still sucking

[Cameron1]

more heavy rains came in last night... so far we have had three clients call in with re=flooding issues.
One we had just picked up the equipment on Sat. from drying out their 1600 sg.ft. Basement. Here are some tidbits from the week.

Last mon. morning by 9:30 had 45 clients on a waiting list for emergency water removal

This # remained constant thru Fri.

Ran out of equipment by the end of the first day

Bought 14 new air movers on Wed?

Bought 4 new Phoenix lgr's on thur?

Had 2 compaines from out of state that promised to bring trailer loads of equipment, but never showed. One did call 12 hours later and say they weren't coming cause INSURANCE WOULD NOT COVER THE LOSSES.

We were lucky because we were dealing mostly with our own client base

Had one guy with truck and 20 ft trailer and 2 Mexicans pulling carpet and pad for three days.

Had 2 vans with two guys each sucking water etc.

Had 1 van with 1 man doing the best he could

I was on van moving equipment and doing what I could.

As of now, we still have folks waiting for us to show up.......5 days later. These are the ones who are afraid to use anyone else(god bless em)

Have done about five large jobs for no charges.......

Today I am moving equipment and bracing for the re=floods.

We will be dealing with the aftermath for weeks.


Needless to say, I'm dead dog tired.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

When your "flooded" (forgive the pun) with water losses, its easy to overlook safety hazards, lifting injuries, and biohazards. Especially when you're fatigued and stressed out.

Made all of those mistakes over the years and suffered for it.

Stay safe Steve.

 

[davegillfishing]

just wondering why the no charges on the 5 jobs..
re floods?
just great customers having hard times?

 

[Cameron1]

just wondering why the no charges on the 5 jobs..
re floods?
just great customers having hard times?

One was a home for disabled children that we clean for free once a year. We could not bear to take money from this family that struggles as it is.

Two were older folks who have no resources to take care of themselves much less this disaster.

One was a neighbor......who looks out for me when i'm out of town.

One was a favor for one of our good referral sources.......his Mother


It was a good feeling to be able to help, and my crew agreed to reduced wages also.

 

[Hoody]

If I could I would jump on a plane to help ya.

Wish that deal in GA would have worked out for me; I would have been there in an instant.

Stay safe and best of luck. Looks like you will be doing a lot of demolition in the next few weeks.

 

[Pmatte]

I think its cool that you did the charity work,can't disagree with you on those. However, letting your clients, new or repeat, homes sit with the Cat 3 water for 5 days?????????
We as the Restorers,have a responsibility to our clients to make sure that they get proper attention as fast as possible,whether its us or a competitor.

By the way, none of our flood clients had any additional flooding from Saturday's rain,even ourselves.

 

[dealtimeman]

steve if i would of known you needed equipment i would of been over there in 14 hours. if you ever need equipment again please let me know and we can work something out. i am eyeing a 26ft trailer with liv quarters, just for storm chasing. again if you need anything let me know. :wink:

 

[Cameron1]

However, letting your clients, new or repeat, homes sit with the Cat 3 water for 5 days?????????
We as the Restorers,have a responsibility to our clients to make sure that they get proper attention as fast as possible,whether its us or a competitor.

By the way, none of our flood clients had any additional flooding from Saturday's rain,even ourselves.

yeah... we tried to tell em, but ya know how some people can be.. Also pman.... not all were cat 3's.

 

[hogjowl]

He feels better about himself now, for having said that, Steve. :roll:

 

[Desk Jockey]

It was several years ago, we got 9-inches of rain over night, within the following days we had over 600 calls.

Great right? Not really after years of market to all these people they are all now wet, all at one time.

Business's and customers are begging, calling in favors, willing to pay extra anything.

Problem is we had 8-trucks out extracting and some of these losses we big. We would lose a crew and 2-or three extra guys at one loss for a day.

Of the 600 calls we did a little over 70 losses over a 10 day period, over $300,000.00 that month in WDR work.

BUT to balance the good, we left more than 500 customers disappointed, not to mention those that called but we told there was a list of hundreds.

As Jim said it can get ragged and it's hard to know your limits, but at some point you have to know when enough is enough. It's easy to keep going but if each job is not thoroughly dried, you could risk more than the effort is worth.

Had one guy with truck and 20 ft trailer and 2 Mexicans pulling carpet and pad for three days.

:shock:

 

["The" Al Bradham]

Just got back from atlanta last night at midnight. We ended up renting about 250 pices to SS for 5 days. Nice paycheck but I feel like a truck driver. Drive 325 miles load equipment drive 325 miles home. All in a days work.

 

[Pmatte]

Hey Porko...F-off you flippin tard :!:

 

[Cameron1]

It was several years ago, we got 9-inches of rain over night, within the following days we had over 600 calls.

Great right? Not really after years of market to all these people they are all now wet, all at one time.

Business's and customers are begging, calling in favors, willing to pay extra anything.

Problem is we had 8-trucks out extracting and some of these losses we big. We would lose a crew and 2-or three extra guys at one loss for a day.

Of the 600 calls we did a little over 70 losses over a 10 day period, over $300,000.00 that month in WDR work.

BUT to balance the good, we left more than 500 customers disappointed, not to mention those that called but we told there was a list of hundreds.

As Jim said it can get ragged and it's hard to know your limits, but at some point you have to know when enough is enough. It's easy to keep going but if each job is not thoroughly dried, you could risk more than the effort is worth.

Had one guy with truck and 20 ft trailer and 2 Mexicans pulling carpet and pad for three days.

:shock:

Lots of good points in that message.....we do have some former great cheerleaders mad as hell........so, I got some fence mending to do soon. Gonna start with a nice letter.........then some Gift cards and maybe some flowers.


Let me tell ya Richard........if those guys could speak English, I would hire em in a New York second. Best workers I have ever seen period.

 

[Cameron1]

Started the biggest dryout ever(for us) today.

1 e-tes 240
5 lgr's
2 air scrubbers
20 blowers

The adjuster approved all equipment for 6 days.

It appears we will also be doing some sealing of the lumber when all is dry.

 

[Chris A]

Started the biggest dryout ever(for us) today.

1 e-tes 240
5 lgr's
2 air scrubbers
20 blowers

The adjuster approved all equipment for 6 days.

It appears we will also be doing some sealing of the lumber when all is dry.

So will you be buying your own Hummer this year?

 

[Hoody]

What do you use to seal lumber, Steve ?

 

[Cameron1]

What do you use to seal lumber, Steve ?

Do not know the name yet, as I have never done it before. It's one of those mold encap deals where you abate then seal.

I Just got approval to use the e-tes for another few days to dry out the crawl space.

 

[dealtimeman]

steve did you take any pics of the jobs lately?