Chuck Wallace (left) and his son Dan transformed a weekend sealcoating business into a full-time operation that regularly handled jobs of 100,000 sq. ft. before stepping up to bigger projects.
Until landing this 2.4-million-sq.ft. job Bayside did all of its work including a 600,000-sq.-ft. job by hand with squeegees. "If you get two guys, just two guys, who work well together you can work just as fast as spraying it," Chuck Wallace says. It uses a little more sealer but I like the way it looks, and people love it."
One of Bayside Sealcoating's first decisions was to set up and fence off a staging area for supplies and to take delivery of sealer and sand.
Also part of the staging area was a storage shed for tools, equipment, paint, and other materials.
Heavy debris throughout the property required Bayside Sealcoating to rent an 8-ft. power broom to clean the parking lot before crews used walk-behind blowers to prepare for sealcoating.
At the jobsite, Bayside Sealcoating improvised a protective shield on the end of the spray bar it hoped would protect concrete from spray so crews wouldn't have to edge by hand. The effort was not successful. Note the tail light (top left) which they wrapped to avoid having it covered with sealer.
One of Bayside's innovations was a seat on the back of the truck where the operator can monitor the application and keep in constant radio contact with the driver.
Each time the tank was reloaded at the staging area the operator brushed the spray tips to prevent residue buildup. They kept several strainers on hand and swapped them out so they had a clean strainer for each new tank of sealer.
Bayside Sealcoating installed quick connects on the hose from the tank to the spray bar to speed tank filling. To refill with sealer they disconnected the hose from the spray bar, connected it to the hose from the bulk tank, and simply reversed the pumping process.
Water was pumped into a holding tank so a premeasured amount was ready to go for the next load. Trucks were in and out of the staging area in less than eight minutes, ready to go.
To make it safer and easier to add sand and water to the sealcaoting truck Bayside Sealcoating built a set of wooden steps that fit right against the truck.
In addition to extensive patching throughout the property, Bayside Sealcoating hired a subcontractor to mill out large areas of asphalt and pour concrete pads for the trailers to rest on.
To make it easier for Dan Wallace to monitor work throughout the property Bayside Sealcoating bought a John Deere Gator. The utility vehicle was handy for transporting paint, cones, tools, and employees.
Not all sealcoating contractors are willing to tackle a 2.4-million-sq.-ft. job, especially a complex job that requires 7,000 sq. ft. of repairs and milling and pouring of two concrete pads. But Bayside Sealcoating & Striping, a small contractor working out of Camden, DE, had been laying the groundwork for a job like this, so when the opportunity arose, Dan Wallace and his father, Chuck, decided to give it a go.
"After a day or so on the job my Dad and I just looked at each other and said 'What did we get ourselves into?'" says Dan, vice president and manager. "Things weren't going as we'd planned and we were a little worried."
But the worry didn't last long. With years of successful sealcoating operations behind them, most of them less than 100,000 sq. ft. but also an important 600,000-sq.-ft. job, Bayside had learned lessons is was able to apply as it stepped up to the Big Job.
While Bayside Sealcoating is in its 25th year, it's only been owned by the Wallaces since 2000 when Chuck Wallace acquired it from the original owners. What Chuck bought when he bought the business was Bayside's only truck, the company name, and a customer list. They replaced the truck with a new vehicle almost immediately. "We wanted to put a second truck on the road, but we weren't able to because we had trouble getting enough good help to run a second crew," Dan says.
Since then they have transformed it from a weekend-only business. Once Dan got out of school five years ago Bayside began pursuing commercial contracts in an effort to move the company away from its driveway sealcoating roots, and the company has grown 20% to 30% every year by adding new customers while retaining original customers. "The last two years especially we have really pushed to get commercial work. We've even eased back on prices a little," Dan says.
Copyright 2009 Cygnus Business Media
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