How much deposit should you pay a handyman?

Pay as little up front as you can: never the full price, never in cash, and the rest in stages as you see the work get done. Some states set a legal ceiling for contractors. California, for example, caps a home improvement down payment at $1,000 or 10% of the price, whichever is less. Maryland and Massachusetts cap it at one-third.

That is the whole answer. The rest of this page is about why the deposit is where people get hurt, and how to pay so that it cannot happen to you.

Why the deposit is the risky part

When a home repair goes badly, the money is usually gone before anyone picked up a tool. In 2025 a family in St. Johns County, Florida, hired a cabinet installer who estimated the job at about three weeks. According to the sheriff's office, they paid a deposit of $12,256, then more, $18,756 in all, and were left without doors, drawer fronts, shelving or hardware. In June 2026 he was arrested and charged with grand theft and scheme to defraud; the charges are allegations until a court decides them.

Nothing about that job was unusual until the money. The fix is to keep most of it until you can see what it paid for.

What the law allows: three examples

These are three states we checked against the state's own site; other states have their own rules, and some have none. The limits are written for home improvement contracts with contractors: Massachusetts' applies to contracts over $1,000, and California requires a written contract for home improvement work over $500. A small job with someone who is not a contractor may fall outside them, but the advice on this page holds either way.

If you live somewhere else, search your state name plus "home improvement contractor deposit limit", and check the answer on a .gov site.

Small jobs: you often owe nothing until it is done

A leaky faucet, a mounted TV, a couple of hours of yard work. For jobs like these it is normal to pay when the work is finished. If the local has to buy a part first, paying for that part is fair. Ask for the receipt, or offer to buy it yourself.

Bigger jobs: pay in stages you can see

Tie every payment to something you can walk over and look at. A simple schedule for a job that runs over several days looks like this:

1. A small deposit when you agree on the job, within your state's limit.
2. Materials, if they are large or special order. Pay the supplier directly when you can, so the money turns into something delivered to your house.
3. A payment at a point you can check. The old cabinets are out, the new ones are hung, the drywall is up. Write the point down before work starts.
4. The last payment after you have walked through the finished job with them.

Put the schedule in writing, even if it is a text message both of you agreed to. California requires a written payment schedule on every home improvement contract.

How to pay

• Not in cash. The FTC lists asking for everything up front or only accepting cash among the signs of a home improvement scam.
• To the business, not the salesperson. One homeowner in a 2019 consumer reporter's segment checked the company out, found a good rating, then paid $5,200, half in cash and half by check written to the salesman instead of the company. He left with it.
• In a way that leaves a record. A check or card to the name on your agreement. If something goes wrong later, that record is most of your case.

Before the last payment

Walk through the job with the local and make a list of anything unfinished. Pay when the list is done. The FTC's advice is plain: never make the final payment until the work is done and you are satisfied with it.

On a bigger job with suppliers or a crew, ask for a written release showing they were paid. In many states a supplier or subcontractor who was not paid can put a lien on your home, even if you paid the contractor in full. In 2025 WSB-TV reported on new homeowners facing liens after the builder's contractors went unpaid.

How payment works on GigNGo

We never touch the money. You pay the local directly, the way you would pay a neighbor, so everything above applies to you on GigNGo too. We do not hold deposits, and we cannot get one back if a job goes wrong.

We also do not run background checks. When a local has filmed their work, you can watch it, and when neighbors have vouched for them, you can see who, before you pay anyone anything.

Frequently asked questions