I used to make my own pcbs and had similar problems. The temp controlled iron will help a lot (I like the inexpensive Hakko), but the real problem is that you're dealing with single sided boards. Either make the pads quite a bit bigger than what you see others use for double sided boards, or just send out for double sided boards with plated through holes. That's all I bother with now, even if it only has traces on one side. For single sided boards I'd rarely use a pad smaller than 0.1" just for the repair reasons.
CH