Doors, windows, gates and the rest of the house
Beyond the four trades it leads with, I. Noah Guy Handyman Services does the long tail of real household work in St. George and Washington County, Utah: vinyl retrofit windows and sliding doors, pet doors, iron and cedar gates, chimney chases and copper caps, thin-brick and stone veneer, wall texture, and swap-and-replace work — toilets, water heaters, dishwashers, disposals, faucets and ceiling fans. The rule for what is not on this list is simple: if the city or the state requires a building permit for it, it is not his job. Everything short of that is.
What this page is for
Joe Denter’s answer, when asked what he wanted this site to say, was that he wanted people to know he does every aspect of construction in their home. The four trade pages cover what he leads with. This page covers the rest of what actually gets called in for.
Windows and doors
Much of Washington County’s older housing has single-pane aluminium sliders, and they fail on a schedule: seals fog, rollers flatten, the frame conducts desert heat straight through, and the sash starts dragging.
A vinyl retrofit unit sets into the existing frame opening from the outside, so the stucco around it stays put. That is the difference between a half-day repair and a renovation with a stucco crew. Where the existing frame is too far gone for a retrofit, the opening gets taken back and rebuilt — which then involves stucco patching and interior drywall returns, both of which are on this site’s other pages, done by the same person on the same visit.
Closing up an opening
Filling in a window or a doorway is the clearest illustration of why a single person across several trades is worth something. Done properly it is:
- Frame the opening
- Insulate it
- Hang, tape and float drywall
- Match the existing wall texture
- Match the paint
- Patch the exterior — stucco or siding
Six steps, four trades, one visit, and one person answerable for whether you can still see where the window used to be. That sequence is exactly the cottage laundry remodel.
Chimney chases and copper caps
A chase is framed and sided, not masonry — a hollow box around a metal flue. Almost every chase leak starts at the cap, because a flat or badly flashed cover holds water immediately above wood framing. Re-clad and properly capped, with the cap sloped and the flashing lapped correctly, the problem stops being seasonal.
Gates
Steel frames outlast their infill. A gate whose cedar or redwood pickets have gone grey and split usually has a perfectly sound frame, which means re-infilling and staining rather than buying a new gate. Where the frame itself has failed at the welds or the posts have moved, that is a rebuild.
Swaps and replacements
Toilets, water heaters, dishwashers, garbage disposals, kitchen and bathroom faucets, ceiling fans and light fixtures — these come up constantly, and none of them need a building permit. They are swaps: the old fixture comes out, the new one goes in, sealed and tested. That is a different job from opening up the wall behind them, which is where the permit line actually sits.
What is not offered, and why saying so is useful
The rule is the permit, not the trade. If a job needs a building permit, it is not his:
- Electrical panel and service work
- Furnace and air-conditioning equipment
- Opening up in-wall or under-slab plumbing
- Full roof replacement
- Structural work — walls, beams, footings
Those need a licensed specialty contractor. Asking a tradesman what they don’t do is the fastest way to find out whether they will do your job well, and Utah’s Division of Professional Licensing publishes a licence lookup so you can check whoever you hire holds the right classification.
Doors, Windows, Gates & the Rest of the House — the real thing
Doors, Windows, Gates & the Rest of the House — questions
What does I. Noah Guy Handyman Services not do?
The rule is the permit, not the trade: if a job needs a building permit — an electrical panel, HVAC equipment, opening up in-wall or under-slab plumbing, a re-roof, structural work — that needs a licensed specialty contractor, and Utah's DOPL licence lookup will tell you whether a company holds the right classification. Everything short of that line is in scope, including swaps like a toilet, a water heater, a dishwasher or a ceiling fan.
Can you replace a toilet, water heater, or dishwasher?
Yes — those are swaps, not permitted work, and they're some of the most common calls. Same with garbage disposals, faucets, ceiling fans and light fixtures. The line he won't cross is a building permit, and none of those need one.
Why are so many aluminium windows being replaced around St. George?
Because a lot of the housing stock here dates from an era of single-pane aluminium sliders, and those fail in a predictable way: the seals go, the rollers wear, the frame conducts heat straight into the room, and eventually the sash drags. A vinyl retrofit unit sets into the existing opening without disturbing the stucco around it, which is what makes it a practical repair rather than a renovation.
What is a chimney chase, and why do they leak?
A chimney chase is the framed, sided box that encloses a metal factory-built fireplace flue on the outside of a house. Unlike a masonry chimney it is hollow wood framing with siding on the outside and a sheet-metal cap on top — and the cap is where nearly every chase leak starts, because a flat or poorly-flashed cap holds water directly over the framing.
Do you take on whole-house remodels?
Not as a general contractor running other trades. The right size of job for one person is a room, a repair, or a finish-out — a laundry room, a fireplace wall, a floor, a patio, a studio unit. A whole-house gut with permits and multiple subcontractors wants a licensed general contractor.
Can you close up a window or a doorway?
Yes, and it is a good example of why one person doing several trades is useful. Closing an opening properly means framing it, insulating it, hanging and taping drywall, matching the texture, and matching the paint — plus patching the exterior. Four trades, one visit, one person accountable for how the finished wall looks.
Related
Tell me what needs doing.
Describe the job and send a photo if you have one. The person who reads it is the person who will do the work.