Today we’d like to introduce you to Don Walker.
Don, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started Home Restoration Service at the end of 2000 out of necessity. I was a software consultant working for three years with a company in Phoenix that closed its doors. We had just bought a new home and I needed an income. Unfortunately, the job market was soft, and no one was hiring, especially someone over 60, no matter how skilled I was. So, I looked at what else I knew how to do to earn a living.
I decided to go out on my own as a handyman, having learned my skills as a teenager when my parents would buy a home, fix it up, sell it and buy the next one to fix up. They ended up doing that three times before settling in the last one. I learned construction, bricklaying, putting in a concrete driveway, wallpaper removal, electrical, plumbing, roofing, texturing, and painting.
As I established myself as someone who delivered quality at a fair price, my business grew. After a year, I expanded my business by bringing in a few qualified sub-contractors. As I found people with more diverse skills and found complementary sources like electricians & plumbers, I shifted to management and took on a wider variety of work and continued to grow my business.
In 2010, I brought on a highly experienced paint and texture individual as well as an excellent carpenter. I sought out respected resources that I could bring in to do anything a client needed that we didn’t do. Soon I had several licensed plumbers and electricians that I could use, a respected roofer, plus siding, brick, concrete, fencing, flooring and tile professionals.
By 2011, Home Restoration Service was recognized as one of the best single-family remodeling companies in Plano. This recognition has continued every year through 2019, with an A+ from BBB. Since October 2008, we have not experienced one week without work, through all the holidays. This I attribute to my team of sub-contractors, and the fact that we have worked to make Home Restoration Service stand out from others in our business.
The first thing that makes Home Restoration Service different from our competitors is that we don’t mark up materials and pass through all contractor discounts. Next, I personally go on all first meetings with clients to understand their needs, take pictures, measurements and notes. From that effort, I develop a very detailed quote which identifies the work steps required, tools required, and materials with costs. This helps clients understand all the steps of their remodeling needs.
Instead of a fixed price bid, my quotes include an estimated range for labor and materials; where we usually stay within the range 95% of the time, with 3-4% achieving a cost less than the low range, and 1-2% over the range, usually because additional tasks have been added by our clients. The team I assemble for a job is always selected to match their skills with the requirements of the work needed. This allows us to continue to demonstrate a high quality of service and end results.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As with any start-up, not everything goes smoothly. The first few years, most of my work was done on an hourly pay scale. Then as larger projects became available, I was competing with my competition, who did fixed-price bids. Matching those bids while delivering high quality was a losing proposition.
With a fixed price bid, someone is always on the losing side. I don’t want it to be me and the client doesn’t want it to be them. To be competitive, I had to match the other bids; to deliver quality, I had to bid higher, but that cost me to lose work. When I matched some bids, I made little money and, in some cases, lost money.
My answer was to sell the concept of a cost-plus bid with a range of labor and materials. Using the excellent references from previous clients along with providing materials at cost, I slowly sold this concept as a process where everyone comes out winning versus a fixed price bid where someone is going to lose. Accepting a high fixed-price bid meant they were paying too much; accepting a low bid, usually ended up with sub-standard work as the contractor tries to avoid losing money.
Also, I have learned to vet any new resources carefully to ensure that the quality of their work is a match with the client’s expectations. I missed a few times and it cost me money as we warrant all the work on a job.
Home Restoration Service – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
After working in this business a while, I learned that what most homeowners want is to have a single source for all their needs. Unfortunately, the needs for each project are diverse and don’t support the concept of maintaining a huge roster of sub-contractors relying on me to provide enough work.
To meet the diverse requirements of our clients, I elected to keep a core group of contractors on my team that can handle drywall, texture, painting, trim carpentry, and miscellaneous handyman tasks. For those jobs that require specialists, I have a referral network of vetted companies or resources to handle roofing, siding, fencing, flooring, tile, marble, plumbing, electrical, foundations, room additions, window glass, window replacements, concrete, and brickwork.
So, Home Restoration Service provides our core services, and when necessary, we provide the vetted specialists to handle other work. We act as the concierge of services for our clients to the extent that we even obtain multiple quotes for these outside services, and then manage and inspect their work to ensure a client’s satisfaction. Providing these services plus our policy of providing time and material bids with no markup on materials has enabled us to have numerous repeat clients and client referrals over the years.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Honesty, delivering quality results at a fair price.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.homerestorationservice.com
- Phone: 214-697-6026
- Email: don@homerestorationservice.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HomeRestorationServiceLlc/?ref=br_rs
- Other: Home Restoration Service
Suggest a story: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
