Thread: ARE YOU WDR READY??

Jim i would say 1 at least 4 dehues and 20 air movers, 2 Once you have a few jobs under your belt (losses of differant kinds),3 2mill/1mill 4 i think you can answer that question yourself ( he,he) but ill say when you run out of equipment and cant rent any then you call someone else (for a refferal fee of course.)

equipment- its great to have about 15-20 airmovers, 4 DH and a bunch a little stuff like zip walls and well the list goes on and on.... BUT like the post before me said you can rent equipment. Education... Well you should work with other companies if possible and go to at least one good class like CHUCKS HOUSE in TN... but nothing beats experiance... nothing...... no matter how many classes you have had its differant when its your ballgame..... ins. a million is good and not all the costly..... pollution ins mabye if your not a C-CORP..

water damage is a tricky buisness, not all can be tought in a 3-5 day class, there are many situations that one must experiance. I would thing a site like this would help with experiance and the ability to ask for help. As for equipment, I would not go out and get a full page add in the phone book and advertise my first year out That i am a water damage restoration company. It would take time. Equipment number one would be a good extractor, wheather portabe or truckmount, prefer truckmount. Next comes knowledge, and cont. education. Equipment can be rented for any occasion. IE: I had a large 50,000 sq ft building that flooded from rain water comming in, I was a one man crew that just finished Chuck's school and had come home to a large loss. I had helped a customer out on their own house toilet over flow. They called me in to there work and wow. I had about 10 fans and 2 small driez dehus. Well one call to Chuck dewalt and a trailor showed up the next day on a job site. Neddles to say you dont need much equipment. The job came off with out a hitch. Big pay day, matter of fact, was able to buy the equipment to out fit my buisness, I grew in knowledge, and experiance. that what is great about this network. So in closeing, get schooling, start out small in equipment, Ask away on this web site. Thanks TMF, you have been a great help on other projects. I hope i can repay the knowledge from all of your input

I would agree with Jeff on a lot of what he said... if your a carpet cleaning educate you self on water damage at least to know whats a big dieal and whats not that bid of a deal.... if its really small have a few airmovers and DH... then as you grow keep learning educating yourself...but dont really go after it and know when to call ...say someone like paul davis... try to get a good working relationship with those guys... maybe they will throw you a bone now and then....

At what equipment level do you feel you are a capable water damage mitigator? Jim, this is a loaded question because of the word 'capable.' You can own no equipment as long as you can rent whenever you need to, including 3a.m. delivery. Equipment must be built up. You need meters before dehus and fans because you have to know where the water is and what the conditions in the environment are. Some set aside 5-10% of every job for equipment investment. Have in mind what you need the most next. Equipment is not cheap. But if you check out Section 179 deduction, you can save substantially on the 'net cost' of the equipment!

At what training level do you feel you are a capable water damage mitigator?I don't know about others, but I learn on every loss. The principles are the same, but each job is different. Get as much training past the initial WRT as you can. I haven't been to every one yet, but highly recommend Chuck Dewald's as the next stop.

At what insurance level do you feel confident to take on a loss in a home, condo or apartment complex most get 1m GL with 2m Aggregate

At what point do you call someone else or say that the work is beyond your scope?You kinda answered your own question. Knowing what's wet, how to dry certain materials under certain conditions, how to monitor the drying process by checking specific humidity in the air, temperature in the air and on surfaces, when appropriate, and checking and documenting moisture content, are all items technicians should be trained in. After thinking a bit, I would say that those new to the industry should consider calling in outside assistance when unsure of anything. Don't SWAG anything! Homes built before 1978 can have lead, asbestos issues that cause federal laws to kick in. Commercial buildings with double 5/8 firewall, metal C channels and more. A few years back I rented drying equipment to the company that did the rest of the job. I was hired a week later by that same company to do remediation on all bathroom walls. They didn't extract the C channel and there was insulation in those walls to cut down sound from the bathroom. They were paid for all work and paid me, but learned they didn't find where the water was.

If you want to know a good guy to talk to try talking to Scott Tarpley (The Drying Team Inc) today he has millions of pieces of drying equipment but i believe he can tell you guys a very interesting start up story visit his website and look at the pics.