We’ve all had to come to peace with the fact that we don’t live anywhere near a beach. Some console ourselves that at least we’ll never have to deal with hurricanes. Locusts? Definitely. Tornadoes? Sure. Earthquakes? Maybe. But hurricanes?
Must we now worry that the trickle in the comically-named River des Peres, which on its best days barely covers the tires dumped into it, might someday surge to tsunami-like proportions?
Sadly, the Almighty has not given your humble correspondent a say in the matter, but it’s not like Fix St Louis hasn’t been blessed with our own gifts. For instance, we seem to be called to serve as “Noah’s Contractors,” helping homeowners keep water out of their houses for as much as 40 days and nights, or even more.
Here are some of the most common ways homeowners use us to keep water out of their homes:
Gutters
If your gutters are overflowing, the water hitting the ground may creep back into your basement. Fix St Louis cleans gutters, installs gutter guards, and unclogs downspouts. We can even extend the bottoms of downspouts so that the water flows into an above or below-ground pipe, then dumps the water further away, ideally to a place that slopes away from your house.
Windows & Doors
Water can enter your home around the outside perimeters of windows and doors, or find its way through gaps in the thresholds at the bottom of entry doors. Fix St Louis can re-caulk your windows and doors to eliminate gaps. And if more is needed, we can add “flashing” to the places where windows and doors butt-up against the house, sometimes correcting improper installation by builders and contractors.
Siding
Lots of companies are hoping to sell you on the big job of re-siding your entire house. But there are very few companies, like Fix St Louis, that are just happy to FIX your siding. Sometimes individual siding panels simply need to be replaced. They might fall-off, or become cracked or chipped by hail, weed whippers, or natural causes like sunlight and temperature. There are wood siding panels that can rot or be hole-punched by woodpeckers. And then there’s these old, obsolete siding panels commonly referred to as “masonite,” whose premature deterioration let a thousand lawsuits bloom.
Yep, Fix St Louis can handle all of these problems, allowing you to — politely — slam the door in the faces of those trying to sell you on replacing all your siding.
Exterior Trim
You know all that white wood trim around the outside of your home, around windows, doors, foundations, along roof edges, and maybe in some other places? And it’s rotting, looks bad, and may have holes in it? You have no idea whom to call to fix it, am I right? Here’s a hint — three words, and the first word is “Fix.”
Sump Pumps
We’re not the ones to call if your house has never had a sump pump system installed. That’s a really big job — it requires channeling into the concrete floor all around the outside walls of your basement, and digging a big round hole in one place to house the pump itself. But if your home already has these features built-in, and you still see water on your basement floor, or haven’t heard the motor of a sump pump kick on for some time, call Fix St Louis. We can do things like replace broken sump pumps, confirm that the discharge pipes are doing what they’re supposed to do, and ensure the sump pump is getting the electrical service it needs.
We’re not prophets who can predict what plague might befall your home next. But we can help you prepare for the worst, or come in later to fix and restore what just broke. Customers tell us preparing is more fun than restoring, and I believe them. Maybe it’s time to give Fix St Louis a call.
Dr Steve
Fix St Louis