April 29, 2015

Yep, We Fixed It!!

Ron and I have both been self employed for nearly 30 years.  Wow! 

PolyMenders is our plastic repair business.  Simply put, we repair plastic slides, kayaks, motorcycle parts, ATV parts, water pipes, RV tanks and various other plastic items.  I think the most unique repair we made was to an outdoor couch and chair set that had cracked in the summer sun.

Most of the items we repair can be brought to our shop.  However, when a playground slide is broken, we pack up our equipment and drive to the slide.

closed off for the safety of the children


Today was one such day.  We had been contacted a few days ago that a local elementary school slide was the target of vandals.  After inspecting the slide, we determined that it is repairable.  The school personnel were very relieved that we would bring their beloved slide back to useable condition!  That's one of the best things about our job-helping repair items that still have many years of use :-)

today's repair project

The damage looks significant to the untrained eye, but to us, it's definitely repairable.  The hole measures around 2" x 4 1/2" with two long cracks extending from each side and a much smaller crack extending from the top left corner.  Kids have filled the hole with tanbark.  I guess this slide must have been this way for awhile before we got the call to fix it...

step one: check

The first area to repair are the three cracks.  Then we can tackle the hole once we have a solid foundation.  This slide is white, an unusual color for a playground slide.  So we used tan material in our repair.  We've never heard a customer say that they'd rather get a new 'what-ever' if the color didn't match exactly!

all done and ready for use again!

It's a bit blurry, but you can see the final result here.  We've finished the area so that it is once again smooth and ready for use!  All that needs to be done now is remove the plywood at the opening of the slide.  I'm sure the maintenance department for the school district will take care of that in short order.

they'll be happy kids tomorrow when they can use the slide again

One benefit of owning our own business is the ability to take Rufus along with us (sometimes).  Today he enjoyed his shady spot while watching us work.

Rufus enjoys his spot near our work site

Check out our web page for more repairs: www.polymenders.com.

2 comments:

  1. I bet the kids were so thrilled when they saw their slide "unwrapped" !! Every time I hear of someone with a crack or leak in their plastic holding tank I think you guys have the perfect business to take on the road :-) Rufus is so cute!!

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    Replies
    1. We got a call the next day from the maintenance department saying how well the repair turned out :-) He said the board at the slide entrance was already removed too.
      Some schools we've been to have just one slide so it really impacts those locations when vandals strike. We're so happy to be able to help out!
      We're looking forward to taking PolyMenders on the road. Mostly because that means we'll be on the road!!

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