Handyman & DIY renovation help · Lafayette, IN
We work on home renovations two ways: alongside you, or we do the whole thing. Flooring, trim, drywall, framing, fixtures, concrete, hardscape — and the multi-trade jobs nobody else will take.
Already started? Already bought the material? That's most of the calls we get. Bring us in at any point — half-finished is a normal place to start.
Most jobs booked within a week · Serving Lafayette, IN and Tippecanoe County
Weekdays, nights and weekends. We're open when you are.
Daytime during the week, and evenings and Saturdays for the people who can only get to it after work. The name isn't a metaphor — we actually run the second shift.
Two ways to do this
Option one
You keep your hands on your own project. A retired tradesman does the first cut with you, watches you do the second, and fixes what needs fixing. We take the angles and the tricky parts. You take the long straight runs — and you're the one who built it.
Billed by the hour · Every hour you work is an hour you don't pay for
Option two
Sometimes you just want it finished. Hand us the whole thing — or the one part you'd rather not touch — and we'll take it from here. You get a fixed price up front and a date it'll be done by.
Fixed price · Firm completion date
How it works
We come look at it. You get a plan: what the job takes, what order to do it in, what to buy, and exactly where you're going to get stuck.
$60 · about 45 minutesWe come work on your project. One person or two, alongside you or on our own. A retired tradesman does the first cut with you, then watches you do the second.
Billed by the hourDrywall dust, paint on the new floor, adhesive on the tile, dust in the registers. The last five percent that makes it look professional.
Billed by the hourBefore & after
Wea Ridge · Kitchen & living roomOwner laid 380 sf. We took the cabinet cuts, the transitions, and the plumbing penetrations.
Historic Highland Park · Full bathFour trades, sequenced. Licensed plumber and electrician brought in at the right moments.
West Lafayette · Six interior doorsOne Saturday, two people. Owner hung the last two himself the following weekend.
Photos coming. These are real project types we take on — the images go in as soon as the first jobs are done. We'd rather show you our own work than stock photos of somebody else's.
What we work on
The job we're best at is the one nobody wants. A $3,000 project that touches four trades, needs to happen in the right order, and is too small for a general contractor to return your call about. That's the whole reason we exist.
What we don't do: structural work, roofing, and anything requiring a licensed electrician, plumber, or HVAC tech. We'll tell you who to call and make sure it happens in the right order.
What it costs
On-site. Scope, sequence, material list, what to DIY and what to hire out.
A retired tradesman coaching, or a lead doing production work.
For the parts that genuinely need four hands.
Post-project detail and haul-off.
Three-hour minimum on any labor visit
If you're working with us, we bill time and materials. Every hour you work is an hour you're not paying for. If you'd rather we handle the whole thing, we'll quote it as a fixed price.
You buy your own materials. We'll tell you exactly what to get and how much.
Why we're different
A $3,000 project that touches four trades, has to happen in the right order, and is too small for a general contractor to return your call about. That's the whole reason we exist.
Forty-year carpenters, drywall finishers and concrete men who'd rather teach it right than rush it. They'll do the first one with you.
Demo, framing, rough-in, drywall, trim, paint, floor — in the right order, with the licensed trades slotted in at the right moments. That's the part that goes wrong.
One door. One room. One weekend. We don't need it to be a whole remodel before we'll show up.
Common questions
Yes — that is most of what we do. One door, one room, one weekend. There is a three-hour minimum on any labor visit, so if you have only a twenty-minute job, bring us your whole list and we will work through it in one trip. Small multi-trade jobs in Lafayette, IN are exactly the work general contractors will not return calls about, and they are the reason we exist.
Not the licensed parts, and we will not pretend otherwise. We replace fixtures — toilets, faucets, garbage disposals, light fixtures, ceiling fans — on connections that are already sound. We also do the rough-in prep for recessed lighting: layout, cutting, pulling cable through joists, mounting boxes and patching after.
Anything connected to a panel, any drain, gas or supply-line work, and anything requiring a licensed electrician or plumber goes to a licensed trade. We keep a list of who we actually call, and we make sure it happens in the right order.
Drywall repair is billed by the hour — $65 for one person, $125 for two, three-hour minimum — because what is behind the wall changes the job. A simple patch is quick. A patch hiding water damage is not, and a flat price would mean guessing. Taping, finishing and texture matching are all in scope, and we tell you what we find before going further.
$2.00 per square foot in open rooms, and $2.75–3.25 in kitchens, baths and stairs where the cuts get slow. If you are laying the field runs yourself and want us on the angles, transitions and plumbing penetrations, that is billed hourly instead — and every hour you work is an hour you are not paying for.
That is the most common call we get. Half-finished is a completely normal place to start, and material you already bought is material we can work with. Nobody here is going to make you feel bad about where the project stopped — the hard part is usually the twenty percent you have never done before, and that is the part we are for.
Weekdays, evenings and weekends. Daytime works for people who are home during the day, and evenings and Saturdays are there for everyone working on their own house after their shift ends. That second part is where the name comes from — it is not a metaphor.
Yes. You buy them, you own them, and you get the receipts and any returns. We tell you exactly what to get and how much — that is a big part of what The Walk is for. It also means you are not paying a contractor markup on a pallet of flooring.
Lafayette, IN and West Lafayette, IN, plus Dayton, Shadeland, Montmorenci, Delp, South Raub, Battle Ground, Clarks Hill, Romney, Stockwell and the rest of Tippecanoe County.
Book a Walk
We'll come out, walk the job with you, and leave you a plan. $60, about forty-five minutes. If you’d rather just talk it through first, call 765-532-6985 or email info@secondshiftlafayette.com.
We answer every message. If it's easier to just call, do that — 765-532-6985 — or email info@secondshiftlafayette.com.