sink work under our light plumbing and electric service
• Aging in place grab bars and step-in tubs

Every tech is on our payroll. Not a sub we grabbed off a job board yesterday. When I coach our guys, I tell them the same thing every week. On time, in a clean truck, in a clean shirt, and the house looks better when we leave than when we got there. That shows up in the reviews. Over 300 five-star ratings and counting. If you want to see the full scope, our interior repairs page lists most of what we handle inside the home.

What Make Ready Home Does

Make Ready Home runs a design build remodeling shop out of the Fort Worth area and also covers Dallas. Their bread and butter is full kitchen and bathroom renovations. If you look at their portfolio you will see gut jobs. Cabinets pulled to the studs, custom counters, tile from scratch, layout changes.

They lean on 2D and 3D renderings to show you what the finished space will look like before a single tool comes out. Their three-tier pitch, Refresh, Renew, and Reimagine, is a way to sort clients by budget and scope. Refresh is finishes and fixtures with the same layout. Renew steps up to tile, tub or shower swap, and functional upgrades. Reimagine is the full custom job.

They have been in remodeling for over 30 years and pull a 4.6 rating with about 120 Google reviews. That is a smaller review pool than ours, but strong for a company that runs fewer, larger jobs.

How the Numbers Compare

Here is a real question I get from Fort Worth homeowners at least once a week. Which one is cheaper? The honest answer is that we are not competing on the same jobs, so the price comparison depends on what you need.

For a punch list of five smaller items, say a stuck door, a wobbly toilet, three drywall patches, a ceiling fan swap, and a fence board repair, we usually land between $650 and $1,100 depending on materials. That is a half day or one day visit. A design build company like Make Ready Home is not set up to send a single tech for that mix.

For a mid-sized bathroom refresh, meaning new vanity, new toilet, new faucet, fresh tile floor, and paint, we have been landing between $6,500 and $12,000 in Fort Worth. Make Ready Home’s Renew tier for a full bath overhaul with new tile surround and layout tweaks usually starts higher, in the $18,000 to $35,000 range from what homeowners tell us they were quoted.

For a full kitchen tear-out with new cabinets, counters, and layout changes, that is Make Ready Home’s lane. We can do kitchen refreshes (paint cabinets, swap counters, replace hardware, update lighting) through our remodels service, but a full custom rebuild is a design build project.

Warranty and Insurance

This matters more than most people realize until it does not go right. We carry $1 million in liability insurance and workers comp on every job. Every job we do gets a one-year labor guarantee. If a caulk line fails or a hinge sags at eleven months, we are back at your house to fix it, free.

Make Ready Home offers a warranty on their remodels but does not publish the full terms on their homepage. That is normal for design build work where each contract is custom. If you are comparing, ask them for the written warranty in writing before you sign. Same with proof of insurance. Any reputable contractor will send both without complaint.

Where Make Ready Home Might Be the Better Fit

I will be direct. If you want a full kitchen rebuild with 3D renderings, a dedicated designer picking out finishes with you, and a project manager coordinating cabinets, counters, plumbing, and electrical for a six-week build, Make Ready Home is set up for that. We can do a lot of that work, but their process is designed around it.

You should probably lean their way if:

• You want a full design phase with renderings before you commit
• Your project is a whole kitchen or whole bathroom rebuild with layout changes
• You want one company handling design, permits, and full build in one contract
• Your budget is $25,000 and up and you want a designer in the room
• You want financing built into the pitch (they use Acorn Finance for 0% APR options)

Where The Smart Fix Is the Smarter Call

Most Fort Worth homeowners we hear from do not need a design build contract. They need a company that will show up on Tuesday, knock out a list of things, and back the work. Lean our way if:

• You have a to-do list with more than one type of work on it
• Your job is a repair, an install, or a targeted update (single room, single system)
• You want a W-2 employee in your house, not a rotating cast of subs
• You care about $1M insurance and workers comp coverage
• You want a one-year labor guarantee in writing
• Your project budget is under $20,000 or you are paying by the hour

We see this on maybe one in three calls we take in Fort Worth. Someone called a big remodel outfit first, got quoted $8,000 for a job that should have been $1,800, and they are calling us to sort it out. Right lane matters.

Can You Use Both Companies?

Yes. And plenty of homeowners do. Use Make Ready Home for the big renovation. Call The Smart Fix for the punch list of small stuff that comes up after. We are not competitors on most jobs. We are neighbors covering different parts of the market.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is The Smart Fix Handyman cheaper than Make Ready Home in Fort Worth?

Usually yes on small repair jobs, because we work at $145 an hour with a $95 minimum. Make Ready Home is not structured for hourly work. On full kitchen or bath rebuilds, we come in lower on the scope we handle, but they might quote more because their scope is bigger. Compare like-for-like scope before you decide.

Does The Smart Fix do full kitchen remodels?

We do kitchen refreshes, cabinet paints, counter swaps, backsplash tile, appliance installs, and lighting updates. A full gut-to-studs kitchen with layout changes and custom cabinetry is more of a design build job. If that is your project, we will tell you up front.

Are Make Ready Home and The Smart Fix in the same category?

Not really. Make Ready Home is a design build remodeling company. The Smart Fix is a handyman and light remodeling company. Both overlap on some bathroom and kitchen work, but the buying process is different.

Which one is better for a Fort Worth homeowner with a punch list?

The Smart Fix is built for this. Multiple items, one crew, one bill, one day if possible. A design build company is not set up to send a single tech for a mixed list of small fixes.

How fast can each company start a job in Fort Worth?

We can usually book same-week and often same-day for smaller repairs out of our Haslet office at 421 E Wishbone Ln. Design build projects run on a longer timeline because of the design phase and material lead times. Ask for a specific start date when you get a quote.

Editorial disclosure: The Smart Fix Handyman published this article. We compete with Make Ready Home in Fort Worth on a portion of jobs. Every fact about Make Ready Home comes from their public website and Google Business Profile as of 2026. If any detail is inaccurate, please contact us and we will correct it. Homeowners should always get multiple written quotes and check current reviews before choosing a contractor.

If you want your Fort Worth punch list handled, or a bathroom or kitchen refresh scoped, reach out through thesmartfixhandyman.com.

Chance | The Smart Fix