I am putting together a quote for a 14 building, 2 story apartment complex. They have no outdoor spigots and through some research here I learned about renting a meter from my local city to have access to a fire hydrant.
So…I called my city to explain what I wanted to do and they referred me to the county who does handle the water and sewage for our area. I spoke to a woman who knew exactly what I was asking for so I was with the right person / department.
She kept mentioning she would have to run this by her supervisor (the idea of renting a meter for pressure washing apartments) and she emailed me shortly after we spoke to say “her supervisor said they would likely deny the request since they really don’t do that sort of thing”
It’s a HUGE county serving about 15 different cities in the area. I am getting the impression it’s totally up to the supervisor to say yea or nay on the request without any sort of defined and published rules.
I did submit the form and will see if they formally deny the request.
Did I do some rookie move about indicating my intentions the wrong way?
Anyhow, I was looking for feedback from you guys who typically make these requests to get your thoughts.
Some counties don’t rent them. Hendersonville NC doesn’t rent meters. I rented a water tanker for one apartment complex but I’ll never do that again. Costs a lot of money and adds a lot of time.
We’ve been asked by a client to bid a neighborhood of like 30 bldgs, each was a 3-4 unit townhome-style condo. They were like 3-4 hours each, and each one would need our full truck and full water trailer. They wanted all of them done in 3 weeks, but not hookup to their water…
The county would rent a meter, but you were only allowed to hookup to any of 8 hydrants in the county (or pay for an engineer to render an opinion that your usage would not adversely impact emergency readiness), so that was out. I offered them a price to let us do it 1 unit per day as the first job of the day, every day for 6 weeks with no cost change. I offered to do 2/day and come back here to refill, and they essentially pay for the downtime. Or they could give one homeowner at each unit like $20 to let us use their water… I gave them all of their options, they chose someone else, I wonder how it worked out for them.
Do they have a swimming pool? How do they fill it up? Maybe there is a spigot hiding somewhere. I’ll bet a plumber would install one for less than a water tanker would cost & then the problem will be solved in advance next time it comes up. Any competitors they call are going to have the same issues. I’d say you’ve got a good shot if you can solve the puzzle. Might be best to ditch the hydrant approach & talk to the customer. Best of luck!
Yep, that’s why I threw in the other options we gave them…granted we can show up with 875 gallons if need be, but the reality is they could give homeowners a few bucks (way less than what I charge to bring the trailer out) and let it go.
How busy are you guys right now? I know it’s early in the season but I’m just trying to get a pulse. I feel like I had a decent 2021 for a brand new owner / operator (all things considered) but this is my first February & bass fishing season can’t get here quick enough haha.
That’s February in the middle latitudes I think. We just got all the lights down 2 weeks ago, so I’m just really winding up again myself. Held interviews this week, and looking to make hires by the end of next, at the latest. Working on some big marketing trade-offs that we try to get done now, and generate enough revenue to pay the rent and heating bills…lol
I hear ya sir! It’s all about that latitude when we’re talking February. I hoped that was the answer. Could be worse though, we could be stuck in Florida. Either way, thanks for sharing your knowledge around here! It’s golden. Now is probably a good time to hone in on fresh targets. If they ain’t big, they ain’t on the radar.
It’s build/repair/upgrade season…get the shop/truck in order…get ready to start killing it s soon as weather allows. Had 2 light truck routes going on today, another tomorrow. Cleaning up some stuff that’s been on the books waiting for a while while we’re seeing temps of 60+
It’s been that season for a while! All I got left is greasing the wheel bearings in the trailer. Also going to clean out the fuel tanks & replace fuel filters just so I don’t wish I had next month. I’d love to land a couple HOA or condo gigs in the meantime. Advertising only goes so far when it comes to some of these things. It’s like bass fishing… Gotta put your lure in the right place at the right time.
Today the guys came into the shop for the first time since Christmas to change oil and tinker. They ask said they were bored and ready for work. An hour of phone calls and we have an apartment complex next week, two the week after, then two in Birmingham, Alabama after that. I was content to start back in about a month and just keep paying them to chill out. I bet they won’t do the same thing next year lol.
I gave Chad Johnson everything I had in Knoxville. I don’t really want to drive 600 miles to Birmingham but they pay great and let me schedule them with a two week notice. I haven’t been there in about 5 years.
He’s a good feller for sure, I firmly believe Chad will take care of you & your peeps… On the side note, I take bribes! Birmingham you say? haha. The busier I get, the farther away it is. I don’t think I’ve ever been to Alabama. Can’t say I ever cared to go there.
Just a thought, but if they have an easily accessible community laundry room, the washing machine hook up is the same as a garden hose. I did a small 10 unit apartment last year and that’s where I got my water from.
Very disappointing considering how huge of a county it is. There reason was super specific and something along the lines of “we just don’t do that sort of thing”, LOL
Depending on the Property Management Company for that property….they might have other properties in the county…and thus have more pull with getting the county to help out. So perhaps get them to make the call and see what can be done?
