Handyman Services in River Heights, Utah

River Heights began in the 1880s, when settlers built homes on cheap land between Providence and Logan. The bench sat above the Logan River and stayed dry, so people called it Dry Town. It incorporated as a town in 1934, so it could receive a federal grant to drill an irrigation well during the drought of the 1930s, and it became a city in 1968.

Pasture and orchards slowly gave way to houses, but Logan, Providence and the river slopes box the city in, so it never sprawled. Census Bureau estimates for 2020 to 2024 count about 700 homes on 0.7 square miles of land, nearly all of them single-family houses. The median home was built in 1975. About one in seven dates from 1939 or earlier, and another one in seven from the 1950s.

The city's general plan counts about 184 older, smaller homes in the center of town, most built before 1950, some rented or holding an apartment inside.

River Heights does not issue fence permits, but section 10-12-3 of its code still sets the limits, and a fence built outside them has to be brought into line at the owner's expense. The owner of record is also responsible for verifying the property line. A residential fence may be 4 feet tall in the front yard and 6 feet along interior side and rear lines. Other rules to plan around:

The rule that catches people is replacement. When an old fence comes down, the new one has to meet the current code, so a chain-link fence across a front yard can't go back up as chain link. If a fence that no longer fits the code needs major work, ask the city office first, then plan the posts, boards and gate with our fence repair and installation page.

Most of central River Heights sits on delta gravel laid down at Lake Bonneville's Provo shoreline: pebbles and cobbles packed in sand, according to the geology appendix of the city's general plan. A 1996 Utah State University study found no swelling clays. That is good news for slabs and footings, and slow going for a post-hole auger, which tends to stop on a cobble.

So a fence post or pergola footing here is usually dug with a bar and a clamshell digger and set in concrete below the frost line. A shallow post heaves and leans within a few winters.

Water is the other variable. The zoning clearance form warns that some parts of the city have groundwater problems from a water table that rises and falls. Before new flooring goes into a basement that feels damp in spring, test the slab for moisture and choose a waterproof vinyl plank.