Moving Into a New LA Home: Handyman Checklist

Week 1: re-key locks and test smoke detectors

The two items that should happen before you sleep a second night in a new LA home are re-keying every exterior lock and testing every smoke and CO detector. You don't know who has copies of the old keys — previous owners, contractors, dog walkers, the realtor's lockbox cycle — and you don't know how old the smoke detectors are unless you check the date stamp on the back.

Re-keying locks in LA runs $120–$220 for a typical single-family home with three to five exterior locks (front door, back door, side gate, garage entry). The handyman or locksmith pulls each cylinder, swaps the pin tumblers to a new pattern, and hands you matching keys. This is much cheaper than replacing the locks themselves and gives you the same security outcome. If any of your locks are decorative or original to a 1920s Spanish-revival house, mention that when you book — those sometimes need a locksmith rather than a general handyman.

Smoke and CO detectors run $80–$160 each to test, replace, or install fresh. California requires both smoke and carbon monoxide detection in every bedroom and on every level of the home. Detectors older than 10 years (smoke) or 7 years (CO) should be replaced regardless of whether they currently chirp. The pro can also confirm the unit is hardwired vs battery-only and whether the network is interconnected — a code requirement on newer construction.

Week 1: water heater earthquake straps

California requires water heaters to be braced with two metal straps — one in the upper third of the tank, one in the lower third — to prevent the tank from toppling during an earthquake. This is non-negotiable code, and a missing or single-strap installation is one of the most common findings on LA real-estate inspection reports. If you bought the house with a clean inspection, the straps are probably already there; if you're renting or skipped the inspection, check.

A water heater dual-strap retrofit runs $80–$160 in LA depending on access and whether the existing strap (if any) needs to be redone or just supplemented. The pro confirms the tank size, mounts brackets to wall studs (not just drywall), and uses code-compliant tension straps with the right number of anchor points. If your tank is in a tight closet or wedged between walls in an older Hollywood or Echo Park bungalow, expect the upper end of that range.

While the pro is at the water heater, ask them to label the gas shut-off and water shut-off valves with bright tags. This is a five-minute job and it's the difference between knowing what to do at 2 a.m. during an aftershock vs guessing under stress.

Week 2: anchor TVs, dressers, and bookshelves

Anti-tip anchoring runs $30–$60 per item in LA and is the highest-leverage safety spend in your first month. Tall furniture topples in earthquakes, and unanchored TVs are responsible for a steady stream of pediatric ER visits in California every year — the IKEA recall a few years back was triggered by exactly this failure mode.

If you have small kids, this is also the right week to install child gates at the top of any stairs and on the kitchen if it's open-plan. Gate installation runs $40–$80 per gate including hardware-mounted bracket on plaster or drywall.

• TV wall mount or strap-tether: $80–$220 for a full wall mount, $30–$60 for a simple anti-tip strap if the TV stays on a stand. Most LA pros recommend wall mounting any TV over 50 inches.
• Dresser/bookshelf wall straps: $30–$60 per item. Two L-brackets or a flexible nylon strap from the top of the furniture into a wall stud. Critical in kids' rooms.
• China cabinet, tall hutch, freestanding wardrobe: $40–$80 per item. Same hardware, more careful drilling because these pieces are often heirlooms.
• Heavy mirror or framed art over a bed: $60–$120 per item. Pro reinforces the wire or installs a French cleat with two stud connections. Important in any LA bedroom.

Week 2–3: seal exterior gaps in foothill and canyon homes

If your new home is in a foothill or canyon neighborhood — La Cañada, Eagle Rock, Pasadena, Altadena, the Palisades, Topanga, Laurel Canyon, Beachwood — sealing exterior gaps is part of fire-zone preparation, not just energy efficiency. Embers from a wildfire can travel a mile or more on Santa Ana wind, and the homes that survive are usually the ones where embers had no gap to enter through.

A pro will walk the perimeter looking for gaps under eaves, around dryer vents, at the foundation line, and around exterior light fixtures. Sealing typically uses 1/8-inch metal mesh on vents (replacing plastic or larger-mesh originals), high-temp caulk on foundation gaps, and weather-stripping on doors and garage seams. A typical perimeter seal-up runs $200–$500 for a standard single-family home, more for larger or terraced hillside properties.

While the pro is on the exterior, have them check that gutters are clear of dry leaves and that any wood deck or fence section within five feet of the house has no leaf accumulation underneath. These are the fuel sources that turn an ember strike into a structure fire. Gutter cleaning specifically runs $120–$180 for a typical LA home.

Week 3–4: baseline punch list

By week three, you've lived in the house long enough to know what's actually broken vs what looked broken on the inspection. The baseline punch list is everything small that bothers you — squeaky doors, loose cabinet hinges, a running toilet, a window that won't latch, a closet door off its track, a missing outlet cover, a cracked switch plate, a sticky deadbolt.

Most LA handymen will do a half-day visit ($300–$500 for 4 hours) or full-day visit ($500–$900 for 8 hours) and knock out 8–15 small items in one go. This is much more efficient than booking each item separately because most of the cost in any handyman visit is the trip itself — the actual work on a single small item is often 10–20 minutes. Make a written list before the pro arrives, walk it with them at the start, and let them prioritize what's quickest first.

What typically lands on a first-month LA punch list: door hinge tightening, cabinet door realignment, toilet flapper replacement, faucet aerator cleaning, light fixture rebalancing, baseboard caulk touch-up, a few drywall anchor holes from the previous owner's wall art, and a missing piece of trim somewhere obvious.

If your home has any HVAC quirks — a thermostat that doesn't read correctly, a return vent that whistles, a closet that runs warmer than the rest of the house — flag them on this list too. Some of these are handyman scope (loose vent covers, blocked return air paths), some are HVAC trade scope (thermostat replacement, balancing), but the handyman doing the punch list can usually triage which is which and tell you what to book separately.

DTLA condo vs Valley single-family vs hillside home

Three different LA housing types, three different first-month checklists.

• DTLA / Mid-Wilshire / West Hollywood condo: skip the water heater straps (HOA handles building systems), skip exterior fire sealing, focus on TV/furniture anchoring, smoke detector check, and a punch list of small interior items. Realistic budget $400–$800.
• Valley single-family (Sherman Oaks, Encino, Studio City, Burbank): full checklist applies — re-key, smoke detectors, water heater straps, anchoring, exterior seal, punch list. Realistic budget $800–$1,500.
• Hillside or canyon home (Silver Lake, Echo Park, Mount Washington, Topanga, Pacific Palisades): full checklist plus extra perimeter fire prep, gutter clearing, and often a steeper labor rate because access takes longer (parking, stairs, narrow streets). Realistic budget $1,000–$1,800.

Booking a pro vs piecing it together

Most of this checklist runs through a single general handyman over two visits. Booking each item as a separate one-off call costs roughly twice as much because the trip charge stacks each time. A bundled approach keeps the total inside the $600–$1,500 range; a fragmented approach drifts past $2,000 fast without delivering more work.

When you book on Shatun Brothers, the pro arrives with a Persona ID verification badge, a License Verified badge where the trade requires it, and Insurance Verified badge for liability coverage. For a first-month checklist with locks, smoke detectors, and water heater work, those verifications matter — you're handing access to your new home to someone who's never been there before, and the standard is real identity plus insurance, not just a profile photo and a friendly bio.

Practical sequencing for the first 30 days: book a 90-minute locksmith or general handyman for re-key and smoke detector check on day one or two. Book a 4-hour half-day visit during week one for water heater straps, valve labeling, and the start of TV and furniture anchoring. Book a second 4-hour half-day visit during week three or four for the remaining anchoring, exterior fire prep (if applicable), and the punch list everyone will have generated by then. Two scheduled visits, predictable cost, full coverage.