With today being Father’s Day, and so many dads being the family’s handyman-in-residence, maybe for this one day you’ll want to hold-off on asking him to fix stuff.
But on every OTHER day of the year, the days that are NOT Father’s Day, we suggest there are some repairs you might never ask him to fix. Those repairs that might cause dad to hurt, maim, or kill himself. Or your marriage. Or your ability to enter one of your rooms ever again without thinking about how bad it looks.
So as our Father’s Day gift to you, Fix St Louis has compiled this list of the 5 things you might never want to ask dad to do:
1. Install Crown Molding
How hard could it be to make those 45 degree cuts in the crown molding at the corners of the room, and get the 2 pieces to fit together snugly, right? But, the crown molding itself is installed on the wall at an angle, so you’re actually trying to make TWO angled cuts at the same time. If dad has never done this before, preferably 2-3 times, and you don’t want to buy twice as much crown molding to waste before he figures this out, it’s best to call Fix St Louis.
2. Add Insulation to the Attic
That slick Pink Panther they use in their ads tricks a lot of dads into thinking nothing could be easier than rolling out that insulation across your attic floor. But that false sense of confidence lasts only until the moment your dad actually ENTERS the attic. Then, he’ll realize that unless he lettered in the balance beam in high school it’s difficult to move around by stepping only on the edges of joists, without stepping on, cracking, or falling through the drywall between them. Incidentally, that drywall is otherwise known as the ceiling to the floor below. Not to mention doing this in a space that is usually EXTREMELY hot or cold, with a ceiling full of the sharp business ends of roofing nails pointed right at his head.
3. Join Copper Pipes
Joining 2 copper pipes together using a propane torch might seem like a manly endeavor, but the frustration of doing it over and over again until there isn’t the smallest trickle of water coming out of the joint can turn any dad into a whimpering baby. In the process he’ll learn a couple of things, like the pipes have to be totally dry to make it work, which isn’t easy, and that while water may seem dumb it’s actually a Fulbright Scholar when it comes to finding any area that it can pass through no matter how small. Yes, dad can learn how to do it, but with as infrequently as he will do it, and that it will be so long until he does it again that he won’t remember, wouldn’t his time be better spent with your family?
4. Repair Three-Way Switches
You know how sometimes there’s 2 switches that operate the same light on opposite sides of a room or hallway? And do you notice that ‘2’ is not the same number used in the name of a 3-way switch? If dad’s troubleshooting or installing these switches, he’ll soon understand why trying to figure them out is not worth his time.
5. Anything Involving Getting on the Roof
To be clear, it’s not getting ON the roof that is the problem. It’s falling OFF. Either the roof or the ladder. And for those of you living in those fancy-shmancy houses with vaulted ceilings and roofs some mountain climbers would be afraid to scale – wouldn’t your family rather have dad around than just the proceeds of his insurance policy? (If not, make sure your family doesn’t come within 50′ of the bottom of his ladder).
So, let me wish a happy Father’s Day to all dads out there. And when it comes to home repairs, keep in mind that Fix St Louis is here to help him. Not put him out of a job.
Dr Steve
Fix St Louis
314-434-4100