Find Top House & Yard Maintenance Services for Seniors: Enhance Your Living Space

Article Summary

This article provides information on house and yard maintenance services that can help older adults age in place.

Key takeaways:

1. The national average cost for a professional lawn care visit ranges from $50-to $210.
2. There are a variety of services available to help with house and yard maintenance, such as Trugreen, Angi, Yelp, I Want to Mow Your Lawn, We are Raising Men and Women Lawn Care Service, Papa, ElderHelpers.org, Handyman Connection, and TruBlue Total House Care.
3. Rebuilding Together is a non-profit organization that performs essential home repairs for seniors who can't afford them.

House and Yard Maintenance Services can Help Older Adults Age in Place

As the challenges of aging set in, your loved one may start to struggle to keep up with the needs of their house and yard, like cleaning gutters, shoveling snow, replacing burned-out light bulbs, or fixing an old leaky faucet.

Larger repair and maintenance businesses aren’t set up for little jobs like these. If they agree to come out at all, it can be expensive. However, many older adults are uncomfortable hiring smaller, lesser-known companies, as they may feel vulnerable to dishonest practices.

If your loved one doesn’t know who to call, repair work may remain undone, leading to unsafe living conditions and reduced home value. Worse, your loved one may be tempted to get up on a ladder themself to take care of the issue, putting them at risk for a serious fall.

Finding the right house or yard maintenance service can be a big support for seniors and a big relief for family caregivers.

House and Yard Maintenance Costs Vary

The national average cost for a professional lawn care visit ranges from $50-to $210, although if your loved one just needs a basic mow – not necessarily a pro to keep it as lush and green as possible – the cost comes down.

In some cases, volunteers will mow your loved one’s lawn, rake their leaves or perform other basic yard work for free.

Hiring a home care aide or another individual to help out with general needs around the house may cost around $20-$30 per hour.

Finding a House and Yard Maintenance Service

Depending on what you need there are a few places to find house and yard maintenance services.

Lawn and Yard Care

• Trugreen is a trusted name in lawn care, so your loved one can feel confident they’ll receive professional service at a fair price.
• Angi or Yelp can help find local service providers and see honest reviews from neighbors who have used their service.
• I Want to Mow Your Lawn is a non-profit organization created to match volunteers with older adults who can use a hand with yard care.
• We are Raising Men and Women Lawn Care Service is a non-profit organization in which children and teens provide free lawn care to the elderly. They can also shovel snow and rake leaves.

A Helping Hand Around the House

• Papa recruits and screens their “Pals” to help seniors with many everyday tasks including light housekeeping, yard work, and most of what’s on the to-do list. Many seniors enjoy their Pal’s company and regularly request the same one. The cost is around $25-30 per hour.
• ElderHelpers.org recruits, screens, and trains volunteers to provide free help to older adults who need a hand with cleaning, gardening, handiwork, and other everyday needs.

Ongoing Home Maintenance Services

• Handyman Connection is a reputable name that links your loved one to local handymen who have satisfied their screening process. They can help with home modifications for aging in place, carpentry, plumbing or electrical projects, and general jobs around the house like hanging a flat-screen television or holiday decorations.
• TruBlue Total House Care offers specialized plans to support older adults to age in place. They provide home safety assessments, home modifications, repairs, and ongoing home maintenance. Their House Care Plus plans include monthly or quarterly packages which start at $199 per month and can be customized to your loved one’s needs.
  • Available services include:
    • Handyman repairs
    • Housekeeping
    • Yardwork
    • Scheduled preventative home maintenance
    • Seasonal tasks and one-time projects, for example, bringing boxes down from the attic, putting away lawn furniture, or setting up a home security system

Free Home Repairs

Rebuilding Together is a non-profit organization that performs essential home repairs for seniors who can't afford them.

• Find a local affiliate to see if your loved one qualifies for assistance.
  

Look for Local Programs

There are many local chore assistance programs throughout the nation.

• Talk to a local school or to your faith community. They can sometimes recommend upstanding young people who are happy to volunteer or help for modest compensation.
• Contact your Local Area Agency on Aging to find programs and resources in your community.
• Learn more about how family caregivers can find local resources.

Sources

How Hiring a Handyman Can Help Your Elderly Parents

Finding a Handyman – DailyCaring

Aging in Place: Growing Older at Home

Cutting the Confusion: Here's the Average Cost to Mow a Lawn

2022 Lawn Service Prices | Hourly, Weekly, Monthly Lawn Mowing Cost

Author Bio

Laura Herman is an elder and dementia care professional who advocates for better senior care in America. This article has been reviewed by TJ Falohun, co-founder and CEO of Olera. He is a trained biomedical engineer and writes about the cost of healthcare in America for seniors.