Business as unusual

We have made it through another year.  This one has by far been the toughest. We have struggle to keep our margins high and struggled to keep enough volume to support our operating expenses.  We have done a pretty good job of keeping our customer happy and doing great work. Although I think in relation to last year we have had more customers have some issue with our timeliness. I think we didn’t do well with our schedules this year. We were way too busy in the summer and then didn’t do a good job of ramping up with staff in the spring.

We have upgraded our staff in many places. I think we are better focused on attracting the “right’ kind of person for our company and not letting the “wrong” type stay around too long. We have really worked had a getting more information to the guys who need it in the field.

On that point we have continued to improve our online job management system. It is the web-based software we have been building for 3 years and it just keeps getting better. We had a small competent for our customers to see what is going on with their jobs and have made it easier to track job progress as it pertains to budgets for our internal use.  I think it will take another 12 months before we have that system really 100% so it makes us that more efficient and easier to communicate with our customers.

We will keep working hard at keeping our company moving forward and focus on doing work that is profitable. That is always the key to work with customers that you can make money with. It is very competitive out there and many small operators will work for a lower wage that we could even pay them so we don’t won’t to work for the companies who only hire someone based on price. We provide so much more than price that we have to find the right fit for us to work with.   Have an Amazing Day.

New office location

We are very excited to be in our new office.  It is at 503 so. Michigan st. 2 blocks from where we have been the last few years. We love the Georgetown area and wanted to stay around there so we have found a perfect place for us to continue on our mission of being the most professional and well trained service company in Seattle.

We moved so we could have a place to display our Automated Paint Machine and have a retail space as well.  We are right on Michigan St. so look for our sign in the coming months. Our goal is to have our retail space open for clients by Jan 1st . We will be open by appointment only by Oct 15th. The retail will provide our clients with a place where they can go and pick out all the finishes/materials we provide, Paint, Carpentry, Tile, Flooring and Countertops in one place. We are going to focus on a few great selections not necessarily 100′s of choice but more like 20-30 choices.

The space will also allow us to have small gatherings and BBQ ‘s for our company and vendors. We had a BBQ on friday to start off our new space. We grilled some hamburgers and tapped a pony keg of Manny’s from the local Georgetown brewery.

This has always been in our plan and is another big step for us to be able to provide from beginning to end our finishes and services.  Have an Amazing Day.

Mistakes happen

In this business mistakes happen from time to time, most of the time the mistakes are fairly minor and can be corrected easily.  But sometimes the mistake is major and can’t be corrected without a  lot of money. We recently experienced a mistake that could not be fixed. We stained the floor of a clients hardwoods a shade darker than they desired.  This wasn’t absolutely a thing that couldn’t be lived with but the client chose a color and we got it mixed with the color of the new door in the house.

Lesson here is how do you handle the mistake. We quickly owned up to the mistake taking full responsibility. We then determined what could be done and what couldn’t be done. We talked to the client and asked what they wanted. The result was client was not completely unhappy with the darker color and we didn’t charge them for the refinishing of the floors. So they got a free floor refinish and we got to keep our client as happy as could be expected. They are not jumping up and down for joy but they said that it was more than what they expected us to do. That is music to our ears giving the client more than what they expected in service. Love it.. Have an Amazing Day.

Top 10 Tile Installation Mistakes

Here’s a list of the Top Ten Tile Installation Mistakes.

1.   Poor workmanship (grout, grout lines, cuts, chips, poor layout)
2.   Cracked tile or Grout
3.   Hollow sounding tile
4.   Movement (Tented or sheared tile)
5.   Water leaks into substrate or structure
6.   Maintenance in general
7.   Proper materials and conditions for installing glass
8.   Failed outdoor decks
9.   Lippage
10. Substrate preparation

Have an Amazing Day!

What If We Knew What To Look For?

I have heard this story so many times in the last 6 months. I found this contractor from a friend of mine. He said he did a good job. I hired him and gave him (some money) to get started and he showed up a few times and I have never seen him since. I have tried calling him but I can’t get a hold of him and I don’t know what to do. Here are few hints on how to avoid this common story. 1) Never give any contractor money before they start. Unless you have used them before and actually have a positive experience with them. Do you really want to do business with a contractor who needs money to start your job? That is a clue something might be wrong. 2) If you have a meeting time and they don’t show up and don’t call before or immediately after the meeting time. If they can’t at least call to let you know something has changed then that would be clue two. 3) If they don’t have a business card the first time you meet with them… they might forget.. but a good contractor always has a business card to give to prospective clients. 4) If you look them up (state of Washington only) on this website https://fortress.wa.gov/lni/bbip/Search.aspx and you can’t find them. Double check you have the correct spelling but if the company is not listed that means they do not have a license. Never hire a contractor without a license. If something goes wrong you have no protection. Even for the best contractors things go wrong. I hope this helps at least one person… it seems like simple things to do but we often forget to check anything out if they come recommended. But you never know if your friend checked anything out. Be sure do a little homework and don’t tolerate anything less than good business practices. Have an Amazing Day!

Tile Showers

I have seen four clients in the past two weeks who are changing or fixing their walls in their showers. One thing that all of them have in common is they have all asked if they should replace all or just a part of their tile. The answer is yes to both. Here is the questions I asked to get to the answers for my clients.

Is there any portion of the tile that is failing or you have had problems with? If yes then yes replace it all since if you have one point of failure you don’t know how much more damage could have happened from that one spot in the wall.

Are you updating for resale? If you are getting ready for resale then yes you should replace it all, as bathrooms and kitchens are the place to spend money to impress buyers. I would not spend a lot of money in guest baths but if the powder room is on the main floor and gets used a lot then put some money into updating it as it will be looked at almost immediately after the kitchen with new buyers. You can cosmetically update a bathroom without breaking the bank. New tile and sinks and faucets can be done fairly inexpensively if you know where to look and/or how to do it yourself.

Are you doing it just because you are tired of it? Now this is a tough one as clients want me to say yes go ahead but I always want to point out is there something else in your house you would rather see changed. Since this really “doesn’t” have to be fixed. This is where I usually hear yes. I say this because for most people you are the only one that sees your bathroom… you don’t have all your guests walking through your bathroom, especially the shower. So if there is something else you have been putting off that is where I would spend the money. I am of course assuming it is in a place that is used more by all family members or guests.

Again those are just my experience over the last few years and weeks.

Have an Amazing Day!

Painting your own house

I talk to a lot of homeowners and general contractors each week. Most people I talk to have a budget and are always trying to stay under budget. Many times this is what I hear, “can’t we just go ahead and paint the walls, so we can save some money?” My response is yes of course you can paint the walls but we would rather do it since we are putting our name on the project. The painting is what people actually see and we are judged by the paint job. So if you (homeowner, builder) do it yourself I can’t control the quality of your painting. Granted some of you may be great painters but there is no way for me to know this so we are stating on reputation on your painting ability.

This is of course assuming we are doing other work on the project. If one of your friends come into the project and you say yes The Finish Company did the work here, you may be talking about trim, countertops, cabinets or tile work. But the next time someone sees or hears about us and they say yes The Finish Company painted this they will normally just assume that we painted the last project they saw. So although I am always trying to help save money for our clients I really try hard not to have our reputation on the line and us not really do some of the work. I believe that the finish work is the most important part of any job because it is what is seen and most of the time judged as the level of the work of the project.

Therefore the next time you ask us to only prime the walls or only paint one wall or just the bathroom or kitchen. Remember it is our reputation and word of mouth advertising that may be at risk for us so we would rather do the work ourselves to assure it is to our standards. We will always continue to work within clients budgets so sometime it is the only way to get a job done but consider our point of view when asking to paint the walls yourself. Have an Amazing Day.

Kitchen and Bath Remodel: Plan Ahead

We have done and continue to do many kitchen and bath remodels. I think some of it has to do with the economy but that is another topic. What we have learned for you to have a successful schedule for your remodel is to have the materials picked out before we start on the project. The difference between not having materials picked out and having some materials picked out is the difference for a bath remodel of four to six weeks than six to nine weeks with very little choices made and the difference of six to eight weeks than nine to 12 weeks for a kitchen remodel. Now we all know that there will be unknown issues to come up during the remodel but if the materials are chosen and all we have to deal with is the surprises from the project we will still be able to stay closer to the original schedule.

If you can pick out what you would like from a check list we created it really helps both of us to keep within budget on both time and cost. Whether you are buying the materials yourself or we are buying them for you. We don’t really care if we buy the materials (you get our discounts) or you buy them but we can better pricing 95% of the time than you on countertops, tile, hardwoods, cabinets and plumbing and lighting fixtures. Plumbing fixtures we get better pricing 75% of the time where as lighting fixtures we get better pricing 50% of the time. Appliances we can rarely get any better pricing than you. Most good contractors with pass the discounts on to you as their clients.

The moral of the story is to plan as much as possible before the project starts. We rarely start a job without almost all of the materials chosen. We realize there may be a few things that need to be made as the job progresses but we just try to minimize those choices. It is like your dad or someone said “Proper planning prevents poor performance” I may be missing an adjective or two but you get the idea. Spend some time with your contractor before the job starts it will pay off big dividends in the end. Have an Amazing Day!

What is green?

We are a company that believes green is good. We do some things that definitely are good for the environment and we promote being green to our clients. We always use Low VOC paints unless a client tells us not to or we can’t find the correct coating for the application. What really bothers me is that there is so much information about being green you really don’t know what is green and what is not. Companies use it in their marketing but being “green” is not just using different light bulbs in your lobby. Being green to us is trying to find ways that help the environment. That is a pretty broad statement but it is being green in the simplest form. If you can do things differently or use different products that don’t have a negative effect on the environment isn’t that being green? If each company can do even one major change that changes how they interact with the environment then that is a great thing. But you have to really think and sometimes be creative to change a process or habit that benefits your environment. I am not saying you need to radically change your company I am saying look for ways you can get a desired outcome but maybe you use a different product, approach or process. I know it is not easy as we are still learning ways that we can be a positive contributor to our environment and not a negative. I don’t believe you should change how much you charge people so you can be more “green”. I believe you should look for ways you can change how you deliver your product or service so you can be “green”.   Have an Amazing Day.

Don’t overspend

The last few months I have talked to 4 people who are doing either major renovations or at least major cosmetic changes to their homes.  All of these homes have been on what most people would call as $1m+ homes.  Here is what I have to say…. Just because you are spending a lot of money doesn’t mean you are going to get what you want and you don’t have to spend a lot of money to get exactly what you want.

Let me touch on the first one. The companies that do large remodel projects and have a large overhead are not necessarily going to give you exactly what you want. You will still may have issues with some part of the project, you still may have a project manager who doesn’t communicate well, you still can have work that is not up to your standards. Granted you can ask to get a new project manager or you can ask to have things brought up to your standards. But just because you spend a lot doesn’t guarantee you success or a smooth running project.

The second thing that really gets me is that people hire an expensive company, which they believe gives them great work and realistic schedules, but that is definitely not the case. I am not saying that all expensive companies are bad because they aren’t. I am talking about the reason why someone hires that company. Because people are not educated on costs of materials and labor in a remodel or construction job they can easily pay too much. There is not a direct correlation between money and quality. You can get one without the other if you know what you are looking for or know what to ask.  You can easily get the highest quality and not pay the most money… but you have to know what to ask and have someone you can trust to help.

Most people don’t know what to ask or who to trust so they compensate their lack of knowledge with throwing money at a project. I am not saying it can be cheap but I am saying you can easily reduce costs of projects by 20-30% by just knowing a few things.  One of our goals is to give customers a lot of value for the dollar and help people get exactly what they want. We can give customers what I call front door service, meaning bring everything to them and help them make decisions, or we can give someone a lot of value by directly them where to go for what they need.  We will happily provide whatever level of service our customers is asking for and charge accordingly.

I also believe we sometime go overboard on this and create the wrong expectations for the customer who doesn’t want to pay for the service but really needs the help.  Those are the tough ones because that type of customer believes they know all the things but doesn’t therefore forcing us to do more work to correct bad choices.  I don’t want to get started on that one.. save that for another day.  Have an Amazing Day.