Halfsole & Heel Shoe and boot repair · Kansas City Northland
(816) 555-0142
Bought once in March 2011 and carried back through this door thirteen times since. Below is their whole repair ledger, every date, every failure, every price, and what the fourteen years came to.
Call the shop, (816) 555-0142The object
Oil tanned work boots, Goodyear welted, leather midsole, size 10½ D. Their owner is on concrete nine hours a day, five days a week, which is why the ledger below is longer than most.
A welted boot has its sole stitched to a strip of leather sewn around the insole rather than glued to the upper. That strip is the welt, and it is the only reason these boots have a history at all. When a glued sole goes, the boot goes with it. When a welted sole goes, we cut the stitching, lift the sole off and put a new one on the same welt. These have had that done three times.
2013 to 2025
Two tracks run down this table. One pair kept in repair, and the same fourteen years spent buying a fresh pair every three years.
Repair rows carry the running repair total. The four shaded rows are the other track, a new pair every three years, and carry that running total instead.
| Year | What failed | What we did | Cost | Running |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Both top lifts worn through at the outside back edge | Two rubber top lifts, nailed, trimmed and edged | 28.00 | 28.00 |
| 2014 | Heel blocks compressed and leaning outward | Both heel blocks rebuilt, three leather lifts each, new top lifts | 52.00 | 80.00 |
| 2014New pair | The three year clock comes round. A second pair would have been bought here. | 375.00 | 715.00 | |
| 2015 | Right sole worn through to the welt at the ball | Half sole, stitched to the welt, edge dressed and burnished | 85.00 | 165.00 |
| 2016 | Top speed hook torn out of the left facing | New hook set, leather patch backed behind the facing | 18.00 | 183.00 |
| 2017 | Top lifts again, eighteen months on | Two rubber top lifts | 30.00 | 213.00 |
| 2017New pair | Third pair. The second is two years old and has never been touched. | 410.00 | 1,125.00 | |
| 2018 | Welt stitching broken across the right toe, sole lifting | Four inches of welt re-stitched, sole re-cemented and clamped overnight | 45.00 | 258.00 |
| 2019 | Both soles down to the midsole, cork bed packed flat | Full soles both boots, new cork bed, both heel blocks rebuilt | 210.00 | 468.00 |
| 2020 | Nothing. Brought in to be looked over | Cleaned, conditioned, welts checked. No charge | 0.00 | 468.00 |
| 2020New pair | Fourth pair. The first is nine years old and has been in a closet for six of them. | 455.00 | 1,580.00 | |
| 2021 | Right heel counter collapsed inward | New counter set behind the lining, heel re-lasted and blocked | 65.00 | 533.00 |
| 2022 | Top lifts | Two rubber top lifts | 34.00 | 567.00 |
| 2023 | Left vamp cracked across the flex point | Crack stitched, leather patch backed inside, dressed and polished | 40.00 | 607.00 |
| 2023New pair | Fifth pair. Two of the four earlier pairs are already gone. | 495.00 | 2,075.00 | |
| 2024 | Steel shank cracked, arch flexing under load | New shank, soles off and back on, welts re-stitched both boots | 120.00 | 727.00 |
| 2025 | Top lifts, and the eyelet row pulling loose | Two top lifts, six eyelets re-set | 46.00 | 773.00 |
The bottom of the column
962.00 saved, and $79.50 a year to stand on.
That is the whole argument and it took fourteen years and a table to make it. The one pair is on his feet this week. Of the five pairs on the other track, three would be in a landfill, one would be in a closet, and one would be halfway through its first sole.
The honest end of it
There is a point on every pair where the arithmetic turns over, and saying so before you pay is part of the job.
These boots are close to it. The uppers are the limit now, not the soles. The left vamp has been backed once and the right is thinning across the whole ball. A new set of full soles runs about $210 and would buy maybe two more years before the leather goes somewhere a patch cannot hold.
So we will take the top lifts and we will not take the $210. That is the answer you get at this counter, and you get it before the boots come off the shelf, not after.
If a repair costs more than a third of a new pair and buys less than a third of a new pair's life, we say no and tell you why.
Buy the next pair welted. Bring them in inside the first year, before the outsole has worn anywhere near the welt, and let us put a sole guard on. That is a $45 visit, and it moves the top of a ledger like the one above forward about three years.
Start your own ledger
Walk in with them. We will look at the welt, the shank and the uppers on the counter while you wait, tell you what it needs, what it costs and when it will be ready, and write it on a ticket. No appointment and no deposit.
If the answer is that it is not worth repairing, that is what you will hear, and it takes about ninety seconds.
