Alchatek Blog

On Episode 8 of The Injection Connection, Jim sits down with Matt Chittick and Travis Germick, co-owners of Lift It Rite, LLC, a residential slab-lifting business servicing the Greater Atlanta and surrounding markets. Matt and Travis offer valuable insights on how to start a lifting business, production considerations, and the under-appreciated value of showing up with a smile - and perhaps a hamburglar costume!  (Jim Spiegel is Vice President of Alchemy-Spetec and a Board Member at the International Concrete Repair Institute.)

Listen to the episode in its entirety below, or check it out on TheInjectionConnection.com and the following platforms:

• Spotify
• iTunes/Apple Podcasts
• SoundCloud
• TuneIn
• Google Podcasts
• YouTube

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We are thrilled to welcome Richard Cunningham as a part of our team! Richard will join us as the new Operations Manager, overseeing the company’s production process, quality control, and facilities maintenance. He brings 23 years of facility management and environmental safety experience.

Richard began his operations management career with Ardrox, working his way up to the position of East Coast Regional manager, overseeing four facilities in the U.S. and Canada. He was also a plant manager for Brenntag Mid-South, Inc. in Tennessee where he oversaw storage capability optimization for barges, rails, and tankers. He was later promoted to the Atlanta location, where he managed multiple facilities in Georgia. Richard holds an A.S. in Business from Newbury College in Boston, is Lean-certified, and has helped multiple facilities achieve multiple-year OSHA, ISO, EHS, and HACCP certifications.

Most impressively, Richard is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. Richard joins the growing list of Alchemy-Spetec employees who have proudly served our country.

Alchemy-Spetec President and CEO Stephen C. Barton is excited about bringing on a skilled expert to optimize the company’s operations: “Richard’s sharp eye for quality control, safety, and production planning will help us as we continue to expand sales across the country. With Richard at the helm, I am confident that our operations are in good hands.”

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This article is an excerpt from Episode 7 of Alchemy-Spetec's podcast The Injection Connection, featuring concrete lifting marketing expert Ann Thaxton of ConcreteTitans.com. The Injection Connection is hosted by Jim Spiegel: Vice President of Alchemy-Spetec and Board Member at the International Concrete Repair Institute. (If you'd rather listen, an audio version of this exchange is posted at the bottom of the article.)

Jim Spiegel: As you know in the industry it's very expensive to get into this, just on the equipment side of things. You're looking at 50, 60, 70, even more - $100,000 perhaps depending on your rig setup.  So, one of the questions we get all the time is – “Okay, I'm going to invest in this equipment. What are you going to do for me and how do I get leads?” That's probably the number one question. For the customers that buy the equipment, their biggest problem we see as far as their success is their lack of marketing or advertising strategy. Say I'm Joe the builder and I want to get into this, and my first question is, “How do I start? Where do I even start with marketing, advertising and lead capture?”  Could you talk us through what solutions you may offer on that and any information on monthly budgets?

Ann Thaxton: We've found throughout the industry that for cost per lead, your cheapest cost per lead is digital advertising. Your most expensive cost per lead is TV. And everything else falls in between. Your average cost per lead with digital advertising runs between $40 and $50 per lead. TV runs around $200 to $250 per lead. Direct Mail runs about $150 per lead. Ideally, if you were a more mature company, you would do all of those because studies show that it takes anywhere between 12 and 18 touch points for somebody to convert to become a customer. If you're just starting out in the business, your cheapest cost per lead is digital advertising. But I wouldn't just stop there. If you have time on your hands and if you are able to, then print up some door hangers and hang them up around neighborhoods where you know they have some problems with their concrete. If you level concrete in one neighborhood, you hang door hangers on both sides of that house and across the street for sure. And you ask your customer if they would please refer people to you because referrals are really the gold standard here. Referrals are “free” cost per lead. So, once you get really mature as a company, you get so many referrals that it just becomes gravy on top. But to start out, I would think that you would do a lot of that pounding the pavement type of work to get your name out and then do some lead advertising. And I have different levels of service. From the start, from the starting service up to 4+ rig companies. And for a budget to start out, you can spend less than a thousand a month.

Visit ConcreteTitans.com for more info on Ann Thaxton's marketing services.

Want some marketing tips from Alchemy-Spetec?

This article is an excerpt from Episode 7 of Alchemy-Spetec's podcast The Injection Connection, featuring concrete lifting marketing expert Ann Thaxton of ConcreteTitans.com. The Injection Connection is hosted by Jim Spiegel: Vice President of Alchemy-Spetec and Board Member at the International Concrete Repair Institute. (If you'd rather listen, an audio version of this exchange is posted at the bottom of the article.)

Jim Spiegel: A lot of your expertise is in social media and SEO. Do you offer support in that entire realm of marketing?

Ann Thaxton: I do. I pretty much am a mixed bag, but for home repair industries really the most effective channel of marketing is lead advertising. I'm a big proponent of lead advertising because you get a concrete return on your investment. You get a potential client’s name, phone number, email address and why they're contacting you - maybe their pool deck needs to be raised or they have a parking lot that needs to be leveled. That's what I really push the most with this industry is lead advertising. Not only that but I also really promote the lead nurturing process. So once you get your lead from lead advertising, you start a series of automated emails that go to those people maybe two to three weeks and it educates them on the industry. One of the big things, one of the big challenges of residential concrete lifting is a lot of people don't know that it's a thing. They don't realize that you can repair your concrete rather than replacing it at a fraction of the cost. I think that is a big part of why you need that sort of lead nurturing so people can start getting their brain around – okay, well, how does this work? How do you raise this concrete? And how long does it take? That sort of thing. So yes, I do search engine optimization, SEO, I do websites, I do email nurturing campaigns for leads, lead advertising, some sales training. I look at it as if you take a business that has maybe two rigs and they have two crew that are going out, you start them with the basic lead advertising email nurturing and hopefully you can get somebody on staff that is a customer service person that does nothing but call these leads the second they come in and it helps you build the business from there. A lot of the nurturing I do for the leads is not just emails, it’s occasional texts. It's consistent phone calling until we know if these people are going to convert or if they're not interested. That's what you’re trying to find out from these leads. So lead advertising all the way.

Jim: And are you heavily involved with the social media side of things?

Ann: I believe that you should post on your social media business pages. People do you go there occasionally but the algorithm with that is not what it used to be five years ago even because Facebook is now a public company. They want to make money. So they are not going to show your posts to the people that like your Facebook page unless you put some money behind it really. I do lead advertising on Facebook which is a great platform for educating people on concrete lifting in that it's a real home repair service. I believe in posting maybe a couple times a week but then I also really believe in lead advertising on social media. And then LinkedIn if you want to build your commercial business.

Jim: You're saying lead advertising and excuse my ignorance but essentially you’re talking about the lead capture side of it?

Ann: Yes. So, usually you need to offer something, like maybe a $50 off coupon, $100 off coupon. And they click through, in order to get that coupon, they have to give you their name and information.  Then you send the coupon pretty much immediately and call shortly after that. So that's how that works.

Visit ConcreteTitans.com for more info on Ann Thaxton's marketing services.

Want some marketing tips from Alchemy-Spetec?

When shopping for alcohol-based hand sanitizers and alcohol-based surface cleaners, you should pay close attention to the type of alcohol listed in the ingredients.  Isopropyl alcohol offers a couple of key advantages over ethanol alcohol.   Let's review them...

Isopropyl is Gentler on Your Skin Than Ethanol

According to this article from the National Center for Biotechnology Information, "Ethanol use is associated with skin irritation or contact dermatitis...", among other concerns.

Ethanol Tends to Have a Harsher Smell

The harsh smell of ethanol intended for topical use is often caused by the "denaturing" treatment during the manufacturing process - in which harsh chemicals are added to make it un-drinkable.  Isopropyl, on the other hand, is not a drinkable alcohol in the first place.

Isopropyl is a Key Ingredient in Sanitizers & Cleaners

Due to the two concerns outlined above, we choose to manufacture Alchemy-Spetec hand sanitizer and surface cleaner with isopropyl alcohol because it's a healthier ingredient.  We don't cut corners with our industry-standard polyurethane concrete repair products - and we won't cut corners with the sanitizers either.  Rest assured.

Want to buy an isopropyl-based hand sanitizer or surface cleaner?

The AP Jack Attack System provides leverage for positioning small to medium slabs into place while lifting or stabilizing with polyurethane. Easy for one person to operate. Triangular steel frame.

Even with the largest polyurethane rigs on the market, manipulating small slabs can be very tedious. It would be nice if all slabs settled evenly but that is rarely the case. Often slabs settle unevenly, making it nearly impossible to lift and rotate back into place with foam alone. It will lift for sure but it won’t rotate back into place.

For these small to medium slabs we recommend the Jack Attack System. This super-easy leverage system can be attached to a slab with concrete screw-in anchors. Then the integrated 8000 lb (3628.74 kg) jack can apply the leverage necessary to make the slab rotate back into place while the lifting process takes place. It is good practice to leave the slab 1/8”-1/4” (3-6mm) under-level to allow the foam to create optimal strength as it performs the final lift to level. It makes even the most troublesome sidewalk slab a piece of cake and you will use less foam as well.

This photo is from a job in which the front porch settled away from the home causing columns to separate from the roof line. On one end the slab had actually cracked in two and was settled away from the home as well as parallel to the home. You can see the triangle-shaped Jack Attack System holding the slab in place as foam is injected underneath.

Want more info on Alchemy-Spetec Geotech products?

Chemical grouts have an amazingly diverse range of properties. This makes them incredibly useful for all types of waterproofing, soil modification, and structural repairs. This wide range of characteristics means that there is no one size fits all grout out there. But I get ahead of myself. Before one can select a chemical grout for a repair it is necessary to understand not only the asset to be repaired but also how and why it is failing and/or leaking. There are numerous methodologies that can be utilized to determine what is going on, but before one can start the troubleshooting one needs to understand the structure's design.

This is why I love articles like this one from PileBuck.com. It gives a good overview of seawalls and bulkheads. These structures are often the frontline in our war against erosion and thus require periodic maintenance. We at Alchemy-Spetec are committed to providing cost-effective, high-quality grouts tailored to the precise needs of the project. We know that a quality grout is just the beginning and we follow-through with the most experienced technical support in the industry. Enjoy the article...

Along bluffs and coastal shorelines, various structures are often necessary to protect beaches from wave action, or to retain fill or in situ soil.  There are three primary structure types that can be utilized to accomplish these goals, including protective materials laid on slopes, known as revetments, and vertical structures, which are classified as either seawalls or bulkheads.

Revetments are typically constructed of stone or other durable materials to provide protection for designated slopes.  They are built with an armor layer, a filter layer or layers, and toe protection.  The armor layer can consist of interlocking structural elements designed to form a geometric pattern, or a random mass or stone or concrete rubble.  Next, a filter layer will ensure drainage and protection of the underlying soil.  Finally, toe protection will offer stability against undermining at the base of the revetment.

While bulkheads and seawalls are both types of vertical structures used to protect coasts, they have different purposes.  Bulkheads are used to retain or prevent the sliding of land, with protection of the upland area from wave action as a secondary consideration.  In contrast, the primary purpose of seawalls is to intercept waves.  Bulkheads can be cantilevered, anchored, or gravity structures, with their use limited to areas where wave action can be resisted by the types of materials used in these respective designs (such as sheet piling or rock-filled timber cribs).  For areas where intense wave action exists, massive concrete seawalls are the more appropriate choice, with either a vertical, concave, or stepped seaward face.

Read the rest at PileBuck.com...

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75% Isopropyl Alcohol Surface Cleaner

In addition to our hand sanitizer, Alchemy-Spetec is pleased to offer a surface cleaner to help reduce bacteria & viruses that potentially cause disease. It is an isopropyl-based, WHO-approved formula that can be used to clean many types of surfaces, including door handles, countertops, and grocery carts. The cleaner can be applied directly to the surface or applied via a spray bottle (not included).

We are currently offering one standard packaging option:
A Case of Four 1-Gallon Jugs

Applications for Surface Cleaner

• Door handles.
• Counter tops.
• Grocery carts.
• Bathooms.

Advantages of Surface Cleaner

• 75% isopropyl alcohol by volume, plus hydrogen peroxide.
• Meets World Health Organization guidelines.
• Leaves no film or residue.
• Dries quickly.
• Sprayable for cleaning surfaces.

Want to order Alchemy-Spetec Surface Cleaner?

The new, updated Alchemy-Spetec poly estimating app makes it easy to estimate material amounts for slab lifting, void filling, floor repair, and now leak seal® crack injection jobs.

This app is a simple, fast, and reliable way to take the guesswork out of estimating Alchemy-Spetec materials while prepping for a job.

Download the App & Create an Account

Follow these steps to download and operate this app:

Estimate Material

1. Tap the three lines in the top left corner to display the application options.

3. Choose between the Imperial or Metric measuring systems.

4. Input the requested info (in this case: crack width, concrete thickness, crack length), and press Enter.

5. View the results.

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This article is an excerpt from Episode 6 of Alchemy-Spetec's podcast The Injection Connection, featuring industry veteran Jack Whitworth. The Injection Connection is hosted by Jim Spiegel: Vice President of Alchemy-Spetec and Board Member at the International Concrete Repair Institute. (If you'd rather listen, an audio version of this exchange is posted at the bottom of the article.)

Jim Spiegel: I think you and I have talked at some industry events and some networking events about the fact that it really serves us, even though we're competitors, to have a unified message of how work is done. Having the same recommendations, so to speak, would do all of us more of a service to work together than to try to work apart. Not everyone has the field reps that really know what they're talking about. I know there are a lot of great chemical grouting people out there, but you could probably count on both hands the real good ones. I think you would probably agree with that. We need to work together and educate as well as we can on that grouting committee.

Jack Whitworth: Correct.

Jim: And those meetings are great because it's all the heads of the industry so to speak trying to work towards a unified goal. But of the things we struggle with in that committee is the whole marketing side of things. You have your SLVs, your LVs, you have your semi-rigid, your semi-flex, there are all these ways you can skin a product. How do you view that as far as how some people might refer to as an SLV versus an LV? You know how it is, different companies will just say, “Oh yeah, you need an SLV, here you go.”  What's your opinion on that as far as nomenclature and some of the confusion?

Jack: I think a lot of the confusion starts with an earlier comment you made: “if all of the grout manufacturers could work together”. One of the biggest issues we have is the ASTM guidelines. It not only affects the commercial industrial side… If they're going in the tunnel projects, there's just this unknown of what can be utilized under certain conditions. It’s the message that we have to send, a clear concise message to the engineering and the design community and the contractors. One of the most important things that I like to strive on is - what are the points you need to consider in selecting a grout? As you know, there's no silver bullet to stop water infiltration or stabilize the soil. I think that the more education there is, and the more fluid we all are together in spreading that communication, the more we’re actually going to help the business grow. We look at where new buildings are being built, they might be old moss lands or water bearing areas where they've filled it in. There are areas and locations where we never imagined a building would sit. These are, as you know, great opportunities for us in the chemical grouting side of things. We see a lot of misadvised materials, I guess you would say, being utilized. I believe in what we call an assessing type of practice to where there are a lot of questions that need to be asked before we throw an answer out like, “use an LV or SLV.” It could consist of questions such as - what's the method that we can use to actually get the grout there long enough to set up? What are the substrate types and conditions because, as you know, all substrate types could require a different type of grout. What is the pH of the water source? What's the nature of the crack? Is it a moving crack? Those are going to be things that we need to have answers for. And things like - what's your water flow in the source of your water? Those become very important questions. And I think how we've hurt the industry a lot of times is that people have lived by the silver bullet theory rather than trying to spread a good consistent message.

Jim: Yeah, I would agree completely.

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