If you own a spray foam business, you have likely invested in a rig. This gives you a central location for easily transporting all of your service equipment regardless of what your customer’s needs might be. However, it is just as likely that in your business operations you have encountered customers who need other services performed, ones you simply cannot help out with as you are missing the needed equipment which could be supplemented to your rig’s collective. If you just had a few more pieces of equipment, you could potentially offer multiple other commonly requested residential services, supplementing your business model’s array of services.
There are, in fact, several services that you can add to your repertoire with a few additional pieces of equipment and correct training quite easily. This guide will provide some ideas for such services.
Slab Jacking
Any property you come across will have concrete slabs somewhere on it, whether it be in the form of patios, driveways, porches, or walkways. These concrete slabs will eventually find a way to crack, divide, and move due to either erosion, inhospitable climate, or shoddy foundation construction, causing problems for homeowners.
Depending on the position of the broken or uneven slab, homes or their surrounding properties can incur damage. The cracks permit more moisture to seep in, and as water finds its path of least resistance inside, freezes, and expands, the structural nature of concrete becomes compromised. Left unattended for lengthy periods of time can lead to very significant problems caused by water damage.
Unevenly settled concrete (which is very common) can stoop down, creating dangerously uneven ground patches or flooring. To even it out, a process of injecting foam under it, which will then expand, lifting the tilted concrete, is known as slab jacking. Thanks to foam’s cleanliness, once the process of injection is complete, the clean-up is simple and the process is quick. Once foam ‘jacks’ up the concrete, expanding more than most materials can, finding any empty spaces and filling the air pockets, reinforcing the concrete flooring.
Since your rig likely already features foam spraying equipment, all you need is a heavy-duty Graco Fusion Mechanical Purge Spray Gun that will dispense the foam into the concrete, a simple addition to any rig.
Pressure Washer
There is a common misconception that heavy rain cleans filthy concrete. In fact, all rain does is provide resilient fungus and plant life to break through it and runs muddy filthy from place to place, leaving it where it happens to be when the rainwater evaporates. Many people face the problem of recurrently dirty concrete garage floors, patios, and driveways, and are frequently looking for power washing services that can force the grime off these surfaces. The addition of a pressure washer is a relatively small expense, that can deliver big returns when considering how many interested customers may want that service performed.
This service is very common with large commercial buildings where mud and grime are flailed across many surfaces. These businesses will be more than willing to invest in power washing services to get their floors and surrounding properties looking respectable.
Intumescent Paint
Intumescent paint is a fireproofing product applied in buildings in the form of a surface coating. Intumescent products are effective for these reasons because they expand exponentially when under extreme heat, such as that in the case of a fire, with some intumescent products expanding to as much as 100 X of the coating’s original thickness. The expanded product loses density, filling in gaps that could allow the fire to reach structural supports, susceptible pipes, or ports into the internal portions of the building.
To apply this, foam contractors need to possess the product itself, as well as a paint sprayer to coat the surfaces effectively. Graco’s fireproofing sprayers are a fantastic choice for these types of jobs, being able to handle the intumescent materials and being flexible enough for spraying materials composed of singular or plural components. These sprayers are also capable of handling jobs ranging from minor touch-ups to significant coating projects.
Having the necessary materials in your rig is an excellent way to expand your serviceability. Customers using your other services are likely interested in fireproofing their residences or commercial business sites, so you can always offer the intumescent coating as part of the job for an additional charge, growing your potential business revenue.
Weatherization
Weatherization is one of the most common reasons foam spraying is used to achieve energy bill reduction. Foam insulation retains heat or coolness indoors, saving on the amount of time that customers have to pump the heat or the air conditioning units. The less they do so, the lower their bills, so they view the spray foam services as a long-term investment that ultimately pays for itself in the future.
However, there is more to energy conservation than just spray foam, so any additional methods of energy bill reduction can be supplemented with your foam spraying services. For instance, you can offer to replace windows with better quality, double-paned units that can act as an energy preservation barrier in places where foam is simply inapplicable. Windowsills, window frames, and doors are all places where the foam will not reach, yet small cracks can zap heat out of those small areas quickly. This can be easily addressed by high-quality, yet inexpensive low-pressure polyurethane foam sealant, caulking and crack sealing putty.
The areas where windows meet the window sills, as well as underneath doors are other portals by which heat and cool can escape, necessitating higher energy generation. These locations can be weather-stripped with other inexpensive but highly effective materials. All of these can be easily stored in the rig and offered to customers as supplemental portions of their spray foam job.
In many states across the country, energy programs are set up to offer rebates for customers who save energy. These weatherization programs help qualified homeowners reduce energy costs by conducting a thorough inspection of the residence and compiling a list of necessary services, which are then subcontracted for the performance of services. For instance, qualified Ohio residents can get the necessary information for HWAP (Home Weatherization Assistance Program) here.
Contact a SprayWorks Equipment expert to discuss how you can add some of these services into your existing spray foam rig.
