How do you migrate into water damage from a cleaner?

[juniorc82]

Ive had my wrt cert for a couple years now. I do maybe 5 losses a year. I use to refer most of my water to a service master franchise that is now closed. Im wanting to do water for my current cleaning customers as I get a flood calls here and there and don't really want them to have to call another cleaning company. The old manager from the service master franchise I was cool with is now and independent contractor so he can share the job with me if I get a really crazy one plus he has exactamate and can do our estimating. Ive got most of the equipment to cover the more basic small water jobs. Ive got a medium water claw, about 20 airmovers, 3 - 1200's, truckmount of course, and some basic moisture meters including hygrometer. I may get an e tes and some wall drying stuff or maybe a couple lgrs but I think im good for the typical water heater or washing machine flood . If I get a wood floor that's wet I probley will send it to someone else. Im gonna try and do the asd school next chance I get and possibly grab an entry level thermal imaging camera. I know I need to get some more formal work authorizations and documentation forlogs of each job but what else am I missing? I feel like Im ready to ease in to this but wanted to hear some of you guys experience on how to still be a primary carpet cleaner but take on the occasional flood

 

[dealtimeman]

Sounds like you are on a good track. I would take as many trainings like drieaz asd and reets drying school etc. the more techniques and drying strategies you have up your sleeve the easier it will be in the field.

If you ever have any questions. Feel free to give me a call 817-829-4708

 

[Buck1955]

Your good to go. You don't need a thermo camera. Water damage isn't brain surgery, the biggest thing is checking the walls. Pop the baseboard and drill air holes to see if it's wet. Outside walls with insulation are especially important. I'd get a Bolden extreme extractor before a camera. If you need more equipment you can rent it from your disty or a competitor. Water is where the moneys at.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Yes get the training it will give you the confidence and the technical experience you'll need as you grow in this area. It sounds like you already know quite a bit but the classes might expose you to some things you haven't thought about as well as give you some ammunition to better explain why "you do what you do" to get things dry.

The work, I'd start working your data base first let them know you do the work and will respond when they need you. This way you can start slowly and get comfortable before too many calls start coming in. Call Mike Hughes, he was doing pretty good with water damage work until he got tired of doing it.

 

[juniorc82]

I felt pretty good after doing the wrt class. I think I will try and make it to asd in the spring. I don't really want to go balls deep into water but after reviewing quickbooks we turned away anywhere between 20 and 30k in bigger flood jobs. Im getting a little older now so Im not quite as scared when I get on the scene. Also now that my buddy from service master is doing his thing he can help me with the business end of it so I really have nothing to be scared of. I was looking online and flir came out with a new line of thermal cameras that are pretty affordable they have one available now for 995 called the e4 and its better than the i3 which till now was the cheapest one available

 

[Desk Jockey]

Jon slow is definitely the best approach, if you turned away 20-30K just think how much more you would have received had you been marketing to your data base too. That's money that doesn't cost you much more than you already have invested and can be highly profitable work. The toughest part about the wdr business is responding when the calls come in, as long as you and your new wife are committed to the service it should be a good extension of your service.

As far as thermals you don't have to start out with one but if you can afford it they will help in identifying what is when when you have multi-floor losses and other difficult to diagnose losses. Check ebay or ask Lockhart and see if he has one to sell, maybe you can spend the same money but get a upgrade in camera.

 

[juniorc82]

Jon slow is definitely the best approach, if you turned away 20-30K just think how much more you would have received had you been marketing to your data base too. That's money that doesn't cost you much more than you already have invested and can be highly profitable work. The toughest part about the wdr business is responding when the calls come in, as long as you and your new wife are committed to the service it should be a good extension of your service.

As far as thermals you don't have to start out with one but if you can afford it they will help in identifying what is when when you have multi-floor losses and other difficult to diagnose losses. Check ebay or ask Lockhart and see if he has one to sell, maybe you can spend the same money but get a upgrade in camera.

I think it would be a wise investment. I have most of the other meters so being able to measure surface temps and have a visual refrence would be nice. Plus we share warehouse space with a construction and maintenance company that said they would hire me from time to time to do scans of buildings for them. I guess the way I see it is that you cant dry the water if you cant find the water so I would rather get some good inspection tools before anything else because I pal around with several companies whom will rent me drying equipment. At this point for what im doing I think beyond getting a few lgr's Im pretty well set for the basics. I would realy love to get an e tes but Im not sure if they live up to all the hoopla. My wife is getting burnt on her sales job so I think she will be on full time by spring. In addition to that my long term part time guy has a set of keys to one of our vans and our warehouse so I think in most cases will be able to get someone out the door to suck water. I just really want to market to our existing customers. I have some people I can refer the rebuild too and have a good relationship with a carpet retailer for replacements or more extensive reinstalls. I don't know what it is but ever since I got married I feel some sense of obligation to try and reach my potential. Its not like I was lazy by any means before but the thought of long term financial obligations really makes you want to bring some more bacon home

 

[Desk Jockey]

I agree having the right tools like an IR camera opens many doors and sells many jobs for you. It's not needed on smaller work but anything where water comes from above or multiple floors or commercial work it's really valuable.

 

[SMRBAP]

Post training - make sure you have contracts and the behind the scenes admin and protocol to keep liabilities in check - a #1 priority imo.

Invest in fans first - that's where you'll get your return the fastest. A $300 fan has to rent for just 12 days to pay itself off. Dehu's take about twice to 3 times that.

Eventually get yourself equipped with large and XL dehu's - the 1200's work - but 2000's and 2400's are going to be needed much more frequently. 50 to 1 odds at my shop a 2000 or 2400 is going out over a 1200. Our 1200's typically go out only if it's a utility room, or a secondary smaller separate room (as a secondary dehu). Most losses occur in rooms too large for a 1200 - for us anyway. Remember it's not just the size of loss, but a marriage of room volume and class of loss.

Keeping this line of thought - I'm with Buck - get a weight assisted extraction system before a camera. 4-6 average extractions will pay for that tool (even vs the claw). The last 2 extractions I did with mine netted me about $1900, completed in about 3 hours (both).

If that other company had enough work to justify having an IR - they'd have an IR (just my way of thinking maybe).

The smartest resty companies lay their money out where they'll get the fastest return first - just remember that as you amass gear.

Remember you market to a service born from situation - not from want. In turn restoration gear can collect a good bit of dust. Which is why it's important to balance your investment in it strategically.

 

[juniorc82]

I don't think Ill have enough work to justify an extreme extractor or something like that. I had a 2 room apartment flood the other day and the medium water claw did pretty well. It did take longer than what I thought to pull all the water but it got the job done. I will eventualy get a few bigger lgr's as stated but for the occasional flood Im good and can rent one from a friend If I gotta have one. My plans for being a restorer are really just limited to servicing my carpet cleaning customers. I don't have any real plans to make a a hardcore offensive on that front but at the same token I have had a few nice jobs I had to turn away because I wasn't prepaired for the basics bringing me to where I am now. Where can I get a basic work authorization? I think Im gonna hold off for now on the ir camera, I have 2 1200's that need auto pump outs replaced which will cost less for the camera and increase my capabilities so Ill take care of them first. Maybe I will put 20 or 50 bucks away in the sock drawer and after a while I will have enough to get my camera.

 

[tmdry]

Like Anthony said, get the right equipment that you'll get paid first before getting an IR camera...later on as you get more work than you can get the camera (I have a Flir i7 and take it on every job), but I don't charge for it. I personally would stick to my own business versus becoming an inspector for another business, once you get a call for a flood you're gonna end up dropping everything to get to that job - $250 inspection vs $2500 min average flood, you make the call.

I would invest now in LGR's...1200's sit like Anthony said...you can "drop" the 1200's in a way of "getting the job and start initial drying", till you come back and replace them 2000's (LGR's), there's a lot more to just removing the water and meters, you can pm as well for precise details. I've called Michael and Richard numerous times, they've been a great help to me in this industry.

I would save the etes for later along w/ your camera and Extreme Extractor purchase, that will come w/ time but not necessary at the stage you're at now...focus on buying fans and lgr's (not 1200s), these are your "employees" aka money makers, my last job resi job I had 50 air movers, 5 2000 LGR's, 2 hepa 500's for over a week...you can buy them used, no need to buy new. Richard once said "used rents the same as new", just remember that.

If you need help w/ Xactimate, one of us will hook you up w/ the list, that will make or break you on how you charge aka make money. Some of us are "pro's" at putting xactimate invoices together...that's the $ maker, and you don't need to own the program from the start....later on as your WD biz grows invest in Xactimate $250/month, 1-2 jobs will pay for the entire year's, and you will wonder why you never got it from the getgo, it's a simple program to use and they're very helpful w/ training, etc.

I'm actually looking into adding more equipment myself right now....it all comes w/ time.

 

[Steve Toburen]

Thermal imaging cameras pay for themselves between discovering additional water (money) plus covering your butt. Plus they are neat toys. (You know you want one so just buy it- they are so much cheaper now anyway.)

Re; fast payback a good HEPA air scrubber will have a payback on standard Exactimate rates of around 8 days.

Steve

PS Besides letting your current customer base know about your water damage service you can let your own insurance agent(s) know about it. Give immediate service and make a Cheerleader out of the agent's client and you'll be amazed how fast your name makes it around the insurance community.

 

[Desk Jockey]

they are so much cheaper now anyway.

Yea we bought them early and spent over 40K on three of them. Now you can them serviceable units for a fraction of that.

 

[Buck1955]

I work alone so I use the 1200 size dehu's, there easier to haul up and down stairs. If it's a big area just use more.

Make sure you have a good work authorization (contract) and get it signed before you start the job. Mine is old but I'll email it to ya if you want. It has saved me a couple times.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I agree a 1200 is easy for one man to handle, the Evolution is a better option in same small size since it's an LGR should you ever need more units.

 

[John Olson]

I wish Dri-Eaz would quit offering the 1200 for sale to professionals. Conventionals are not ok to use." 55 barely alive!". LGR's are the only Dehu you should be using knowing what we know now. Years ago when we didn't know better was one thing but we KNOW better now. Now if that is all you have (1200's) then yes use them but you should be replacing them as fast as possible as your doing a serious disservice to your customer and your company using sub standard drying procedures.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I would agree they are not the best units out there but you still see 50's & 110's on ebay.

For simple losses

We still have a 110 in our equipment bone yard.

 

[dealtimeman]

Out of 55 dehus we have one 1200 as they don't have enough cfms or btus to dry efficiently once the cubic size of the room exceed a certain point.

Now for a master closet or master bath or even a regular closet they are great, anything larger and you can dry 33 to 50 percent faster with an evolution or larger lgr dehu.

 

[juniorc82]

John Olson" data-source="post: 4246855" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch">

I wish Dri-Eaz would quit offering the 1200 for sale to professionals. Conventionals are not ok to use." 55 barely alive!". LGR's are the only Dehu you should be using knowing what we know now. Years ago when we didn't know better was one thing but we KNOW better now. Now if that is all you have (1200's) then yes use them but you should be replacing them as fast as possible as your doing a serious disservice to your customer and your company using sub standard drying procedures.

John , I agree with you that lgr's are better that's no doubt. And I can even agree with you looking through your eyes as a distributor. However for the small amount of water work we get conventionals are fine for now. If you are out in the trenches everyday you could see that on a lot of the small floods we service especialy in rental units the 1200s are adequate. I have took the water class and know the fundamentals of drying so I do know how to take readings and determine the limitations of my equipment.