Add On's

L

LI POWERWASH

Member
Hello all,
Has anyone ever considered adding on driveway/parkinglot
sealcoating to there business. I have been asked many times if I provide this service and have gotten tired of the shotty work I have seen others do (cutting product down too much or useing bad product). I have been in touch with a company that will supply me with all the needed equiptment for a good price and I am ready to take the plunge. Just wanted to know what others thought.
 
I will hold my glass up on that one, That is the way to think Chuck....

Matt :cool: :cool: :cool:
 
we have

a number of suppliers that sell seal coating and a ton of guy's who apply it.
Are you thinking of a trailer set-up or a whole truck? The supplier,will he open up at 4 in the morning to give you a tank full? You will need someone that will. Do you know your market? What is the average price per sq. ft.? ours is 5 to 8 cents per sq.ft. There are as meny lowballers as their are in the pressure wash buiss.
Lot's of night work. Homeowner jobs will be good for extra cash work but commerical is where the money is,thats why you need a all night supplier, you will run out and need more to finnish.
Sealer is basicly laytex paint and clay. The more clay the better.
Find a place to buy a lot of cheap sneakers and go for it. Easy money,for now.
The repair work is where the line of quality starts. Crack filling,weed burning,sweeping,blowing,material[grade of sealer],ect...
find yourself a good co that dose line painting to sub that out. Be ready to have ans. for customers before they ask, you will look very professional.
 
Last edited:
I have thought about it, but because the season coincides with my deck business I decided against it.
 
ron p/deckcare

you think too small,just hire help.
When your all ready set-up in any buissness your 1/2 way there. You have the phone,you are going to a house to give an est on one or the other[maybe both] A little extra for your accountant,one more truck and trailer so insurance should be cheaper then just one,add on insurance not a whole new policy,ect.....
plus it can be a lot of night work,you dont have to be there all the time just be ready to do what has to be done.
 
ad ons

I did not ask if they are open at 4 am, I am looking to go with the trailer setup, I have been talking to the customers that I am powerwashing for if they or someone they know could use my sealcoating service and I must say I am 3 for 3 so far. I will be useing a product called VelveTop. one of my customers I powerwashed for today is in charge of the condo community and had the complex done last year and was very unhappy with the results and assured me that they would be useing me next time
(45 driveways and street pavement :D . I will be getting .20 a sf
for residential and .10 for commercial and as far as the low ballers
go they have never really bothered me my feeling has always been you have to compare apples to apples there are guys out there cutting there seal down to crazy amounts and it shows in the finished result just like the low balling powerwashers out there doing shotty work. there is a old saying you get what you pay for.
 
I did seal coating as an add on to my Powerwashing business when I first started. I use to buy the 5 gal. cans. I only did a few driveways before I gave it up because for one it bothered my sciatic nerve when I was putting it on and the other was I did a driveway in a bright sunny day and when I was done it poured out of nowhere and cause a big messed. Also a real messy job to get into.

That was my experiences but alot of money can be made doing Sealcoating due to return customers. Good Luck.
 
Re: ron p/deckcare

ron p said:
you think too small,just hire help.
When your all ready set-up in any buissness your 1/2 way there. You have the phone,you are going to a house to give an est on one or the other[maybe both] A little extra for your accountant,one more truck and trailer so insurance should be cheaper then just one,add on insurance not a whole new policy,ect.....
plus it can be a lot of night work,you dont have to be there all the time just be ready to do what has to be done.
Click to expand...


If it were as simple as you make it sound, we'd all be doing that.........including yourself! In theory it sounds great, however.
 
i do not want to piss off

anyone who seal coats but i have seen crews put together each day[new mexicans] that seal coat.
It is painting with a 3 ft squeegy.
A trainned monkey would be overqualified.
This paving co. im talking about has a storage drum that has to be turned by hand.[mexican #1] Then 1 mexican filling and moving the buckets, then the crew chief[owner] squeegy's it around.
They do 10 $100 driveways on a sat and are home by 2 o'clock
2 mexicans $75 each material cost's them 10 cent's per gal or less[they sell it 24/7]
This is a add-on to a paving co. customers find them,so no selling other then yellow page ad.
I know there is a little more to it to do a good job but not much.
Sundays are for the commerical jobs. They bust their butt's but the whole family[father and 4 sons and their family's] spend 2 months in florida each winter.
Makes-up for lost weekends.
Being a mobile tireman for 16 years you get to see the working end of a lot of buissness's
Seal coating is messey but about the easyest [no brainner] work ive seen that makes a good profit.
Biggest trick to quality is just simply buy good product and dont water it down. Sometimes it's not the contractor that water's it too much,it's the supplier.
Built in customers sure makes it easy for this co.
They run 2 rigs one sprays it down[commerical work] the other is a box trailer[keeps it looking nice from the outside].
They have plenty of customers come from long island just to buy there material, it's better then anything they can find local.
In NJ you only do seal coating 6 to 7 months a year and only 4 of them are real busy.
I also do work for a contractor that JUST seals AIRPORTS.
His material comes from florida in tank trucks.
26 year old millionare. Just built a home on the beach.
His crews only come home twice a month. Live in hotel's.
 
ad on's

CAA-CHING !!!
THATS WHAT IM TALKIN ABOUT.


Both me and my partner will be on all jobs. not a big fan of the mexicans though, just need to find americans that can chew gum and walk at the same time.. LOL
 
i got $10

that say's you'll know more spanish by the end of next year then you do now? Hard worker's and there every day.
 
LiPW,

I would not hire mexicans unless it were grunt work, which it sounds like this is. They are great for bricking, mowing, painting, etc., basically anything that you can show them once and let them go. I've had several Mexicans work for me in wood restoration and I just never could get it to work. They want to go too fast and don't worry enough about quality. Like I said, great for grunt work. All of this could be different however if you had a lead guy that could communicate Eng/Span. and get them to do quality work.

If you do go with Mexicans, make them bring their own squeegies and 10-99 them. If you consider them subcontractors, then you don't have to worry about legalities,etc. The defining factor for whether or not one is a sub is if they have their own equipment. Obviously, I am sure you could somehow get screwed doing this, but the likelyhood would be that you'd have yourself pretty well covered.

Sounds like a good business idea, give it a run and see what happens. are you planning on spraying??

jon
 
I will bet you 20.00 that Ron P is right about the mexicans!!!

Matt RODRIQUEZ, AND NO THE NAME WAS NOT A HAND ME DOWN!!!
 
The defining factor for whether or not one is a sub is if they have their own equipment.
Click to expand...

Jon,

I am not sure how it works were you are but here in PA a subcontractor must also have his own insurance. Just somthing to think about. It only protects you in the long run.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top