🧹 Bay Shore's Fix It Family: All About Grout

🚨 Rifles, Machetes and Cocaine Seized in a Jericho Parking Lot

🛶 Freeport's Canoe Race Just Turned 50

🚗 Babylon Cracks Down on Loud Car Meetups

You know that feeling when you're staring down a home repair that's going to cost thousands, and someone tells you it doesn't actually need to be replaced, just fixed? That relief is basically the whole business model behind All About Grout, and it's the reason Doug Fitzsimons has spent the better part of two decades convincing Long Islanders that their tile, their pavers, their siding, all of it, might have more life left in it than they think.

Doug started out doing every job himself, tile and grout restoration mostly, until his body started breaking down under the physical toll of it. He took a job with ConEd for seven years to give himself a break, but he missed it, the connection to the community, the control over the quality of work going out under his name. So in 2019 he and his wife Ashley went all in together, and what had been a one man operation became a real company. Ashley has been his business partner from that point forward, and she is as much a part of the build as he is. Today they run 17 technicians and two office staff out of a 4,000 square foot warehouse in Bay Shore, and it's a family business through and through. Ashley runs the office and the business side, Doug runs the field.

What started as grout and tile has grown into something closer to full property restoration. Paver releveling and repair, stoop and bluestone fixes, a mason crew for repairs and new installations, painting for jobs big and small. Doug is one of the people who helped resurrect paver restoration on Long Island back when almost nobody was doing it. Eight years ago there were maybe three companies offering it. Now there are around 30, and a lot of them learned from the process he helped pioneer.

Here's the number worth sitting with: restoration work typically runs somewhere between 10 and 20 percent of what a full new installation would cost. Doug does new installations too, remodels and patios included, but restoration is almost always his first suggestion, because he'd rather give a homeowner options than just push the most expensive job. A lot of contractors walk in and go straight for the rip out and replace. All About Grout will tell you when you don't actually need that.

Momentum is not a problem here. All About Grout just crossed 10,000 customers, and between Facebook, Google, and reviews across the board they're sitting on more than 1,500 five star ratings. Their Facebook page pulls close to a million local views a month, mostly from the before and after restoration videos Doug puts together himself with the help of a professional videographer he’s embedded into his team. He and Ashley are also building out a bench of managers and team leads so the company can keep running strong even when he's not the one answering every call.

Doug believes in what he calls the trifecta of contact: social media, Google, and word of mouth, and he'd like you to see real reviews and real work. Find them on Facebook to see the transformations for yourself, and give them a call when you're ready to talk.

All About Grout is proof that sometimes the better fix isn't tearing something out, it's finding someone who still believes in doing it right the second time.

Follow along on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/19C7c6cEhP/?mibextid=wwXIfr

A routine patrol near a Jericho Home Depot turned into one of the more unsettling busts of the summer. Detectives with the Criminal Intelligence Rapid Response Team spotted three men unloading a wooden crate full of rifles into their vehicles in the lot at 86 Jericho Turnpike on a Friday afternoon.

What they found next escalated things fast. Along with the rifles came thousands of rounds of ammunition, a white powdery substance believed to be cocaine, a forged Social Security card and three machetes. Two of the men, from New Cassel and Central Islip, were arraigned at First District Court. The third was released on an appearance ticket, but investigators discovered he's in the country illegally, and ICE took custody of him for removal proceedings.

Nassau police haven't said yet where the guns were headed or who was buying, so this one is likely far from over. It's a reminder that even a strip mall parking lot in the middle of the afternoon isn't always what it looks like.

👉 Read more: LongIsland.com

Half a century of paddles hitting the water. That's what Freeport celebrated this weekend, as its annual canoe race jubilee marked 50 years down at Cow Meadow Park, complete with music, dancing, food and games for the whole family.

The race has been a Freeport tradition since 1972, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce, the Police Athletic League and the Village itself. This year brought more two person canoe races than ever, plus a brand new matchup nobody's tried before: police versus firefighters, paddle to paddle.

Fifty years is a long time for any local tradition to survive, let alone thrive, and it says something about how much this village still shows up for each other on a summer Sunday. Here's to the next fifty.

👉 Read more: News 12 Long Island

If you live near Bell Street in West Babylon, you already know the sound. Police impounded a car and its speaker equipment Friday night after yet another round of noise complaints about a car meetup, and it's part of a bigger crackdown the town is rolling out this summer.

Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer says the late night engine revving and blasting music have become a real quality of life issue for residents near known meetup spots, so the town created a special investigation unit to respond to complaints in real time. Suffolk Police are now targeting Edison Avenue in West Babylon along with Carolyn Boulevard and Adams Boulevard in Farmingdale, and a meeting with civic leaders is planned later this week to figure out next steps.

Some neighbors say they've simply gotten used to it, like living near a train track. But with police now on the case, the noise may finally start to fade.

👉 Read more: News 12 Long Island

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