As restoration professionals, it can be hard to know what you can charge for.
Especially when there are those who will charge nothing for “Cowboy” restoration. If you are looking for ways to grow as a restoration technician or company, you will not go wrong taking these tips:
1. Use the best equipment for the job:
It used to be that when a building was flooded, all you needed were some fans. Chuck ‘em in, open the windows and you’d be right.
While in some instances this might be exactly what is needed given the right circumstances, we have grown in understanding and as an industry. Saying that, there are more options out there than just air movers and dehumidifiers.
If you want to grow as a restoration technician, then you need to learn how to utilise efficient drying techniques.
If you had a wet concrete slab for instance, you may make more money getting it dry by having just air movers and dehumidifiers running for longer, but this may not necessarily make your client happy. If you can get things dryer quicker, more efficiently, then you become a restoration technician they want back in the future!
A few technologies that you should look into utilizing:
Desiccants
Due to the way desiccants work, they have a wider range of operational temperature range then refrigerant dehumidifiers. They are also able to remove more grains of water from the air then refrigerants.
They, however, may require a little more time to set up correctly.
Heat and Air Exchange Drying
This can be a cheap and efficient way to dry moisture that is deeply bound in building materials. By adding controlled heat to materials, you are able to encourage evaporation faster and deeper into the material.
Floor and Wall Specialty Drying Systems
Often, moisture can be left undried inside walls and underneath floorboards, which in turn can lead to mould and rotting. These units are used for pushing and pulling air in and out of wall and ceiling cavities and timber flooring.
Thermal Image Cameras
Using these cameras can greatly increase the accuracy of your reporting and investigative skills as a technician.
While it should never be used as a sole indication of where water ingress has occurred, it can definitely help track it, and then be confirmed with a moisture meter. It also serves as a way to quickly convey the tracking of moisture to other parties involved in the process.
If you need to hire any restoration equipment at an affordable rate to service your jobs, check out our website at agileequipment.com.au or call us on 1300 092 647. We have all the gear above available for hire now.
2. Hire a portion of the gear you need
Every now and then you may get the call to complete a large water damage job.
Do you purchase the extra gear needed then, for it just to take space in your warehouse and cost time maintaining it and keeping it ready? Or, can you hire the gear you need whenever you want, ready to go, serviced and maintained by another party?
Hiring excess restoration gear to supplement your existing inventory can be a smart move, a way to mitigate potential losses, while ensuring you can service all your clients fast and effectively, and not lose any business.
At Agile Equipment Hire, we aim to provide a cross-hire service that will benefit you. We keep costs low for you to be able to make a profit off your work while using premium branded restoration equipment we have accumulated over the years of doing restoration work.
3. Use IICRC Equipment Formulas
Putting the correct amount of restoration gear into a job can be a tricky thing to justify. Have a look at the equipment formulas that are found in the ANSI/IICRC S500 standard and reference guide.
These formulas will be able to help you to
1) justify the use of more gear on jobs
2) get the place dry!
4. Offer additional services
When a water damage occurs, clients will often need more than just hire of equipment, or extraction of water. It is important to provide them with every service that you offer, to give a complete and positive service.
Providing services such as carpet & tile cleaning, building and contents cleaning, building and finish repairs, air-conditioner cleaning, and mould sampling can ensure that you will increase your business profits.
Mould sampling in particular can lead to larger and more involved jobs. If you need somewhere to process your samples, check out our sister company IECL.
5. Attend restoration education courses
Educating yourself as a restoration technician is vital to growing profitability, growing as a technician and as an industry. The more we as an industry grow, the greater work we can get, the more people we can help, and get paid while doing it!
It will also help you to help justify line items come bill time.
Conclusion
If you want to grow as a restoration company/technician, and increase profit margins, then the tips outlined above can be a great starting point.
Here at Agile Equipment Hire, having 20 years of restoration experience, are here to help. Call us on 1300 092 647 to discuss your needs.