Monday, December 1, 2008

50 Important Questions


The Thanksgiving holidays are over and its time to get ready for Christmas. I always look forward to this slower time of year. In the construction industry the winter represents a time to take account of everything you did last year and how you would like to change things for the following year. I have been involved in this process since 1981, the year I was married. 5 children and almost 28 years later it has become a ritual that I can now look back on with some sentimental feelings for what seemed like a simpler time long ago. 
When we decided to get this blog together, I asked for people within our company to put together lists of questions that our customer always ask. We felt that it would be another way for our customers to gain insight into our operations. My brother, David,  took me up on this and put together a list of 50 questions that address issues that he answers all the time.  So I thought I would simply list the questions in this blog entry and then over the next few weeks do my best to put some sort of an answer to each of the questions. Here is that list (which for better or worse) I simply cut and pasted from his email. 

1,  How much will it cost

2,  What is spider cracking on sealed lots

3,  How did it happen

4,  What can I do to fix it

5, Why should I seal my lot

6,  Are there alternatives to coal tar

7,  What is coal tar

8,  What is asphalt sealer

9,  What are the benefits of asphalt sealer

10, The other contractor said he is going to squeege the sealer, you are spraying,  whats the difference

11,  My business is open 7 days a week, can we phase the work to keep the lot open

12, I am closed on weekends, can you seal then

13, my lot has cracking can you repair the cracks

14, What is the difference between normal cracking and alligator cracking

15, What are my options for fixing the alligator areas.

16,  You said there is reflective cracking in my lot, what is reflective cracking

17,  what are the advantages of repairing the cracks

18, What are the differences between patching,  mill and pave  or  peel and pave,  what are the advantages or disadvantages to each one.

19,  There is mud coming through my blacktop, what can you do to repair it and why do I see mud

20,  I always have water ponding in certain areas of my lot, what can you do to get rid of the water

21, Do you stripe,

22, I have broken curbs, can you repair them

23, I have damaged concrete walks or driveway approach, do you do concrete

24, I have a catch basin that’s  collapsing, Can you repair or replace my catch basin.

25, I have water going into my garage doors, do you install trench drains

26, There is a sink hole in my parking lot, what could be causing it and how can you fix it

27, I got another price and he said he is giving me 1” compacted, what does that mean

28, I have another quote and his scope is different than yours.

29, My lot is breaking up and I have a lot of heavy trucks coming in and out of my business, what are my alternatives

30, The blacktop where the dumpster truck empties the dumpster has deep tire ruts, what are my alternatives.

31, How is the price of gas effecting the blacktop business

32, I want to resurface my lot, but the blacktop is already above the doors and walks,  what can I do

33, Do you do oil and chip,  Is it a good option to repaving my lot.

34, I only need 1 pothole fixed, Will you come to do a small job

35, We have a community board, will you come to our board meeting and explain your quote

36, I need a budget price , we will be looking to do some work in the next yr

37, I have another location in Rochester, how far will you travel

38, I am from out of town, will you go and do a survey of what repairs and overall condition of my parking lot

39, I already have a site contractor, will you just do the paving

40, Do you do residential work

41, Do you need any money down

42, It’s the middle of winter, can you fill the pothole in my lot

43, Do you have a guarantee

44, How often should I seal my parking lot

45, My concrete is Spalding, what causes that to happen

46, Can you break your bid up and give me multiple prices, I might not do all the work

47, You bid this job for me 2 months ago, are the prices still good

48, You bid type 7 top and the other guy bid type 6 top, whats the difference and whats better for me

49, why do the sabres keep losing

50, why do the bills keep losing


Stay tuned for all the answers.

No comments: