Carpet Cleaning vs Water Damage & Restoration

[The Great Oz]

How much is the estimated insurance cost for cleaning vs water damage and restoration?

Lots of variables, so a discussion with a local insurance broker would be worth it.

To prepare for the "what if scenario", would it affect me adversely if I set my truck up for restoration with a 210 tank vs a mid-mounted 110 and adding a couple of additional items like the automatic pump out?

I think that's a personal preference. If Butler's pump out is any good I'd save the space and weight of the big tank. We use CDS units with 100 gallon tanks and pump outs. For cleaning it's never been a problem, as the tank typically doesn't fill during a normal day. At most we'll pump out once, and do it at the most convenient job.

Would it be worthwhile to take all the important restoration courses from the IICRC to gain the education and qualifications for: Water Damage, Structural Drying, Applied Micromedial Remediation, Fire/ Smoke, Trauma, etc?

IICRC courses are a good start and aren't too difficult. You can decide if you're serious/good/profitable enough to step up to more advanced courses or get a CRS certification from the RIA. (That's the one that insurance companies recognize.)

Or is it truly best to not even think or prepare for restoration chances down the line by looking past the course and not setting up the van for potential restoration chances/opportunities in my early stages or down the line - 6 months at a time? (Was thinking about adding a professional and cleanly matching wrapped trailer with the necessary remaining equipment needed).

As a general rule I recommend letting your business build you into any diversification, unless you're the only horse in town and have to be a jack of all trades. I think the adding-a-trailer-later idea is a good cost-conscious way to be ready for restoration work on a small scale. You aren't driving a big rig when you don't need it, and the trailer doubles as storage. I've seen a lot of very large companies pull trailers lettered like their vans onto job sites. They look good to me.

 

[Worker]

IICRC courses are a good start and aren't too difficult. You can decide if you're serious/good/profitable enough to step up to more advanced courses or get a CRS certification from the RIA. (That's the one that insurance companies recognize.)

Thank you for the continued feedback.

This is the first time I'm hearing about the RIA. Would there be one or the other which would be preferred to take on as far as the IICRC and/or the RIA so that I can invest all in the right organization from the getgo?

 

[Worker]

"A fool and his money are soon parted".


...and then Lockhart swoops in for pennies on the dollar

Does this mean that I'm setting up myself for failure or an uphill and ignorant plan which in turn would benefit another party after I'm done and gone?

 

[Desk Jockey]

Thank you for the continued feedback.

This is the first time I'm hearing about the RIA. Would there be one or the other which would be preferred to take on as far as the IICRC and/or the RIA so that I can invest all in the right organization from the getgo?

RIA might be over your head at this point. They have lots of great seminars and annual meetings but I think you'd be better off getting your feet wet with the IICRC first.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Does this mean that I'm setting up myself for failure or an uphill and ignorant plan which in turn would benefit another party after I'm done and gone?

I believe he is referring to all of those that invest a bunch of money in equipment, only to sell it off at a loss to recover what they can.

 

[Worker]

I believe he is referring to all of those that invest a bunch of money in equipment, only to sell it off at a loss to recover what they can.

I see. Yes, anything's possible. It's good to hear the truth and reality in my face since I understand that I can make this to be a bigger risk than it is worth. If I'm putting approximately $70-80k in this, I don't think I'll have the motivation to sell even if I'm breaking even for the first 2 years - how much could I sell back for?

(new Chevy Express 3500 Extended V8 along with most all of Butler's options)

 

[Mikey P]

 

[Worker]

^

DisasterCare – Cleaning and Restoration

disastercare247.com

Is that the type of Big Dog company I'm up against? Slim chance to none for myself?

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Al will be at MF in Charleston SC

 

[Kenny Hayes]

All things being equal, if you put all your investment, time and money into cleaning you would realize ROI quicker and be much happier. If you can invest 60 to 80k, or even 25-30, that would go a long ways towards cleaning vs WDR.

 

[Worker]

Okay. I'm tired of pounding my head. Starting to think and feel that I should get really good at the most beneficial and worthwhile types of cleaning with my set up. I guess I'll try to set my mind to take on the carpet cleaning tech, upholstery cleaning, and stone cleaning courses with IICRC. I guess I'll just put the extra time, money, and effort into marketing - With the goal of 2-3 high end, time-consuming, higher income/quality jobs per day maybe if I'm fortunate enough. I may take on the WRT as an extra or maybe not, but maybe that's it for now unless you may advise otherwise.

Any other pointers or cleaning courses I need to take on to make sure that I'm fully fundamentally sound, please?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Brian H]

One thing further to consider when getting in to water damage restoration. You may need to bump your already scheduled carpet cleaning customers.

We were in the fire and flood business for many years but finally closed that division of our company in 2012. Inconveniencing our residential and commercial customers because we were tied up on a water damage complaint was one of the reasons for this. We have a reputation around here of getting the job done when it is scheduled and that couldn't always be done when you have to send crews to do unscheduled restoration work.

Another thing to think about is being on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There are plenty of stories from those in the water damage business who will tell you about the calls that come in the middle of the night, when you are heading out to dinner, celebrating your kid's birthday, at church, etc. Rare was the time that we took a call when it was convenient for us.

We now refer our water damage work to another company who does not do cleaning. A win for both companies.

 

[Mikey P]

How much time, money and pain did MB just save this fella...

 

[JohnHawkP]

I averaged 3 restoration jobs a day and it took me 20 years to get to that.
I sold it 10 years ago and went into franchising.
Would I start up restoration again?
Probably not.

My advice to you is maximise your time on site. Look for ways to upsell.

And consider window cleaning. It is $100 per hour with a healthy margin.

 

[Kenny Hayes]

Touché to all of us. To The Goobers!!!!

 

[Desk Jockey]

We averaged 600k a year in wdr servicing 2 small communities. It can be done but it will take infrastructure to do it. As mentioned it can be overwhelming if you allow it to be.

 

[hogjowl]

Look what it did to you
You’re a school janitor now

 

[Kenny Hayes]

It certainly can be done, as we’ve all concurred or experienced. But certainly a much more difficult startup. Cash flow is obvious in cleaning.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Look what it did to you
You’re a school janitor now

Full circle. lol

 

[Mikey P]

So in review...

Build up a enough of a client base to sustain three trucks and 4 or 5 workers all year long. Have a facility large enough to store vans and all future equipment and house items you may be storing or cleaning.

After a year or two of education, getting insured and some equipment collecting, start offering small Water services to your existing client base, using revenue to buy more equipment.

Start kissing insurance agent's asses.

Keep your routes light enough during the wet season to be able to handle the Water work without F'n your loyal clients.

Get a nice hat collection to cover your quickly receding hairline.

Dont be a dick to your wife after the divorce, It's your fault.

Sell off the Water portion of the biz, fire everybody and go clean carpet by yourself and die happily ever after.

 

[Jimmy L]

Wisdom at last

 

[Desk Jockey]

lol

 

[Kenny Hayes]

It took all of us fooking #goobers together to come up with a solution for the circle of life Mikey’s Board at its best!!

 

[Kenny Hayes]

All that to say cut out the middle part of kissing the insurance and adjusters ass! The rest is gonna happen.

 

[hogjowl]

I agree with Brian
I know he’s proud

 

[Worker]

Thank you all. The realistic advice and feedback have tremendously helped and provided me with a sense of clarity on a more appropriate direction. I will go ahead focus on the cleaning aspects. Thank you for the pointer on looking into window cleaning as well. I'll keep an eye out for any further directions. I am grateful for the board.

 

[hogjowl]

Window cleaning blows

 

[Desk Jockey]

I believe the day when the insure provider is your source of work has past. Over the last decade there has been a paradigm shift in how claims are processed.

Basically unless you are apart of a major franchise you are an outsider only scooping up the crumbs that fall through that cracks of preferred vendors.

Those already in the industry and those looking to join need to market to nontraditional sources of work, including their own data bases.

They restoration industry is in a state of flux and changes are regularly trotted out.

 

[Kenny Hayes]

You might take that l outta flux

 

[Kenny Hayes]

Window cleaning blows

Not if you’re a janitor wanting to add an additional service A carpet cleaner could add that as an add on for small start up, residential or commercial. Easier for small commercial.

Everything blows, even retirement, not done right.