How we work, in writing.

Effective October 10, 2026. Almanac Home Co. LLC, The Woodlands, Texas.

The short version

Every price is published or confirmed in writing before work starts. Our own workmanship carries a 365-day written warranty. Licensed electrical, plumbing, HVAC and gas work is arranged and overseen by us and performed by licensed contractors, never by us. Nothing is charged until you have said yes.

Prices and quotes

• Home Care prices on this site are the prices, for a home inside the service area, and they exclude materials and tax where applicable. A price is confirmed in writing before anyone comes.
• The service area is fifteen miles around The Woodlands, measured by road. Beyond it, each Home Care visit carries a trip fee: $35 from 15 to 20 miles and $60 from 20 to 25 miles. Beyond 25 miles we take work by request. Members do not pay a trip fee.
• A visit has a minimum of $195 on labor, or $125 for members. It is not a fee on top: the jobs on your list count toward it, and adding services to the same visit never adds a second minimum.
• Work that is not on the published list is priced by the hour ($165, members $125) or as one agreed price for the project, in writing, before we start.
• Materials we buy for you are charged at our receipted cost plus a buying charge of 30%, or 20% for members. The buying charge is never less than $80 a visit ($60 for members), however many items we buy. Before we buy any single item over $100, we check with you. You receive the receipts.
• Small items from our truck, such as screws, anchors and caulk, are billed at what they cost us plus 30% (20% for members), with no minimum.
• If something you were to supply is missing or does not fit on the day, you choose. We come back when you have it, as a new visit. Or we buy it then: the time away is billed at the hourly rate, in quarter hours, and the item at the receipt plus 30% (20% for members).
• A visit that cannot be finished because something you were to supply is missing is billed for the work done, with the visit minimum. The return is a new visit.
• If opening up the work reveals something that was not visible, the work pauses, you get a new price in writing, and nothing continues until you say yes.

Who comes to your home

Your named technician, Luis Franco, leads every visit. When a job needs two people, a second Almanac technician comes along. Every Almanac technician is an employee of the company, background-checked and identified. The licensed contractors we arrange are independent companies, working under their own license and insurance. A key or a door code you give us is known only to your named technician, Luis Franco.

Every Almanac technician is background-checked (identity, criminal record and driving record, renewed every year; the current certificate is available on request) and arrives in an Almanac shirt with a photo identification card.

Memberships

• Membership prices and the Home Record assume a home up to 3,500 sq ft with one HVAC system, one water heater and up to three bathrooms. For a larger home only the Home Record price rises, never a monthly price: $95 for each additional 1,000 sq ft or part of it, $60 for each additional HVAC system, $30 for each additional water heater and $30 for each bathroom beyond three. The same steps apply to a Home Record bought on its own and to the annual update. This site shows the exact price for your home before you pay anything. A membership paid online charges the standard amount; for a larger home, the difference is added to your first invoice.
• When you join you pay for your Home Record, from $595, with your first month. $595 of it is credited back on the last payments of your first year, for members who complete the year, whatever the Home Record cost. From the second year the Home Record update, from $395, is paid at each anniversary, and $395 of it is credited back the same way.
• Billing is monthly, or a year in advance at the price of eleven months, Home Record included.
• Read your Home Record first. If you decide within fourteen days of receiving it that membership is not for you, we stop there. You keep the Record; the Home Record and the first month already paid are not refunded, and nothing further is charged. No notice period applies.
• After that, a membership can be cancelled at any time with thirty days' notice. A member who leaves has paid for the Home Record and for the months used, including the notice month, and owes nothing more. Credit not yet applied is not paid out.
• If a year paid in advance ends early, we refund what you paid, less the Home Record and the months used, including the notice month, at the monthly price. The refund is never less than zero. For example, The Cornerstone paid a year in advance at $1,815: with notice given in month 3, $560 is refunded; in month 6, $65; from month 7 the sum is below zero, so nothing is refunded and nothing is owed.
• If you sell the home, the membership can transfer to the new owner for the rest of the membership year, at the same monthly price, once the new owner accepts these terms in writing. The Home Record stays with the house. What you prepaid is settled with you under the early-end rules above.
• Join within thirty days of receiving your Home Record and it is already paid: the $595 comes back on the last payments of the year, as it does for every member.
• Join within seven days of a Home Care visit and the member saving on that visit comes off your payment on joining.
• The first twenty-five member households keep their monthly price for as long as they remain members.
• When a household you introduce joins a membership and makes its first membership payment, both homes receive one hour of labor with our compliments.
• Filters, batteries and caulk are included in The Steward's visits. The Season pays our receipted cost plus the member markup.
• A membership can be in your name for a parent's home. Reports are sent to you both, and, with your permission, every report can also go to a son or daughter.
• The Home Record and every report can be delivered in Spanish. Say so when you join.
• The Home Record is issued to the homeowner and is yours to keep. You may share it with anyone you choose.

Scheduling

• Requests sent before 4 pm on a weekday get a call or text the same day; later ones, and those sent on the weekend, first thing the next business morning. You can also book online: you choose a window on our calendar and pay the deposit, and we confirm the booking in writing; if we cannot confirm it, your deposit is refunded in full. The price is the one published on this site or on your list; a job we price for you is confirmed in writing before you book.
• We arrive in the window we agreed. If the day moves, you hear it from us before the window opens. If we miss your window without calling first, the visit minimum is waived.
• Members may reschedule or cancel a visit with 24 hours' notice at no charge, up to two times a year. After that, or with less than 24 hours' notice, a rebooking fee of $125 applies.
• Home Care visits, and a Home Record booked on its own: reschedule or cancel with the links in your booking email. You can reschedule up to 24 hours before the visit, and your deposit goes with it to the new date. Cancel with 24 hours' notice or more and your deposit is refunded to your card in full, automatically. Between 24 and 12 hours before the visit, $50 of the deposit is refunded. Inside 12 hours, or if nobody is home, the deposit is kept.
• Someone over eighteen must give us access to the home at the agreed time, unless we have agreed in writing to enter while you are away.

Payment

• Sending a Home Care list costs nothing. A deposit of $125 is paid when you book a visit, or a Home Record on its own, and it comes off your bill. The balance is due on receipt of the invoice, which we send when the work is finished. We accept card, check, Zelle and cash.
• Membership payments are by card through Stripe, a payment company, on the schedule you chose. Your card number never passes through us. A year in advance may also be paid by check; call us.
• We write to you thirty days before your membership anniversary. Your price does not change during your membership year.

The warranty

Every repair Almanac performs is warranted for 365 days from the day of the work, in writing. If our workmanship fails inside that year, we come back and make it right at no charge. The warranty covers our own work. It does not cover materials you supplied, work performed by a licensed contractor we arranged (their own warranty applies), or damage caused by something other than our workmanship.

To claim, call or text. We answer within one business day and return within five. There is no charge and no visit minimum.

If something is damaged

If we damage something in your home, we tell you the same day and repair or replace it at our cost.

Licensed trades

Almanac coordinates licensed electrical, plumbing, HVAC and gas work: we source the quotes, check the contractor, schedule the work and oversee it. The contractor performs the work under their own license and insurance and is responsible for it. Almanac adds nothing to the contractor's price. Coordination beyond the jobs a membership includes, or for a household that is not a member, is billed by the hour at the published rate.

Reports and records

Service reports and the Home Record describe what we saw and measured on the day. They are written with care, but a house changes, and something that was not visible or accessible on the day is not covered by them. They are not a substitute for a licensed specialist's assessment where one is required.

Each service report also lists up to three things we noticed while we were there, graded and priced, at no charge.

The Home Record is delivered as a PDF 24 to 48 hours after the visit, in English or Spanish, and we go through it with you in person. If you prefer paper, it is printed and bound at no charge.

Requests sent through this site

• Sending a request costs nothing and books nothing. Your name, the address of the home and whether you are buying, selling or leasing it are required, so that we can price the work and call the right person.
• Each form records the language you were reading in, so that we call you in it, and, if you arrived from an advertisement, which one, so we know what is worth paying for.
• The freeze watch and the seasonal letters are free, for any household in the service area, and stop the moment you ask.

Questions

Call the number at the top of the page, or write to office@thealmanachome.com.

Plain words on purpose. These are our terms, not legal advice. If we change them, the date at the top changes with it.