Kensington and Chelsea · W8 · Handyman
Handyman in Kensington, W8
In Kensington (W8) the job list usually starts with alcove shelving and a TV bracket, both fixed through the plaster into something solid. Mansion blocks with cage lifts and porter sign-in; Kensington High Street loading windows are short. Behind the plaster you will find lath and plaster over timber studs, with solid brick on the party and external walls, each taking a different fixing.
- Trustpilot 4.5· 3,100+ reviews
- Google 3.9· 1,429 reviews
- £1m public liability
- Licensed waste carrier CBDU300454
- Since 2019
- £55 an hour, £190 a half day — fixed price for the whole list
- Lath and plaster here, so the fixings are chosen for the wall, not pulled from a pack
- Stud, pipe and cable scan before the first hole, every visit
- Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea permits, ULEZ and packaging removal already inside the price
The service, locally
Handyman work in Kensington
- Per hour, one-hour minimum
- £55Per hour, one-hour minimum
- Kensington homes are flats
- 83%Kensington homes are flats
- Fixed-price jobs
- 14Fixed-price jobs
- Households in Kensington
- 13,346Households in Kensington
Instant estimate
Price your Kensington job list
Estimated for Kensington W8
£120 – £350
Slot needed: Half day
- Shelves and floating units
- £65 – £180
- Curtain poles and blinds
- £60 – £150
- One-visit saving
- −£25
- Lath, dot-and-dab or concrete fixings
- from £20
£55 minimum charge per visit. Prices include VAT, the van, fixings from our own stock and taking the packaging away. Nothing is added on the day without your written agreement first. You have told us the walls are lath, dot-and-dab or concrete, so we have allowed for the correct anchors and the extra scanning time that goes with them.
How it works
How a Kensington visit works
- Send your job listSend every job in one message and we return a single written figure for the Kensington W8 visit, same working day.
- Detector out before the drillEvery wall is scanned for studs, pipes and cables, sheets go down, and the fixing is matched to lath and plaster rather than pulled from a pack.
- Tested and tidiedWe load-test each fixing, take the cardboard and old fittings away, and walk the list with you — Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea permits already settled.
- Get my price
Walls and fixings
What is behind the plaster in Kensington
Most likely here
Lath and plaster — Pre-1930 terraces and mansion blocks
Locate the timber lath studs, fix through into the stud with 5 × 80 mm screws. Realistic load: up to 25 kg into a stud, nothing into the plaster itself. What goes wrong: a plasterboard plug in lime plaster crumbles the key and drops the whole panel.
Lath and plaster
Pre-1930 terraces and mansion blocks
- Fixing
- Locate the timber lath studs, fix through into the stud with 5 × 80 mm screws
- Safe load
- Up to 25 kg into a stud, nothing into the plaster itself
- What pulls out
- A plasterboard plug in lime plaster crumbles the key and drops the whole panel
Solid London stock brick
Victorian and Edwardian party and external walls
- Fixing
- 7 mm hammer-drilled hole into the brick body, nylon plug or resin anchor
- Safe load
- 40 kg-plus per fixing when anchored into brick, not mortar
- What pulls out
- Fixing into soft lime mortar joints, which spin out under load
Dot-and-dab plasterboard
1990s onward new builds and conversions
- Fixing
- Long fixings through the void into the blockwork behind, or a spread-load anchor
- Safe load
- 30 kg with a through-fixing, 8 kg on a hollow-wall anchor alone
- What pulls out
- Short screws that only grip the board, then lever it off the dabs
Timber or metal stud partition
Flat conversions and 1960s-onward internal walls
- Fixing
- Stud detector, then fix into the upright; noggins added where the stud misses
- Safe load
- 35 kg into timber, 15 kg into metal stud with a toggle
- What pulls out
- Two of four bracket holes on the stud and two in fresh air
Precast concrete and blockwork
Post-war estates and podium blocks
- Fixing
- SDS drill, 8 mm hole, sleeve anchor or screwbolt
- Safe load
- 50 kg-plus per fixing
- What pulls out
- Hitting reinforcement or a buried conduit without a scan first
Insulated dry lining
Retrofitted period homes and low-energy refurbishments
- Fixing
- Insulation-rated frame fixings that reach the masonry beyond the board and foam
- Safe load
- 25 kg, spread across four points
- What pulls out
- Compressing the insulation so the fixing slowly works loose
Why Hello Services
Why Hello Services in Kensington
Permits and parking included
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea visitor permits and suspensions are arranged and paid for by us around High Street Kensington (Circle, District), with a median age of 37 in this neighbourhood.
Fixings and filler included
Screws, plugs, resin, silicone and filler come from the van, not from your invoice on the streets near Kensington Palace.
Packaging leaves with us
Flat-pack cardboard, polystyrene and old fittings go in the van at the end of the W8 visit on W8 jobs, with 43% one-person households here.
DBS-checked and insured
£1m public liability and a tradesperson you would be happy to leave in the flat across W8.
Fixed prices
Handyman prices in Kensington
| Job | From | To | Time on site | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TV mounting | £85 | £165 | 1–2 hrs | Bracket into the correct substrate, screen levelled, cables dropped or trunked |
| Flat-pack assembly | £55 | £190 | 1–4 hrs | Wardrobes, beds, desks and drawer units built, levelled and anchored to the wall |
| Shelves and floating units | £65 | £180 | 1–3 hrs | Alcove shelving, floating shelves and brackets set to a laser line |
| Silicone and grout renewal | £70 | £170 | 1–3 hrs | Old bead cut out, surfaces sterilised and dried, sanitary silicone reapplied |
| Mirrors, art and heavy hanging | £55 | £130 | 1–2 hrs | Heavy mirrors and framed pieces hung level on the right anchor for the wall |
| Curtain poles and blinds | £60 | £150 | 1–3 hrs | Poles, tracks and blinds fixed to timber, brick or reinforced plasterboard |
TV mounting
£85 – £165
1–2 hrs
Bracket into the correct substrate, screen levelled, cables dropped or trunked
Flat-pack assembly
£55 – £190
1–4 hrs
Wardrobes, beds, desks and drawer units built, levelled and anchored to the wall
Shelves and floating units
£65 – £180
1–3 hrs
Alcove shelving, floating shelves and brackets set to a laser line
Silicone and grout renewal
£70 – £170
1–3 hrs
Old bead cut out, surfaces sterilised and dried, sanitary silicone reapplied
Mirrors, art and heavy hanging
£55 – £130
1–2 hrs
Heavy mirrors and framed pieces hung level on the right anchor for the wall
Curtain poles and blinds
£60 – £150
1–3 hrs
Poles, tracks and blinds fixed to timber, brick or reinforced plasterboard
Because 83% of homes here are flats, Kensington W8 lists lean towards these 6 jobs. Anything outside them is priced from the same 14-row card on the reference page.
£55 minimum charge per visit. Prices include VAT, the van, fixings from our own stock and taking the packaging away. Nothing is added on the day without your written agreement first. Full price list, fixings matrix and scope policy.
Rates and local costs
Hourly, half day or full day in Kensington
Hourly rate
£55
per hour, one-hour minimum
Best for one or two small jobs — a shelf, a leaking tap washer, a sticking door.
Half day
£190
up to 4 hours
The most-booked slot in London: three to six jobs from one list, one visit, one price.
Full day
£340
up to 8 hours
A snag list, a whole-flat furniture build, or a move-in day of fixings and fittings.
Same-day call-out
£95
first hour, then hourly
Lock, leak, door or safety job that cannot wait for a booked slot.
- Parking and permits
- Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea visitor permits and bay suspensions are arranged, paid for by us and already inside the quoted figure.
- Charging zones
- Part of Kensington and Chelsea sits inside the Congestion Charge zone and all of it is inside ULEZ. Our vans are compliant, so ULEZ and the Congestion Charge never appear on your invoice.
- Access and building rules
- Concierge sign-in, goods-lift booking and out-of-hours windows are handled before the visit, so the clock starts when the work does, not in reception.
Screws, plugs, resin anchors, hollow-wall fixings, silicone and filler come out of the van and are inside the price. Anything bought for you — a replacement tap, a door closer, a specific bracket — is charged at cost with the receipt attached to your invoice.
Scope
What is included in Kensington
Included in every visit
- One vetted fitter for the whole Kensington W8 list, with ladders, tools and sheets already in the van.
- Locate the timber lath studs, fix through into the stud with 5 × 80 mm screws and the rest of our van stock, because lath and plaster is what most W8 fixings go into.
- Scanning, levelling and load-testing on every hole — plus packaging and old fittings taken away.
- Access worked out in advance for Kensington W8, with Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea permits and charges already inside the price.
Not included — and why
- Anything gas — boilers, hobs, pipework — is Gas Safe territory and we will not touch it in Kensington W8.
- New circuits or consumer units, which are notifiable under Part P and need a registered electrician.
- Structural alterations and anything needing Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea building control sign-off.
- Asbestos disturbance — pre-2000 artex, soffits and boards near W8 are surveyed, never drilled blind.
The full scope policy, the complete fixings matrix and every fixed price sit on one page: handyman reference.
Coverage
Handyman work around Kensington
Nearby areas we also cover
- Handyman in Earl's CourtSW5SW5
- Handyman in South KensingtonSW7SW7
- Handyman in West Kensington and OlympiaW14 · Hammersmith and FulhamW14
- Handyman in Barons CourtW14 · Hammersmith and FulhamW14
- Handyman in BayswaterW2W2
- Handyman in PaddingtonW2 · WestminsterW2
- Handyman in Notting HillW11W11
- Handyman in Holland ParkW11W11
Guides
Read before you book
Hiring a handyman in the UK: the complete guide
Scope, legal limits, 2026 prices, vetting questions, wall fixings and a job-list method that gets more done in one visit.
18 min read
Handyman prices in London: what jobs actually cost in 2026
Hourly, half-day and fixed job prices, with the London extras that quietly add to a quote.
9 min read
What a handyman can and cannot legally do in the UK
The real line between handyman work and jobs that need a registered electrician, gas or structural trade.
7 min read
Wall fixings guide: which anchor holds in which London wall
The fixing that actually holds in each London wall type, and the realistic load it will take.
8 min read
Related services
Other work we do in Kensington
End of tenancy cleaning
Fixing holes filled and touched in, then the whole Kensington flat cleaned for check-out.
One-off deep cleaning
A W8 reset after the drilling, sanding and flat-pack dust has settled.
After builders cleaning
Snag list finished by us, then the builders' dust taken out of the Kensington flat.
Moving services
Furniture dismantled in W8, moved, then rebuilt and re-anchored the same day.
House removals
A full Kensington move where the beds and wardrobes come apart and go back together properly.
House clearance
Old furniture and broken fittings taken away from W8 before the new ones go up.
About the area
Kensington in context
The high street, palace gardens and the quiet garden squares of Kensington proper. Stucco terraces, red-brick mansion blocks with porters and mews cottages, which is why W8 work is dominated by lath and plaster over timber studs. Kensington Palace is the landmark most customers navigate by.
What is behind the plaster in Kensington is decided by when it was built. Stucco terraces, red-brick mansion blocks with porters and mews cottages. Across the 13,346 households here, lath and plaster dominates, so locate the timber lath studs, fix through into the stud with 5 × 80 mm screws is our default approach. That substrate wants locate the timber lath studs, fix through into the stud with 5 × 80 mm screws; anything lighter is a call-back, and even done properly the sensible limit is up to 25 kg into a stud, nothing into the plaster itself.
Tenure shapes the list too: 46% of homes here are privately rented and 35% owner-occupied, so we move between check-out make-good in W8 lets and long-planned improvements in the same week. Mansion blocks with cage lifts and porter sign-in; Kensington High Street loading windows are short. Nearest arrival point for the team is High Street Kensington (Circle, District), and part of Kensington and Chelsea sits inside the Congestion Charge zone and all of it is inside ULEZ — none of it added to your invoice on the day.
- Housing mix here: 83% flats to 17% houses, 28,503 residents in total
- Lath and plaster dominates Kensington, so the van carries the anchors that suit it, not a generic pack
- Nearest station High Street Kensington (Circle, District); mansion blocks with cage lifts and porter sign-in
- We work the whole of W8, including everything within walking distance of Kensington Palace
Where Kensington sits in our coverage
Kensington sits inside the coverage published on our handyman work in Kensington and Chelsea page, which sits under handyman work across London. The same crew works the adjoining postcodes too — handyman work in Earl's Court SW5 (0.7 miles), handyman work in South Kensington SW7 (0.8 miles), handyman work in Bayswater W2 (1.0 miles), handyman work in Notting Hill W11 (1.2 miles) and handyman work in Holland Park W11 (1.2 miles). If your address sits on the boundary, book the closest page — the price and the crew are the same. For every trade we run at this postcode, see all services in Kensington.
Most booked alongside this in Kensington
Kensington W8 at a glance
- Area
- Kensington, Kensington and Chelsea
- Postcodes served
- W8
- Nearest station
- High Street Kensington (Circle, District)
- Dominant wall construction
- lath and plaster over timber studs, with solid brick on the party and external walls
- Fixing we use most
- Locate the timber lath studs, fix through into the stud with 5 × 80 mm screws
- Realistic load
- Up to 25 kg into a stud, nothing into the plaster itself
- Most-booked list
- alcove shelving and a TV bracket, both fixed through the plaster into something solid
- Watch out for
- a plasterboard plug spun into lime plaster, which crumbles the key and drops the panel
- Charging zones
- Part of Kensington and Chelsea sits inside the Congestion Charge zone and all of it is inside ULEZ
- Residents (Kensington)
- 28,503
- Households (Kensington)
- 13,346
- Typical visit
- Half a day in W8
Source: ONS Census 2021 via Nomis (TS008, TS041, TS007A, TS044, TS054, TS003), MSOA geography. Figures cover the ONS neighbourhoods Kensington Abingdon, Kensington Gardens, North Kensington, South Kensington (E02000579, E02000587, E02000589, E02000592) — the published geography that covers Kensington, not the whole borough. Neighbourhood names: House of Commons Library MSOA Names (OGL).
Questions
Kensington W8 handyman questions
£55 an hour with a one-hour minimum, £190 for a half day and £340 for a full day in W8 on the streets near Kensington Palace, with 17% of Kensington homes being houses. Fixed-price jobs start at £55 — flat-pack from £55, TV mounting from £85, shelving from £65 for Kensington (W8) addresses, with 19% social-rented stock nearby. Send the list and we confirm one written figure on the Kensington rounds.
Yes. Locally that usually means lath and plaster — locate the timber lath studs, fix through into the stud with 5 × 80 mm screws, holding around up to 25 kg into a stud, nothing into the plaster itself across W8 — and 19% social-rented stock nearby, with a median age of 37 in this neighbourhood. The risk we guard against here is a plasterboard plug spun into lime plaster on the Kensington rounds, with Kensington and Chelsea parking rules in play, which crumbles the key and drops the panel. Every wall is scanned for studs, pipes and cables before the first hole on W8 jobs.
That is how we prefer to work in Kensington across W8. One arrival, one set of dust sheets and one Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea permit covers the whole list instead of being repeated per visit on the streets near Kensington Palace — and this being Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea territory, with 46% of W8 homes being privately rented. Send photos of each wall with the list and the estimator on this page shows the one-visit saving before you book for Kensington (W8) addresses, with Kensington Palace a few streets away.
Swapping an existing socket face, switch or light fitting in Kensington is fine on Kensington and Chelsea bookings, with 19% social-rented stock nearby, and it is tested before we leave. New circuits, consumer units and anything notifiable under Part P, no on the Kensington rounds. Gas work of any kind is Gas Safe registered work and we will not touch it — we will tell you who should for Kensington (W8) addresses, with Kensington Palace a few streets away.
Mansion blocks with cage lifts and porter sign-in; Kensington High Street loading windows are short on Kensington and Chelsea bookings. Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea visitor permits and bay suspensions are arranged and paid for by us and sit inside the quoted price in this 83% flats neighbourhood, with 43% one-person households here. Concierge sign-in and goods-lift booking are done before the visit for Kensington (W8) addresses, with this being Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea territory, so the clock starts when the work does.
The van carries the consumables — screws, plugs, resin, hollow-wall anchors, silicone, filler — and they are inside the W8 figure you were quoted across W8, with 17% of Kensington homes being houses. Because lath and plaster is what we expect here, the right anchors for it are on board before the van sets off on this side of Kensington and Chelsea, with Kensington Palace a few streets away. Anything specific bought for you is charged at cost with the receipt attached to the invoice on W8 jobs, with 35% owner-occupation locally.
Yes. Every area in Kensington and Chelsea has its own page on the streets near Kensington Palace, with Kensington Palace a few streets away, and we cross borough boundaries constantly. If your address sits on the edge of W8, book the nearest page and we will confirm the same fixed price for Kensington (W8) addresses, with 17% of Kensington homes being houses.
Source: ONS Census 2021, borough totals via Nomis (table TS008, TS041, TS007A, TS044, TS054, TS003). Figures describe the whole borough, the smallest area ONS publishes every one of these tables for.
Book a handyman in Kensington W8
Send your job list and a photo of each wall for a fixed written price the same working day. Fixings, permits and taking the packaging away are already in the figure.
Handyman Services reviews from Greater London customers
4.5 ★ from 3,131 Trustpilot reviewsSulltan is the best handyman in London. He is very reliable and professional. I highly recommend.
Quick assembly of a big gas bbq . Friendly service too
Sulltan is the best handyman in London , Highly recommend ......
Read all 3 Handyman Services reviews from Greater London customers →
Quoted verbatim from reviews customers left on our public Google and Trustpilot profiles. Nothing is edited, shortened beyond the link above, or written by us.