Handyman in Pretoria

Working in Pretoria

Pretoria’s older suburbs were planted generously. Many streets in Brooklyn, Arcadia and Waterkloof are lined with jacarandas, and the gardens behind them hold trees that have been growing for decades. Those trees shade the houses, but they also fill gutters with leaves and sometimes grow too close to walls and roofs.

Many of the houses are as old as the trees, with wooden window frames, solid doors and painted plaster that needs attention every few years. Further east, in Garsfontein, Faerie Glen and Moreleta Park, plenty of family homes have a thatched lapa next to the pool. Near the university, Hatfield and Sunnyside are full of rentals that need a fresh coat between tenants.

Older homes, big gardens and student rentals

Pretoria’s housing runs from older homes in the established eastern suburbs to flats in Sunnyside, student houses in Hatfield and larger family homes further east. Older houses tend to have wooden windows that stick, rot at the sills or need new putty and paint. Large gardens mean large trees, and a tree leaning over the roof or the boundary wall is best dealt with before the summer storms. Lapas are a common sight here too, and their thatch weathers with every season of sun and hail.

Getting to Pretoria

From Muldersdrift, the route to Pretoria heads east on the N14, past Centurion and on into the city. The eastern suburbs, such as Faerie Glen and Moreleta Park, are further still. Because it is a fair distance, send the whole list at once: the windows, the tree and the painting. That way Innocent can quote it together and do it in one trip.