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Frankie Aladi Posted: Feb 14, 2007 03:41 PM	Knowing what you Know now Good day everyone. This question is mainly to the experienced foam contractors here. I am working on starting a foam insualtion business in south carolina. I want to ask you guys if you will to please consider this questions and answer if you can. Knowing what you know now, What will you advice your son if he is starting off today on the following 1.) Equipment and type of equipments to get. Best spary gun best machine and etc and why 2.) Best size of trailer to get 3.) Best size of generator and what phase and brand 4.) I am planning on getting a Ford E350 7.3L Turbo diesel cargo Van to pull my rig. Is this ok or should I consider another vehicle. I like the van because I can use it for my other online business too. 5.) pre packaged rig or buy equipment my self and get a used trialer?. I do not want to overkill and I do not want to have equipment I will regret in 6 months either. I am currently serving with the US Airforce in the middle east and would be back in exactly two months time. God willing I want to be self employed rather than looking for employment. You attention to these questions will be greatly appreciated. Wish all great success.
philip mullins Posted: Feb 14, 2007 09:27 PM	i am a newbie getting ready to start up my own buisness and have no real experience. so i cant realy be of much help except to say that i think that would all depend on what your target base will be. thier are many others here that will be able to answer ur questions better than i. i just wanted to reply to tell you and all ur brothers over there THANK YOU! for whatever its worth, i pray for y'all every nite. freedom has a flavor that only those who have fought to defend her can taste. VINI VIDI VICI
Posted: Feb 15, 2007 10:08 PM	well i started out with a 16 ft trailer 7ft wide 6'6" tall with a e-20,5-hp comp with no gen. it works very well i had no problems using shore power but you need atleast a 20 ft trailer that is 8'wide and 7'6" tall to pull the drum pumps out with out having to tip the barrells over on the r-side. the e-20 is a very dependable machine to get started with unless you plan to start spraying warehouse's or big buildings then i would get a e-30 or bigger.
Timothy Sonney Posted: Feb 18, 2007 03:23 AM	Very well experienced, and I will take the time to discuss any issues/questions you may have about getting into the SPF biz. I don't sell rigs or material, i just spray them and I can speak from my experiences. Hit my site and call me. Timothy.
Frankie Aladi Posted: Feb 19, 2007 01:51 PM	Thank you guys. I am taking notes in everything everyone has to add. I am writing this so that you know I check this thread about 7 times a day
Melvin Chandler Posted: Feb 20, 2007 03:33 PM	What do you want to do with your business? Do you want to really target the residential insulation market? Do you want the ability to spray roofing foam or coatings? Do you want to get into specialty foams like cold storage, floatation, etc? I think that there are some nice ele machines that will handle most of the residential foam. I purchased the big hydraulic machine by Gusmer/Graco because I was looking to spray both roofing foam and polyurea so volume was very important along with hose length and heat. If I were advising someone about just getting into residential foam, I'd say find a good used box truck with a lift gate and maybe a side door with some type of steps/ladder. I'd try to get my generated power from the truck's pto. I'd see if there was a way to put my air under the box leaving my interior box to holding the hose, drums, porportioner, tools, air dryer, etc. I like this setup real well for a one or two man show. I currently have a trailer but I think that works best for my needs. I often will be hauling 3-4 workers (crew cab)and like to be able to leave my rig at the worksite without tieing up a vehicle. I also use my 3/4 ton, crew, 4x4 to haul other equipment for my business such as dump and flatbed trailers. If I didn't have those needs, I'd do the box truck in a heartbeat. As far as machines go, I can't advise you on anything other than the H20/35 Pro (what I have). If the supplier of equipment I wanted to use sold Glascraft machines, I probably would have gone with the big GCraft machine. I like small, service driven companies. As for a gun, I'd look at the Fusion because of th simplicity. I'm spraying a Gcraft P2 because I we plan to spray more polyurea than foam and the poly mfg likes the results of the P2 better and I've heard lots of good things about it. I also know that there are people that have success spraying poly with the fusion gun. I wouldn't mind purchasing the Fusion as a second gun or just to spray foam. They have a nice flat pattern for the soft foam to spray one pass in stud walls. I'm struggling to find that type of pattern with the P2. I've never heard anyone say that they have TOO much power. I've heard people say they have plenty of reserve. Same with Air. Don't ever short yourself on either of the two. Always better to have it than to be searching for it. Just like insulating a house, if you do it right up front, you'll never have to do it again. I have plenty of reserve air and power so I'll never have to upgrade those items. I'll only need to replace them if they wear out. Purchase a good compressor. Don't go for the commodity brands. Purchase a tome of the line unit. There's nothing worse than down time and equipment that isn't repairable. Do the same with your air dryer. I have the standard IPM stick pumps. Lots of people said stay away from the diaphragm pumps. I can't tell you why but I'm sure there's good and bad with both. If you overkill, you will never have to worrying about drawing or providing your customers with teh short end of the stick. Good luck.
Posted: Feb 20, 2007 09:21 PM	Newby, Good informative response. If you don't mind me asking, how much do you have "roughly" invested in your rig (gen, comp, prop. guns, hoses, trailer etc)? You seem to have TOP OF THE LINE equipment! Very impressive! Now, why did you chose the top of the line to start with not knowing exactly what the business would bring? Thanks, Tim Granite State Spray Foam Co.
Frankie Aladi Posted: Feb 20, 2007 10:58 PM	Newby, That was a whole lot of information. I think I want to do the trailer route. I think it is more stright forward. What kind of compressor do you run? I personaly want to start with foam insulation but will expand in future but right now, I want to do it so well that it will become easier to merge into the other fields. I am currently looking into a 20 to 24" trailer and might decide to use a Dodge 3500 instead of the Van I mentioned earlier. I am also planning on using sure power as 99% of my location will have power but the problem is the amount of draw these machines have is unbelievable. Finaly would you buy or build a rig? There doesent seam much to it for a handy person Frankie
Melvin Chandler Posted: Feb 22, 2007 10:29 PM	Tim, I easliy have $80K in my rig but there is no reason to spend that if you are just spraying insulation. As I may have mentioned, I need a rig with large capacity/production for roofing applications. As crazy as it sounds, the reason I purchased the top of the line stuff is because I had it to spend and I know from experience that the initial investment (Just Like Foam Insulation) can easily determine future gain or loss. Purchasing par or lesser equipment would mean down time. Purchasing smaller equipment would mean inadequate production. It would take just one factory to have a roof blown off and zero electricity for me to make my money back having the ability to get them dry in a hurry and with my own power. I could put a company back into production and making money pretty quick. As far as the outlook of the business, I knew what the trends were looking like. Foam roofs are becoming very popular for state work. Polyurea is just incredible what I can do for metal roofs. Foam insulation would just be an added bonus for those days that the outside work isn't possible. I like to provide upgrades or high end products. It narrows my market but allows me to charge my price. Yago, I want to say that my compressor is a Champion or Curtis. I know that my air dryer is Curtis and I know that the compressor is heads above the rest. It is a 3phase 36cfm unit. Plenty of power and capacity. I'll have to check the specs because it kind of slips my mind at the moment. I could probably use some more air tank space. I think I've only got about 150pounds in the tank. The tank is horizontal and is mounted up in my gooseneck. Trailer is 28' (8' on the goose deck, 5.5' for the genset, 14.5' in the production area and it is still tight with 3 drums, proportioner, hose rack and work bench. I've pulled trailers all my life and had never pulled a gooseneck. I couldn't imagine a bumper mount rig now.
Frankie Aladi Posted: Feb 22, 2007 11:05 PM	Thanks again Newby. I would have opted for a goose neck if they came in 20' since all I want to do is foam, but frankly I do not want anything bigger so I will just stick with the hitch plus if somethign ever happens to my truck, getting a substitue may not be that hard. Thanks again for the wealth of infomation.
Posted: Feb 22, 2007 11:16 PM	Yago, You can get 20' gooseneck trailers but that would be really small. A 28' gooseneck is essentially a 20' with the extra 8' over the bed of the truck. Bonus space for compressors, tanks and extra storage. You can never have enough storage! I have a 34' gooseneck, and I would not consider anything smaller than 28'. Thanks for the reply Newby, I am impressed with your rig, but I understand where are you coming from with your outlook. I do just foam installation so top of the line wasn't necessary, but I did buy quality equipment that won't let me down, and allows me to be self sufficient. Thanks again! Tim Granite State Spray Foam Co.
Frankie Aladi Posted: Feb 23, 2007 01:46 AM	GSSFC, Sometimes too much of a good thing might not be that necessary. I just want to have the best equipment required to do the job. I know for foaming, 20" V nose should be more than adequate for me. The only thing I will add is extra height to the trailer. I am 6ft 2" and 250Lbs so I always like head room whenever possible. Also If I park a rig bigger than 20" in my driveway with the dodge 3500 to booth, I may need a ladder to climb into my house --lol
Posted: Feb 23, 2007 08:49 AM	Sorry Yago, I wasn't trying to imply that a gooseneck would be better. Just that I find it more useful for storage and getting things off the floor and out of the way. Plus I find a gooseneck considerably more maneuverable when trying to get into a tight jobsite. You have the truck to pull it so that isn't an issue. I should also add, if you get a V-nose, you will lose even more space especially if you want to get a generator. I would get a flat front, the difference in mileage has been debated on other sites and is for the most part insignificant. Tim Granite State Spray Foam Co.
Frankie Aladi Posted: Feb 23, 2007 09:56 AM	GFSSC, You are right the gooseneck is more maneuverable if compared to a trailer of equal lenght. If I was going more than 20' then a gooseneck in my opinnion will be the uncontestable winner. However you guys that have been doing it day in day out know best. But I will want to add something here on V Nose trailers. I copied this directly from a tutorial I read about buying the right trailer. I have not edited anything. Just copy and paste. Here it is: " In addition, if purchasing a V-Nose trailer, ensure that the V-Nose length is not included in the trailer dimensions. It should provide an additional 2’-3’ of additional space right up the middle of the trailer, not be included in the trailer size. As an example, a 6’ x 12’ V-Nose trailer should have an overall length of 14’ from rear doors to the tip of the ‘V’." So if I were to go with a 20' V nose, I wil be using most of the V area for a generator if I decide to get one.
Timothy Sonney Posted: Mar 02, 2007 02:06 AM	We run a 18' V-nose - the measurement is from the back to the front of the flat wall, NOT INCLUDING THE V.... In the V we have our compressor, spare tire, broom, scraper, fan, portable air tank, etc. The V is great! we love it. Hit our site and look at our pics and you will see our set up.