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Fixadore
Find local trades
The whole mechanismRadius filter, then distanceCompiled from public registers

From a ZIP code to a number worth calling

You type in the ZIP of the site and what broke. We draw a radius around that ZIP, keep the businesses inside it that work that trade, and sort them by distance. This page explains the mechanism behind each of those steps, including how miles become an arrival estimate and what the prices on the site actually are.

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  • Free to searchno account, nothing to submit
  • Public registersevery listing names its source
  • License numberswhere the state publishes one
  • Directyou call the business yourself

How it works

Three questions, then a list of people to phone

The same three questions whether it is a walk-in at 2am in a restaurant or a water heater in a laundromat.

  1. A business owner crouched under a prep sink, photographing a leaking pipe joint on a phone
    1

    Say what you run and what broke

    Pick your business type, describe the symptom in your own words, add your ZIP. No account, nothing submitted, nobody contacted.

  2. A business owner at the counter after closing, comparing options on a laptop beside a notepad
    2

    Get the closest ones, with their license

    Four to six businesses inside your radius, nearest first, each with the classification the state issued them, a drive time and a cost range we calculated.

  3. A tradesperson carrying a tool bag in through the back door of a small business
    3

    Call them yourself

    The number on the card is the number the register publishes. It rings the business, not us. No fee at either end.

How matching works

Why a contractor 300 miles away never appears in your results

Two rules, and no score. The first decides who is eligible at all, the second decides what the distance means, and the order is distance, nearest first.

Rule one: the radius filters before anything is sorted

A business appears only if its base location sits inside the radius you searched. That test runs first, so nothing outside the ring can turn up further down the list. Drop that and you get the failure everyone has had with lead-gen sites: a list padded with firms who were never going to make the drive.

  • Your radius defaults to 25 miles and can be set to 10, 15, 25, 40, 60, 75.
  • Anything above 75 miles is clamped, because past that the drive makes the listing academic.
  • Too few results and the radius climbs the ladder, then the page says which radius it used.

Rule two: drive time, not straight-line distance

Straight-line miles decide eligibility. They are a terrible way to tell an operator when someone will arrive, because five miles across a city is not five miles up an interstate. Every arrival figure on the site converts distance using a banded average speed plus four minutes of loading out.

Under 3 miles18 mph
3 to 8 miles25 mph
8 to 20 miles33 mph
20 to 40 miles42 mph
Over 40 miles50 mph

Slower speeds at short range on purpose: that is where lights, turns and street grids dominate the clock.

Questions operators ask

The things people email us about

If yours is not here, the help center goes into more detail and the contact page reaches a person.

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What does it cost to use?
Nothing. There is no account, nothing to submit, and no charge to the businesses listed either. We have no commercial relationship with any of them, which is why nothing on a listing page is a recommendation.
Why can I not see a contractor I already use?
Either the register they are licensed under is one we have not imported yet, or the address on their license sits outside the radius you searched. Widen the radius first, and if they are still missing the register is the reason.
How is distance measured, exactly?
Straight-line distance between the ZIP you searched and the base location on the listing, which is the ZIP centroid rather than a street address. What you see on the card is a drive-time estimate, which applies a slower average speed at short range where lights and street grids dominate, plus a fixed four minutes for loading out.
What happens if nothing is listed near me?
The search widens on a fixed ladder, 10, 15, 25, 40, 60, 75 miles, until it finds enough businesses or it hits the 75 mile ceiling. The results page states the radius it ended up using, and an empty result stays empty rather than being padded with businesses that are not there.
Are the prices on the site quotes or estimates?
Estimates, and they are ours rather than anyone else's. Each one is the category price band with a multiplier for how urgent the work is. We never speak to these businesses, so we hold no rate for any of them. The only real number is the one you get on the phone.
Where does the license information come from?
State license registers, published by the authority that issues the license. Each listing names the register it came from and links to it. What we show is what the register said on the day we read it, which is why the read date is on the listing.

Now the short version

Type a ZIP, get the nearest trades

One search, sorted nearest first, with the license on record and the number to call.

Cost to search
Free
Account needed
None
Who you call
The business
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