photo by: Submitted photo

Travis Dillon, left, and Mike Nuffer are the owners of the Lawrence franchise for TruBlue Total House Care.

History would suggest that if I want to age in place, I may need to become less of a handyman. (I’ll let you guess whether that’s because of the dangers of power tools or the dangers of reporting the results of my latest project to my lovely spouse.) A new Lawrence company is betting there are many retirees who will be looking for handyman services in the near future.

Longtime Lawrence builders Travis Dillon and Mike Nuffer have brought a new franchise to Lawrence that aims to provide home-maintenance services to the retiree and senior citizen markets.

The duo recently opened a Lawrence franchise of TruBlue Total House Care, in part, because Lawrence has a growing senior and retiree population.

“We really want to put a strong focus on helping people stay at home longer,” Dillon said. “The aging-in-place modifications are something we really are passionate about.”

Some common modifications include relatively simple tasks like adding a grab bar in a shower or toilet area, or replacing traditional door knobs with easier to open door levers. But the company also does more complex projects, like removing a tub and replacing it with a shower, or widening doorways to accommodate wheel chairs or other devices.

Dillon, a carpenter by trade, previously worked for Nuffer, who has been a contractor and homebuilder in the Lawrence area for about 30 years. Just prior to the pandemic, the two teamed up to create a business aimed at building projects to make homes more accessible. But when the pandemic struck, many of their elderly customers didn’t want construction crews inside their homes, due fear about COVID-19.

As those fears eased, Dillon and Nuffer decided to partner with the TruBlue franchise because it provides a lot of value-added services. Nuffer said TruBlue has supplier contracts with several speciality products, such as tub systems designed for people with mobility issues. Plus, the company has a background check system that every new employee must pass before they are allowed to go into a customer’s home.

The company also promotes specialized training for employees. Both Dillon and Nuffer are “certified aging-in-place specialists” through the National Association of Home Builders. They’ve also been trained to give “Age Safe America” home assessments.

The TruBlue system also is better set up to provide more routine maintenance services, in addition to the larger remodeling projects.

“We can come out monthly or quarterly, depending on their needs and wants,” Dillon said. “It might be just to change furnace filters, or maybe change light bulbs, if they aren’t comfortable getting on ladders anymore.”

The company doesn’t plan on doing actual landscape services, like lawn mowing, but its regular visits might involve some chores like leaf raking or gutter cleaning, the pair said.

In addition to the retiree and senior markets, Dillon said he expected busy families to also be an important market for the business. As home prices increase, the idea of keeping your home properly maintained probably should increase too.

“We tend to not maintain our homes like we should,” Dillon said. “We change our oil and wash our cars, and a car is something that loses value. But with homes, we tend to ignore it until it becomes a really large bill.”

The Lawrence-based business doesn’t have a retail storefront. Rather, it works with customers via phone or online. Details can be found at trubluehousecare.com/lawrence. Its service territory includes all of Douglas County and stretches into parts of western and southern Johnson County.