St Augustine Welding Shop.
AFFORDABLE WELDING, Sandblasting & Trailer Repair in St Augustine FL
By appointment only.
I’m frequently available for same-day appointments. You will save enough money to make you glad you called. Call me, 7 am to 9 pm any day of the week.
Making you happy is my recipe for success. By pleasing my customers I believe I will never run out of work..
- 4731 Avenue D, St Augustine FL
I would love to solve your problem. All you have to do is call me
Welcome to my affordable welding shop in St Augustine and Jacksonville Fl area.
We are the save-you-money Welding & Trailer Repair Shop. We are called After Hours Welding because we will sometimes work late (or all night) to finish a project. And we sometimes work weekends or holidays if you need.
If you can’t take time off of work to get your repairs done, then come see me after work or on weekends or most holidays.
If the day time is your best time, that’s also fine. If you don’t want to pay a large commercial corporate welding shop a huge fee, then come see me. I work by appointments only. I don’t have the overhead of a giant corporate commercial welding shop.
I have a small no-frills looking shop attached to my home property with no overhead costs, that does virtually everything the expensive shops do. This saves you $$$. And it works just fine.
There are two types of welding. Repair welding where we fix something that’s broke but already made.
And Welding and Fabrication where we build something made of metal from raw material.
I have a background in engineering and design from a earlier career along with my welding and mechanic skills.
Most welders think you just fuse two pieces of metal together and your done. Infrequently is that the case.
Too many times you have to understand the design side to build or fix a metal object. Usually you have to understand the engineering side so you can properly select the metal/material thickness so it has dependable/durable strength. These are my strengths.
So when it comes to welding and fabrication, pardon my ego, but my skills put the other welding shops to shame. If you can dream it, I can fabricate it. If you can break it, I can fix it so it stays fixed. (not counting un-normal abuse)
In repair welding, there are three types of situations.
1 It broke from un-normal abuse circumstances. IE: The car crashed into a tree)
2 The material it was made from was inadequately weak and improperly chosen.
3 The design was inadequate to handle a normal load for long term durability.
In the last two, I can identify the problem and make design or material changes in the repair so it wont break again. Why bother welding it if your not going to prevent it from breaking again?
However a welder not trained in design and engineering will fix it to only have it break again later as he scratches his head and wonders why.
If I fix it for you, it will stay fixed because I will make changes that cause the weak zone to become adequately strong, whether its design changes or stronger, thicker, larger material.
I also have another quality you may like. I’m not looking to get rich. I’m quite happy and peaceful where I’m at. I already have everything I want and don’t need to get rich off you. But I do have bills to pay so my work is not totally free.
But since I’m not greedy, I’m willing and very capable of helping you find the lowest cost solution that delivers the highest value. And I’m very good at this.
Welding isn’t all I do. We also install custom built tow hitches, change trailer axles, repair trailer wiring, tow vehicle wire harnesses, pig tails, safety chains, install trailer jacks & electric trailer jacks, lights, install new trailer wheel bearings, install electric brake actuators in your vehicle and electric trailer brakes & brake shoes. Check out our trailer repair website.
And since steel has a history of rusting, which is another form of breakage, we do sandblasting and metal painting also. We can cut out the bad/weak metal, weld in new strong/metal, media blast all the rust and old paint off, and repaint it to look new again.
In today’s world of high greed, it seems that nearly all businesses want to give you as little as possible while charging you as much as they can get away with.
It is a shame that virtually all other welders are always looking for the shortcut, looking to do as little as possible. They cut as many corners as they think they can get away with.
I’m not sure why, but I am not like them. I am always looking to find a way I can do more than you expected to receive for the price agreed upon.
It means more to me to send you away happy and excited with the job that you received from me, than how much money I made from you. Yeah I cant do it for free just to please you, but can’t I do it fantastically while still making a living?
Isn’t it the smarter approach to please every customer so you guys tell your friends to about me? Isn’t is the smarter business tactic to do a job so well you never want to hire anyone else? So you always want to hire me for your next project?
Call me crazy, or maybe my greed level just IS NOT high enough. But charging you the most while doing as little as possible just does NOT work for me. I have way too much pride in what I do. Many customers have told me, I under promise and over deliver. And I aim to continue doing that.
And I am most proud of the fact that I can please nearly every customer I work for. That means so much to me I will never change and be the type of person that does as little as possible.
Welding that we do, and don't do
My St Augustine, Jacksonville welding shop can weld Steel, Stainless steel cast aluminum, cast iron and regular aluminum . I also weld Brass, Copper and Carbide.
Then we have our Mobile Portable welding service for those occasions the work cant come to us.
Want to learn more about our Mobile Welding in St Augustine Jacksonville, then click here.
Mig welding is much faster than Arc Welding (stick) so we use a professional Lincoln 240 Volt 250 Amp Mig welder for the fastest production which means the lowest cost to you.
And Mig welding is much cleaner so there is very little (or no) cleanup to do post weld. What’s the difference between Mig & Arc?
We can weld up to 1/2″ thick plate in a single pass, or up to 2″ plates with multiple passes and pre heating. Of course we can weld down to very thin sheet metal also.
I can weld down to 24 gauge which is 0.0239 of an inch. Two hundred thirty nine thousandths of an inch. That’s the thickness of a 100 dollar bill.
Above is a Mig weld which is very clean. Below is an Stick Weld which is not clean, and needs much clean-up after it's done.
I also do Oxy Acetylene Welding (brazing) when attaching dissimilar metals. And brazing with Silver Rods for attaching Stainless Steel to Copper Or Brass.
Types of projects that we weld together & fabricate.
I am not just a Jacksonville St Augustine fabrication & welding shop, I am also a St Augustine, Jacksonville mobile fabrication welding service and can bring my tools to you.
However shop welding is much less expensive than loading up all my tools and bringing them to you. So if possible bring your work to me and I will fabricate your solution.
My welders can even come aboard your boat to repair your fly bridge, T Tops, Hand rails Stainless or Aluminum, Ladders or gangways etc.
A fun project was a custom designed tow hitch for a Lincoln Town Car. Click the link or the picture to see how the fabrication progressed. There is an abundance of pictures and explanations.
I Also custom fabricate and weld tow hitches for vehicles that don’t have them mass produced. And for the front of trucks or tractors that want a custom tow hitch on the front.
I do Fleet Truck maintenance and this Vacuum Pumper Tank Dump Truck was leaking. So I climbed under and welded a fabricated patch over the hole.
Click here or on the picture to see the details of this equipment repair and more pictures of it.
I do Aluminum portable mobile welding on tractor trailers. To see the story and pictures of the welding I did on this rig, click on the picture or click here
We rebuild, refurbish & repair car carriers & car haulers. Any brand. To see pictures and explanations click on a page link below.
01 Before pictures of the damage.
02 Rebuilding car hauler frame, drivers side.
03 Rebuilding car hauler frame, passenger side.
04 Rebuilding car hauler hydraulic stabilizer frame mount flange.
Before and After. Originally this boat trailer had a single aluminum fender that was so weak and wobbly the customer was afraid to climb on it or use it as a step to get into the boat with.
We replaced it with a new two wheel aluminum fender, double axles, and added surge brakes. To see the build out page on this job click on either picture or click on this link.
Now the aluminum fender welded on is amazingly strong and acts as a safe step up onto the boat with. Now he has great trailer brakes(which he didn’t have before), and the trailer stays straight at highways speeds and no longer sways side to side.
Stainless Steel Welding.
This motorcycle received custom crash bars made out of stainless steel. These stainless steel bars were also turned into extra foot pegs and soft cushy leg rests.
To see the custom built stainless steel crash bars being built, click on this link or on the picture.
We fabricated and welded those double silver custom steel columns that are holding up the roof. We fabricated four pairs of them.
There is much more involved in building them than it would look like from these appearances.
To see the fabrication and welding pictures, and a full explanation of the various build stages, click on the picture or click here
We built a Mobile Escape Room out of this 45″ semi trailer for a customer. Its the largest Mobile Escape Room in the country. It has air conditioning in the front and AC also in the back.
It has multiple rooms inside, one way mirrors, hidden passages, hidden rooms, hidden locks, fully wired with 120 volt AC electricity, separate entry and exit steps in the front and rear that fold up for highway travel.
The build and fabrication aspect I’m going to show you, is about the generator cage. This tractor trailer mobile Escape Room needed a way to carry and easily access a external generator.
The (250 lb) generator sits in a rack built into a drawer, that easily rolls in and out of its noise limiting, anti-theft security cage.
With my background in engineering and design, it was easy for me to design this solution, then fabricate the components and weld it up.
To see more pictures of the fabrication process and explanations of the build, click on a picture or click here
We design, fabricate, weld and build aluminum gigging, bow fishing platforms for boats. Click on the picture or click here to read all about it and see all the build pictures.
This is a mobile cast iron welding job on a diesel engine block. The truck was in a accident and as well as extensive body damage, the cast iron diesel engine was also damaged.
If I could not fix it for them, their next alternative was to buy a brand new engine and swap engines out. To see the page that shows the engine block repair process, click on the picture or click on this link
We do paint stripping and rust removal with sandblasting, wet blasting, vapor blasting, bead blasting. We have many processes we can choose from for the best results at the least cost.
We strip heavy equipment, vehicle frames, furniture and antiques, paint off of wood and houses, pools for refinishing, expensive tools and industrial machines, metal fences and gates, trailers and trucks of all types, cars and motorcycles being restored, remove paint from brick and concrete, strip paint from engine blocks and fiberglass boats.
We remove barnacles from boats and aluminum oxides from motorcycle engines to make them shine again.
Abrasive blasting has many forms and is the most effective technique for removing rust and paint off of nearly any object. After we strip it, we can repaint it for you also. We even have special equipment and techniques for painting inside tube or box frames on autos of that style.
We can do it at our shop, or come to you with our mobile blasting service. We can do it, or rent our equipment to you and let you do it yourself to save some money.
Click on the picture, or click on this link to learn more about abrasive blasting and how it can help you remove paint and rust from whatever you want to make look new again.
St Augustine & Jacksonville Mobile Welding Services
If the work cant come to us, and often times its not feasible, our St Augustine, Jacksonville Mobile Portable Welding service can come to you.
Our St Johns County Mobile Welding service is so portable, we can bring our portable/mobile welder machines right up and onto the boat or yacht. We can fix stainless or aluminum right in the kitchen of the restaurant.
If your work cant come to me, which of course is less expensive, then call me and I can bring the Mobile Welding Trailer to you.
FYI Mobile is 33% more expensive than you bringing your work to my shop.
Here is some of the Mobile Welding projects I have had time to include on this website.
To see the story and pictures of this 145' yacht we repaired with our mobile welding service, click on the picture or click here
I do Aluminum mobile welding on tractor trailers. To see the story and pictures of the mobile welding I did on this rig, click here.
This is a mobile cast iron welding job on a diesel engine block. The truck was in a accident and as well as extensive body damage, the cast iron diesel engine was also damaged.
If I could not fix it for them, their next alternative was to buy a brand new engine and swap engines out. To see the page that shows the engine block repair process, click on the picture or click on this link.
I have many more projects I haven’t had time to include on this website. Ah, never enough hours in a day…
I’m still looking to buy that day stretcher machine. Anyone know where I can find it?
Our specialty, Aluminum Welding
This page is just for Aluminum welding. Nothing but Aluminum Welding. Steel welding is on other pages of this website, but not here.
I do portable Aluminum mobile welding on tractor trailers. To see the story and pictures of the welding I did on this rig, click here.
Aluminum is a specialty that most welding shops don’t want to accommodate because it has so many variables involved, the learning curve is very steep and getting good results can be quite challenging to the beginner.
I am one of the few welding companies that does aluminum, and I do a lot of it. Sometimes its because I am the lowest price on the simple easy jobs, and sometimes it because no one else wants the complex tricky challenging jobs that require the utmost of skill.
I also do a lot of cast aluminum welding like the type on outboard engines, and aluminum wheel/rim repair when they crack and your air leaks out.
So if you are after the lowest price, or the best quality give me a call.
To see the story and pictures of this 145' yacht we repaired, click on the picture or click here
I also weld a lot of aluminum John boats. To learn more about aluminum John boat welding, click here or on the picture
An Aluminum radiator, heat exchanger, AC coil repair that is said to be impossible to fix, but I do it regularly. Click here or on the picture to see more about it.
Aluminum Gate Repair, Mobile Welding, St Augustine Fl. To learn what we did here, click here or on the picture.
Before and After. Originally this boat trailer had a single aluminum fender that was so weak and wobbly the customer was afraid to climb on it or use it as a step to get into the boat with.
We replaced it with a new two wheel aluminum fender, axles, and added surge brakes. To see the build out page on this job click on either picture or click on this link. Now the aluminum fender welded on is amazingly strong and acts as a safe step up onto the boat with.
The impossible aluminum weld, hot water pressure tank repair. Five other welding shops would not touch it. So it comes to me. Click on this link to see the pictures and repair process explanations.
We build new custom Aluminum Fuel tanks for any application. We also repair a lot of marine aluminum fuel tanks. Here is a job where we patched the corrosion areas and stopped all the leaks. Click here or on the picture to see the aluminum fuel tank repair process.
We design, fabricate, weld and build aluminum gigging, bow fishing platforms for boats. Click on the picture or click here to read all about it and see all the build pictures.
I designed and fabricated this aluminum lumber/ladder rack in St Augustine near Jacksonville, built to carry 2,500 lbs of lumber up top. To see more pictures of it, click on the picture or click on this link
Design, Welding & Metal Fabrication
Welding and fabrication in St Augustine fL.
This page with it’s 100’s of pictures below, is dedicated to our fabrication and welding shop.
My welding business is available for all levels of welding- from all types of repair to fabrication, where we design, build and weld something from scratch.
We can build your dream design. Or you tell us what you want the end result to be, and we design it and fabricate it.
I have a strong background in design and am excellent at figuring out the best way to achieve something. This is probably my most valuable quality that separates me from the other welders in the area.
Before I opened my welding shop, I made my living doing engineering. My specialty is problem solving and creating design solutions.
Tell me the problem you want to solve, or the end result you want to see, and I will deliver solutions you will love. I can figure out how to achieve it.
The first project this page is going to share with you, a builder wanted some custom steel columns made for a remodel job he was doing.
Here is the rough sketch he brought to me.
I asked the builder questions until I understood exactly what he wanted. Then I began cutting steel, drilling holes, measuring angles and welding the metal components together.
Below here is a picture documentary of the weld/fabrication process it took to build his columns in my fabrication shop.
On this page I have not included explanations of the process of each picture. If you would like further information on the process , there will be a link on the bottom of the page.
If you want to see the whole documentary on the steel columns being built, click here (CUSTOM STEEL COLUMNS WELDED & FABRICATED). It has many more pictures and and full series of explanations of all that was done to accomplish the fabrication and what the goal parameters were.
If you want to see the whole documentary on the mobile escape room generator cage being built, click here (CUSTOM GENERATOR CAGE WELDED & FABRICATED). It has many more pictures and and full series of explanations of all that was done to accomplish the fabrication.
If you want to see the whole documentary on the aluminum gigging, bow fishing platform being designed, fabricated and welded, click here (Gigging, Bow Fishing platform design, WELDED & FABRICATED). It has many more pictures and and full series of explanations of all that was done to accomplish the fabrication.
Affordable and Fast Trailer Repair service in St Augustine Fl and Jacksonville area
Hi and welcome to my Trailer Repair Website.
You’re trailer not behaving for you? Then bring it over and I’ll straighten it out for you.
I am the SAVE YOU MONEY trailer repair service in St Augustine and Jacksonville area.
I work evenings and weekends to accommodate you’re schedule.
I fix Horse Trailers, Boat Trailers, Utility Trailers, Car Hauling Trailers, Dump Trailers, Enclosed Trailers, Log Trailers’, Tractor Trailers and any other kind of trailer that is towed behind a pull vehicle.
I fix Frames, Axles, Bearings, Brakes, Wiring, Lights, Winches, Hitches and virtually anything that can go wrong with a trailer. And I can modify it and customize it any way you want.
I install Electric Jacks, Trailer Winches, Tail Gates, Tool Boxes, Ladder Racks and anything you can imagine up.
I work with Steel, Stainless Steel, Wood, Fiberglass and Aluminum. I also rust proof them with anti corrosive inhibitors.
And of course I do lots of welding repairs and modifications on trailers also. I don’t sell any trailers, but I fix them all so give me a call.
I do NOT work on (refers), refrigerated trailers. I’ll fix the trailer but NOT the refrigeration unit. And I do NOT work on air brakes. I do everything else though.
It’s less expensive if you can bring your trailer to me for repair, but when it’s immobile, I can bring my tools to your trailer. I do offer Mobile Trailer Repair service in St Augustine Jacksonville.
General Purpose Sand Blasting
Now Jacksonville and St Augustine has its own Dustless Blasting & Sand Blasting shop. No more having to travel to Tallahassee to get your rust, corrosion or paint stripped off.
Along with being able to bring your projects to our shop to get them blasted, we also offer mobile abrasive blasting of the traditional sandblasting, or the newer hydro/vapor dustless wet blasting.
Mobile blasting costs more but when its not feasible to transport your project to our shop, we can come to you with our Mobile Sandblasting equipment.
Here a garage was having paint failure and it was not feasible to put new paint atop of the old paint which was repeatedly peeling in 100’s of small new places that were continually developing. Every bit of new paint was subject to how long the paint underneath was going to stay on.
Since the old paint had shown a history of constantly coming free of the wood, it was decided to strip off all preexisting paint down to the bare wood and start all over fresh and proper.
Here it was cost effective to bring the portable sandblasting equipment to the job.
It just didn't make sense to paint over top of paint you were sure was not going to stay adhered to the wood. So although mobile sand blasting is more costly than at our shop, there are many occasions mobile is the bargain
The hauling costs to sandblast this off road dump truck at our shop, were not feasible. The customer saved much money having us sandblast the truck on site and not at our shop. Figure it this way. If you can bring it to our shop, you will save $200 off the cost of the paint, rust stripping. If bringing it to us costs more than $200, then have us come do your abrasive blasting at your site.
We have five abrasive blasting units ranging from small to large, from air blasting to wet dustless blasting. For the air blasting we will bring our own air compressors. For hydro blasting, vapor blasting, wet blasting, we will need to hook up to your garden hose as a short term source of water.
A large vehicle only uses $2- worth of water to strip it with wet blasting.
Air blasting and water blasting each has advantages and disadvantages over each other. Unfortunately there is NO ONE technique that is best in every situation. But you knew this already. You tell me what you want stripped, and why, and I will help you find the least expensive remedy that will give you your desired outcome.
ABOVE: With all the nooks and crannies in that frame work, air abrasive media blasting was the most effective and didn't leave them with a wet floor. But since we were inside, we didn't use sand. We used a abrasive blasting media that produces virtually no floating dust.
ABOVE: With that horse trailer, it was rolled outside in the field next to their building, and wet blasted with high volume air and water vapor. 200 gallons of water that splashed in their field was insignificant. Also the sand blasting media did not have to be cleaned up since it was in a field. It just blended in and disappeared.
While the coatings available can wander off into super exotic land, our specialty is giving you basic very good quality, long lasting, inexpensive paint jobs specifically designed to not corrode and give you good looks for 10-15 more years to come. I call this 95% painting and its only half as expensive as 100% painting. Its by far the best bang for your buck.
What we don’t do; we don’t do fine finishes like you would expect on an expensive automobile or show car. I call that 100% painting. That requires special atmosphere controlled paint booths which drives the price way up.
But our 95% painting is frequently done outside so occasionally it may have a mosquito or insect stuck in the paint which we touch up with a brush afterwards. And 95% painting only costs half as much as 100% painting.
Essentially we paint heavy duty metal that you would never think about putting a coat of wax on to keep it shiny. We paint things that live outdoors generally and work hard for a living.
If you want to put a coat of wax on it and make it shine to the max, then we are not your paint shop for that job.
Freshly painted equipment drives the sell price way up for companies selling off their old stock so they can upgrade to newer stock.
Generally for every dollar you spend blasting and repainting, you’ll get three dollars back from the increased sale value. Plus it helps the equipment sell much faster than old ugly stuff that looks worn out.
Look at the before and after pictures above again. If you were a buyer, which would be catching your attention?
BELOW: We call this half blasting. Its super economical. We don’t strip all the paint off. But we blast off every area that had rust. Zero rust and ready for repainting.
Half blasting can cost 1/3 of full complete blasting. Its a tremendous bargain and a huge bang for your buck. This is what I do when I have to blast my own equipment. It is by far the most results for the smallest time investment.
Some of this trucks cross member was rusted through so we removed the weak member area and welded in new (used) strong metal to replace it. We did the frame repair before the corrosion repair.
In addition to our abrasive blasting and coating services we offer a range of enhancements should your project require them. We are used to working with customers large and small on projects with special requirements and are able to accommodate every need in most applications.
If we can be of help to you, give me a call.
Our Email Section
In the good ole days we could publicly display our text email address with links on our websites and conduct normal business with normal people.
However in today’s internet world of SUPER SPAMMERS sending their computerized robots scouring the world wide web harvesting email address so they can send you a thousand spam’s a day, I can’t conduct business this way.
I have time for real people but not robot salesman spamming me with junk and porn.
If you can read this and memorize it for a few seconds, then type it in to you email client and contact me. I’m easy to talk to. I usually respond in less than a day.
Have a great day.
Sincerely Chris
Remember, I work by appointment only, so be sure to call before you come. 904-638–8338 Call me, 7 Am to 9 Pm, any day of the week
Our company name is “After Hours Welding & Trailer Repair.” We serve all of St Johns County and surrounding areas.
We do very low-priced, competent & quality work, by appointments only every day of the week. Yes weekends and holidays to.
Call anytime thanks to the magic of cell phones, I probably am available to answer you’re questions.
Feel free to email me with any questions you may have. Without hesitation, call me at 904-638–8338
I’ll be happy to give you the information needed in order for you to make a wise, informed purchasing decision.
Questions or comments, Chris’s EMAIL@ is within that picture below.