Landscaping with Michael Faust

This is episode number 199 of The Homeowner Show. Whether you DIY or looking to hire, we're here to help you find the best information and options for you and your home. My name is Kevin Hackett, and here with me is Greg Williams.

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to The Homeowner Show. We're so glad that you could join us for another episode here in The Homeowner Show studios. How you doing, Kev?

Man, I'm doing good. You know what today was?

Nope.

A lot cooler than yesterday.

Oh dude, I told the guys. It was ridiculous that it felt cool at 88.

I know, man, but it was like I was walking outside every once in a while going, this is nice. It's ridiculous.

But it was, it was more humid today though.

Oh yeah, I mean, once you, once you drop down in temperature, the humidity just grows. You get, you get those high temperatures, humidity can't really live up there as much, so But man, yeah, I thought for sure we killed it off after the last month. Yeah, well, I— well, it's crazy too. Like, you would think that it wouldn't be terrible with the amount of rain we've gotten, which is like none, zero, right? Yeah, I mean, goodness gracious, I thought I'd be having to mow my yard like 18 times a week, and now it's like, uh, once every 18 weeks. It's good.

In my yard, you can see the grid from the septic. Ah, it's like the only grass that's green.

Yep.

It's like, whoever did it did a nice, like, you know, checker pattern.

Nice. Good for them. Well, we, we, uh, we've had to water our yard a lot. In most years, it's like not that big of a deal, but this year we're— which, water in my yard is like, oh, now it's like an all-day process and we get like a third of it done. So now it's so much bigger.

Um, so, well, dude, I had a, uh, I had a a gross coming home party yesterday.

Oh.

So apparently, like, my wife calls me in the morning and she goes, hey, I think you may need to come home. I'm like, I don't have time to come home. It's just not gonna happen. And I was like, what's happening? She goes, one of the horses cut themselves really bad. And like, and she, like, when it comes to blood and cuts and scrapes on the kiddos, like, tends to, you know, pass that off. Go, yeah, you know, a little, a little overboard. Tends to exaggerate a little. Like, you know, he's got like a scrape and we need to take him to the hospital. He's like, calm down. Put a Band-Aid on that. So I was like, so in my mind I was like, one of the horses is cut, like, you know,

and you know, they're bleeders, right? So I was like, she's probably just freaking out.

Yeah.

I get home and like my new horse has like a chunk taken out of the back of his leg. I was like, good grief. So we had to like, I got— and I didn't get home last night till like 9:30, so I'm like looking at this thing in the dark trying to clean it out and I put like hydrogen peroxide in there to, you know, clean it out because it's been sitting open all day.

Yeah.

And like when I did it, just like his, his whole leg turned into like white foam.

Oh, yeah.

And then I washed that out and got some antiseptic in there and all this kind of stuff. And then I had to call the emergency vet number because I'm looking at it going like, this thing probably needs stitches. I don't, you know, I don't know. I've never done like trauma wounds on a horse before. I do like scrapes and bruises and stuff, but like, this is a whole new level.

Yeah.

And I showed you the picture tonight. So it was like, you know, it was just a bloody—

Oh, yeah. And when I saw it, I was like, dude, that picture was like from afar but not too close. And I was like, that's a whole horse. Yeah. And it's the width of the entire picture. I'm like, that's a pretty big gash, man. Yeah.

He's not a little boy either.

No.

So anyway, the vet came out and like, the weird— like, I thought for sure it was like, oh, this is going to be like a $1,000 vet visit. You know, and it's like she comes out and she's like, oh, it's no big deal. Just leave it open, wash it out. Here's some antibiotics.

Wow.

Have a good day.

Made my day. Nice. I mean, because that— I mean, you were thinking the worst. Yeah, I would have been thinking the worst too, because I mean, I mean, he was, he was walking fine.

There was never like a question like, like, is, is his leg gonna be okay? Is he gonna walk again? Like, no, he was walking fine. He didn't even act like— by the time she got here, she was at— he was acting like nothing was even wrong. At least till she stuck her finger up in that thing. He didn't like that too much.

No, I can't imagine.

So anyway, got a cool episode.

Yeah, looking forward to it.

Especially not just because it's 199, which is really close to another number. That's— we're gonna have a big party next week.

Yeah, we are.

So not that we're not gonna have a good party tonight.

Well, we'll see.

So we, we have a buddy of mine who's been my go-to on a bunch of projects now.

Yeah.

Mike Faust from Faust Landscaping. How you doing, bud?

Hey, good. Thanks for having me, dude.

Glad you made it. Yeah, so we've been touch and go on this interview.

We have showed up a week early, missed today's appointment, but we're here now.

We made it happen. It was important enough. We needed to have this conversation.

Yeah, absolutely. Well, here, tell us a little bit about you and how you got into landscaping.

I think your volume's up on your Oh yeah, your device there got a little delay happening. You're good.

So I've always enjoyed, um, mowing. You know, that's how the company started. I mowed myself, um, literally by myself, entire park.

You're not talking like manscaping, right?

I mean, like, yeah, you know, like, yeah, zero-turn blower, weed eater.

Oh, grass.

Okay. And, um, you know, I was working, I was doing it on the side. And I was, I was working in the oil industry. Um, you know, as you get older, you pick up bills. Oil field didn't care about that. They let me go too many times. So I decided to focus my attention in landscaping and learn, and learn new trades and whatnot. So, um, that's how it started.

Okay, cool. So when, when you talk about like landscaping, I mean, you, you obviously lawn maintenance. So you do that for residential, commercial?

Yeah, so we do residential, commercial lawn maintenance. Um, that's also, you know, we do government facilities, you know, we do the Army Reserve bases, um, we do the Montgomery County Food Bank.

So like the one over here at the airport, is that the, like, the reserve?

Yeah, there's one there, there's one in Spring. Um, but, you know, I like to say yes. So yeah, you know, I'm in the residential, commercial. There's not much any— there's nothing that I don't do in, in landscaping. So, okay. know, over the last couple years it has, um, turned into actual like landscaping where we're doing custom flower beds, hardscaping, pergolas. You know, I've even done a pool, um, concrete. You know, we're really getting into things. I always like to challenge myself. I don't like to just stay idle in something, so I'm always trying to learn new things.

Well, you just said a phrase that I don't— what's hardscaping?

Hardscaping is going to be Non-living things. So that's going to be the concrete, that's going to be retaining walls, pavers.

Okay.

Uh, the pergolas. It's things that are hard.

Okay. That, that go in and escape you. Okay, I got you.

Escape the ground.

Okay, I got you.

Nice. So if— so you do a lot of different things. Um, so you said you enjoy the mowing side of it. Do you— I mean, I actually enjoy that too, right? It's, it's interesting.

Stress relief.

Yeah, and not only that, like, I really like seeing the finished product. Like, you go in and like I start mowing my yard and I'm like, this thing looks like a mess, right? And then you finish and you're like, oh, I did that, it looks pretty good. And, uh, that's what— so I enjoy that kind of thing. But like, um, if you were to kind of describe your, your perfect day landscaping, what is that? What does that look like?

A perfect day as a business owner?

Well, just, just— no, no, I wouldn't say as a business owner, just for you As you're doing landscaping, you're working in your business, yes, but right, what do you enjoy doing, I guess, is the question.

You know, I like to be challenged, so I go to the most difficult job that's going on, and I like to get dirty with the guys. You know, still to this day, after owning a landscaping company for more than 10 years, I still get dirty with my guys.

Nice.

And it, it, it generates respect from the employees.

Yeah.

So, um, you know, my favorite thing to do would be retaining walls and pavers.

Okay.

Um, and it's, it, you know, mowing the lawn is, um, like looking back at it, feeling the gratitude of like, hey, that looks good.

Yeah.

Is, is you get that more from doing actual landscaping.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So speaking of pavers, so I just, uh, I put an above-ground pool in, uh, last weekend, and I hated every minute of it. Um, but, uh, so I was preparing the ground, and I was using masonry sand, and someone was telling me, they're like, look, you probably need to get like a plate compactor, you know, packed everything, pack everything down.

Right.

And, uh, so I didn't know anything about plate compactors, and but I find out that they're primarily used for like pavers and, you know, setting things like that. And I was like, okay, great. So they're like, but you want to, you want to pack everything down, make sure it's all hard. Well, I went to Sunbelt, rented it. Like, okay, great. I rented it at 11 on Saturday, which is great. That means I get to keep it till Monday. So good, good move. Yeah, exactly. So, uh, I get it there. I've been watering, you know, they say water a little bit, you know, get it—

Yeah, moist.

So I get in there, I put it I had to have Craig come over and help me get it. It's 230 pounds.

Yeah, it's a big guy.

And I'm, I'm, I'm—

It's a little guy, but it's—

Yeah, I mean, I mean, look at me. I'm obviously really strong, but, uh, it's too big for me.

Clearly.

Clearly, clearly. So, uh, we get it out. I actually put it on the, on the pad that I created, and I turned that sucker on, and it just dug straight into the sand because it won't, it won't pack down. Like, that sand is too fine. It won't pack. And so I took it back.

Well, you missed a step, and the step is going to be the base material. Yeah, so you really, you really only want— in a scenario when it comes to any hardscaping, you know, you, you need, you need to have a hard base, crushed granite, you know, a small rock, um, and then the sand.

You're my favorite person.

Half inch because thick.

I don't, I don't want to like, I told you so you.

Yeah, you do.

But I did.

Yeah, because it's a 250-pound machine. on just a little bit of— on a whole bunch of sand, it's gonna sink.

It did.

Yeah.

And it's okay. I mean, I made the same— I made the same mistakes, and I still make mistakes today.

Yeah. But you learn.

You just learn and you go to the next one. Yeah.

Yeah. I call that failing forward because— because, I mean, really, like, you can either—

but do you have a good friend that will come behind you and laugh at you?

You know, now that you get older, you have less friends.

I'm finding that to be so true right this moment. I focus on Yeah.

I try to just focus on people that are genuinely not there for to benefit themselves when it's not like a, you know what I mean?

Yeah.

That, that those are the people that I, I, I get closer to as friends. But, well, the answer is no.

Okay.

That, that being said, I will tell you, like, I called Craig and he came over to help just load that thing in and out.

Nice.

And to make fun of me a little bit.

But, well, not right then.

No. Well, close, right? In, in close proximity time.

Yeah.

Of, of the time. But, like, I, I'll tell you, I, I, I literally— so I took it back to some— this is just, you know, FYI. I took it back to Sunbelt, and I was really thankful because I got there and I was like, look, I, I talked with your person about what I was doing. I asked them, what tool do I need? this is what I'm thinking. They said, well, for what you're doing, absolutely what you need is this plate compactor, right? And so when I took it back, I told them, I said, I've got like less than 7 minutes of runtime on this thing. Like, right, I didn't use it. I brought it back early, um, and they gave me 50%

back, which was— I was shocked about.

Like, that's generous.

I mean, it was. I mean, I, I thought, well, you never know unless you ask, right?

Yeah.

So anyway, but Those guys tend to be pretty easy.

No, I mean, yeah, I mean, they saw the runtime on there. Yeah, I mean, I wish my mistakes were that cheap nowadays, right?

Oh, I know.

And, you know, if someone does ever hire me, I try to make it the best I can. Yeah, but, you know, we just did a job where it's so hot outside. Oh yeah, um, you know, we're getting into the concrete and—

I saw you posting about that the other day. You guys are doing more and more of that.

Yeah, so we're doing, we're doing concrete and it was so hot outside that the concrete stopped— wasn't— I wasn't able to play with it anymore. It hardened up on me. And yeah, it was a $10,000 loss.

Oh my goodness.

Yeah.

Whoa.

Yeah, it was a big one.

That's a bad day right there. I mean, you couldn't keep it wet enough, I guess. It didn't matter.

If it was done at my dad's house, the job would have been fine. But to hire a professional, it wasn't— it wasn't good.

No. Yeah.

And that's me owning up to Guys, we got to rent the jackhammers. We got to tear this up.

Bust it out.

Yeah.

Wow. Are you guys doing like stamped kind of stuff? Are you like textured, like colored?

Yeah.

So, um, because that can get complicated. It is. So, you know, it's a— it's, it's called overlay.

Okay.

And you, you do your concrete like regular, like if they didn't have anything at all, and then you let it dry set, and then you come back at the end and you do an overlay on it with your stamp.

Okay, interesting. Enjoy that.

We're just now getting into that.

Okay.

So, um, I do enjoy it because it's difficult.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I mean, because those patterns are— I mean, you got to put the— that pattern down just right at the right time, the right time, perfect.

You can't mess it up. Yeah, yeah, it's intense.

Yeah, I mean, I've seen them do it, and the guys that do it really well, yeah, they can do it really quickly. And so you'll probably get there soon.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you It's good to practice before you go use a customer as a dummy.

Yeah, sure.

And so, you know, we have a 5-acre landscaping yard and we'll do like weekend trials on new things.

Nice. Okay.

Yeah.

Yeah, I like that.

And same with irrigation. I mean, when the first time we did irrigation, we were like, didn't know what we were doing at all, you know? Um, but now there's not an irrigation problem we can't fix. Same scenario with pavers, retaining walls, concrete. Yeah, this is how it goes.

Have you, have you been doing a lot of irrigation stuff here lately?

I mean, yeah, so like whenever, whenever we don't get a lot of rain, we're getting a lot of irrigation calls.

Yeah.

When we get a lot of rain, I'm getting a lot of drainage calls.

Yeah.

You know, so, and it's, uh, with anything there's something that's needed. You just have to be able to be flexible and find what's needed.

Yeah, I, I think that, um, that's really true for you like in the offseason, right? Like During the, during the like late fall, early winter, late winter?

Yeah.

Because I mean, it's one of those deals where it's like a lot of people just— I mean, I put my mower up because I don't need it anymore, right? So what do you do during those months?

So, you know, I full— I do landscaping year-round, um, all 12 months. There's 3 months that are slow, but it's just, you know, you got to keep a good name for yourself. You got gotta, you gotta work hard. You can't give up. Um, but to answer the question, we still stay booked up on our projects. Um, and we do a lot of leaf pickup.

Yeah.

Okay. Yes. There you go.

Leaf pick, man. Leaf pickup.

Like pine needles.

Yeah.

And right.

Yeah. And pine needles are good too because like you can use those for landscaping. Like pick up, pick that up. Leaves are kind of like, yeah.

Like azaleas love, yeah, the acidity from pine straw. So I mean, yeah, it is, it is needed, you know. Um, I don't have the time at my landscaping yard to like start a compost pile, right? We light it on fire, to be honest. Um, but yeah, I mean, we just try to stay busy as possible in the winter. Yeah, we definitely have to, you know, try to keep busy.

Is it— is the wintertime when you might do like more of your like hardscape installs? Like, or because I mean, like around here there, there's, I mean, like there is a lot of outdoor activity even in the, in the cold months.

I mean, in the winter, basically whenever I write up my estimates, I write them down lower. You know what I mean?

Because, you know, I want you to say yes to me.

Yeah.

And I want you to look at all the work I did in this winter and summer. I mean, um, but, you know, another thing that saves me is on my commercial contracts, it's a year-round contract.

Yeah, there you go. Okay. Yeah.

So, you know, residential, they do have the leisure of not telling us to come, but it comes to the commercial contracts, it's a yearly contract. Yeah, just keep my guys moving.

Yeah, and they want to keep their, their spaces looking nice because, I mean, like, they got foot traffic coming through there typically.

I would imagine you'd be surprised though. I mean, there's people residential that still have us come weekly.

Wow.

In the winter just to do cleanup.

And yeah, but a lot of those— so I lived in April Sound for what, 5 years? And, uh, a lot of those people are really they're very, very particular about their yard. And so we had, we had a, an old couple. When I say old couple, like both of them were in their mid-90s.

Right.

Okay, so they were old, um, and they couldn't do much, but they had the guy come and make sure the leaves were off the roof, and they'd blow all the leaves. Like, they would, you know, inevitably something would creep in, and so they'd do the edging, they'd do all the things Um, probably took him half the time. But yeah, I mean, you know, and the other thing, like, I think that what's, what's interesting is like I find that whenever you find a really good landscaper, like, people like to take care of them.

Exactly. So it's interesting, you don't want to— and Christmas lights also. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. But, um, it's not really my— it's not my focus. Um, but it is something where like if you're paying the right dollar, like, yeah, we'll do it. Yeah, but they're easy to mess up too. Sure. Yeah, you know, but I'm sorry, what was your— what was your question before I said something about—

No, I was, I was just asking like, um, he was just saying like how like when you find a good landscaper, people—

that's right. Yeah.

All right.

Sorry, I got sidetracked.

No, you're good.

And no, that's right. Because like when spring comes, it's hard to find a landscaper.

Yeah.

To come and mow your yard or come and take care of you. So you want to hold on to the people that you, you have for the next season.

Yeah.

And then us as landscapers will remember that as well. And we're like, this person carried me through the winter. We're there.

Yeah.

We're not missing. I got your back.

Take care of the Thompsons.

Right.

Right.

So do you guys put together like packages for people? I mean, like what you just said something to me. I was like, oh, you know, like I never thought to ask my guy if he would clean my gutters out when he's here.

Right.

You know, or it's like, is that something like, okay, I know you're gonna mow the grass every week, but hey, every other month, could you the gutters out and that just be part of what we pay?

No, I mean, every person's different and every person has different expectations. So like, if you, if, you know, if you wanted to, if I knew you wanted that, yeah, I would throw, I would, I would make it happen.

Right.

You know what I mean? And then the way we, um, separate with all our clients is we have an app and on that app it will have your name, Craig, and your address. And then there's detailed notes in there for our employees.

Okay. So they know what, they know what to do.

They know what the expectations are for the homeowner.

Okay.

Yeah, that's really helpful because I, I think that it would be easy, I think, especially if you're running multiple crews, right? I mean, ideally, I'm sure you try to take the same crews to the same houses, but every once in a while that probably doesn't happen, right? So having that—

We've actually lost clients because of that.

Oh, I would assume so.

Um, just because like if you always have Jorge coming to your house, yeah, and then Pablo showed up, yeah, and you like the way Jorge does it, right, but it didn't fit my schedule to send Jorge there, right? Then yeah, people have gotten upset with me over that. And, and of course I do my best to put people where it makes the most sense, right?

But no, I, I'm— I get it because like, I— it's interesting, I was buddies with my neighbor's landscaper because he did— he didn't do my yard because again, I enjoyed doing my own yard. And but, um, Except whenever it's 103 degrees outside. So, but I enjoy doing it. But he did like 4 or 5 houses right around me and he'd be like, hey, Kevin. Every time he saw me, I was like, what's up, man? We, we would, and he did some stuff for me here and there, but—

See, that works out then.

Yeah, it did.

And, and, and that's just him being good at like a salesman.

It is. Yeah.

Hey, stay in his, stay in his ear.

That's right.

Eventually you'll get something from it.

Yeah.

Hey dude, I do everything around here. Don't forget about me when you need that driveway pressure washed. or the gutters cleaned out.

That's right. Yeah, yeah. Or like, look, I mean, because I'm busy in the summer, like my summers are slammed, and there are weeks whenever I was like, man, I can't, I can't mow my yard, can you come do it this one week? And right, he's like, yeah, no problem.

Yeah, perfect.

You know, I can do it. So I, you know, I'm curious, like, okay, I remember whenever I was a teenager and I would go over to someone's house And I would charge them $30.

Yeah.

Take me 2 hours, but it was awesome. $15 an hour was great when I was a teenager.

Yeah.

And so now whenever some— whenever I'm like, hey, can someone come do my yard? I'm thinking, I'll find someone to be about $30, right? So I'm curious, like average home just on a regular residential lot, what type of thing could, uh, a homeowner expect financially?

$30?

No, I know, I know.

I mean, it's not much more though. It's not much more, to be honest with you. Okay, so my minimum charge, and that's going to be like the small yard cookie cutter, yeah, small flower bed, sure, is $40.

Nice.

And we've been highly considering increasing that, but we have so many clients at $40, yeah, that we would lose a lot of money if a lot of people decided no. this other guy's gonna do it for $30 or $25.

Sure, right.

Because $25, I still hear that every now and again.

Yeah, no way. Yeah, yeah. But I mean, like, I, I think that it's interesting to me that it's not that much more. I mean, because I, I think a lot of people think either this is gonna be super cheap or they think it's gonna be super expensive, right?

And I mean, it's so crazy to be like, for $40, I mean if we really broke down the equipment that's on the truck every day, it's ridiculous.

Yeah.

So like just one of my zero turns costs around $10,000.

Yeah. Yeah.

And one weed eater is around $350.

Yeah.

And the blowers are about $450 to $600.

The blowers are ridiculous.

So I mean, we're, we're looking and you're paying $40.

Yeah.

And it's like, I just, and I'm grateful for having people.

Yeah.

But it's like, don't say nothing to me.

Right. Right. And, and not only that, you're bringing, you're bringing 2 or 3 or 4 guys. to get the job done, right? Exactly.

And that's the most expensive thing. I mean, where I'm at in my company, I don't know if I should say this or not, but, you know, we're close to $20,000 a week in payroll.

Yeah. So that's good.

That's a lot of yards to cut.

It is.

Yeah. It's a lot of $40.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. It really is. And, and, and the thing is, like, I, I'm, I'm just hearing you. I'm, I'm gathering just intuition over here. And I'm, you're the kind of guy that obviously takes care of your employees too. Like, Because you, you are— I'm sure you know, like, there's so many industries that can't find employees. And so I was like, look, I take care of my guys and they stay with me, and now I'm not having to look for new guys, train new guys, trying to figure out, you know, are they actually going to do the job, not do the job. So look, I pay them well, I treat them well, they're like family, they

know they're like family. I'm assuming that's kind of the guy you are.

Close. I mean, they, they, they don't look at me as a family member.

Yeah, sure.

They look at me as a respected boss. Yeah, because I do take care of them. Like, they've never missed a paycheck. They've got— if someone came to me with their small problem, I tried to help them. Sure, with the food or money, whatever.

Yeah.

Um, but at the same time, I do set the boundary with me being the boss.

Yeah, that's good. No, that's good.

Definitely.

Yeah, I, I just— I think that that goes— that says a lot about, like, the business that you run in general, because, um, You know, running a business isn't easy. You know, there's, there's a lot of— a lot that goes into it. But I think the customer winds up finding out. Like, it's clear whenever, you know, if your employee shows up to do my yard and they don't want to be there, it's pretty clear. Yeah, right. Like, it's, it's obvious.

You get like, you get like 2 mess-ups with a client before they let you go. If they have to think about, hey, I need to pick up the phone and call the owner of Faust Landscaping or any landscaping company more than once, you're fired.

Yeah, no good. Don't come back.

It shouldn't even be like a thought for them to— they should come home and not even look at the grass and go inside because it didn't catch their eye, right? You know what I mean? If something catches your eye, then you're in trouble.

Yeah. Yeah. So you— so you— I assume— I mean, you mentioned irrigation. You do repair. Like, I would assume you have to because I'm, I'm sure you run over Stuff all the time here and there, you know.

At first I didn't do it because it was intimidating. Oh yeah, and I was like, I don't know if I can grasp it. But then I'm like, you know what, another human being that has blood and breathes the same air as me can do it. So I've figured it out, you know. And yes, we do irrigation, new installs, repairs, we get the whole thing done.

So do you do— I know one of the big deals like during the winter is is, uh, winterizing. Do you do winterizing of irrigation systems?

We do.

You do?

Yeah.

Cool. I mean, what—

I mean, honestly, some clients, like Craig mentioned, it's expected for me not to— for them not to reach out to me, for me to come by and do it, right?

Yeah.

And commercial properties, definitely, you don't— they don't even ask you. You just go over there, you get it done, it's over with.

Yeah. But I mean, like, honestly, It's not a hard process.

Super easy.

Super easy, as long as you know where your, where your drain is, right?

Like, I mean, yeah, they have— we could get into that if you wanted to.

Get into it, let's do it.

They have a PVB valve, it's a backflow preventer. There's 2 on-offs, you turn them off, you bleed the nipples, and you run the sprinkler system for all the zones for less than a minute and it bleeds everything out.

Yeah, any good Yeah, but the thing is, like, a lot of people, A, are scared of that process.

Yeah.

And they, they don't know, they don't know how. What if I do it wrong? Is it going to screw something up? And then B, they don't want to.

I think it's more of the scary thing and not more like I'm scared of it, but I'm scared that if I mess it up, how much it's going to cost me.

Yeah, that's the one.

Yeah. And it's, you know, there's no price tag on my industry. You know, like, versus some people will come out and it's— but, you know, it's whatever we say it's gonna be.

Yeah.

If you don't like the price, then you call the next guy.

Right.

You know what I mean? So it's— it could go— that repair there could go, you know, and they were big there after the big freeze we had 2 years ago.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

I mean, you couldn't even find them. They were so expensive.

I was gonna say there was like a shortage on the—

what is it?

The bell valve. Yeah.

The bell valve.

And it was, you know, it goes from, know, you can get it from $250 to— some people, I've seen people charge $500 and $600 for that repair.

Well, during the shoot, I remember fistfights breaking out in the plumbing aisle. Yeah.

Of all the hardware stores.

And, and some of these guys were out there charging, like, $1,500 to change it out. And I was like, you are, like—

I mean, I was buying— I, I was doing a lot of those. I was, I was out there whenever I wasn't supposed to be driving. And, because I had had a pallet of them. them.

Oh, nice.

And it's just like, I'm prepared early. The stores, you know, we do a big dollar amount with them. You make the phone call and say, hey, I need this, then they're gonna make sure you get it before the homeowner does.

Yeah. Yep.

It's business.

Take care of them. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You're like a weird Santa Claus.

Yeah, I was dropping PVB valves. Hey, man. But that's, that's like one of those deals though. It's like people were gouging all over the place.

Absolutely.

And, and like, there's a big part of me that— like, we, we talked to, uh, Burke Family Plumbing, um, and I was like— and I— we're good friends with them— and I was like, hey, like, are you— are y'all up charging a little bit? I mean, because you're so busy, like, do you— can you charge a premium or whatever? And he goes, no, we don't do that. So we just don't. Because I got— I He said, I, I— it's not okay. He said, for me, it's not. It's— I want, I want my people to know that come rain or shine, like—

But if they're new clients, sometimes this is just how I feel about that.

Okay, I'm curious.

If you're like a new client, they don't know if you're giving them a deal.

Sure.

Or it's a, uh, it's the repetitive clients where you're like, you know what, I bought this last time from you and it was that price. Yeah, but a new client, you could tell them $250 and they don't know if you're giving them a ripoff price or if that's the— you know what I mean?

So no, absolutely.

I hope, you know, I, I do like to hear that people are good like that though.

Yeah, you know, it just frustrates me whenever, whenever contractors are, are just taking advantage of people because they know they can, right? You know, like, be— because they can.

Well, and here's, here's what I've, I've picked up on lately. I don't know if this has been the case with you, but like A lot of our new clients are not from Texas.

Yeah.

Right.

Like, I would say at least 60% of our new clients and leads are coming from out of state, and some of them aren't even here yet.

Wow. Correct.

Yeah. I get those calls as well.

And, and so, and, and so, like, a lot of times when I tell them my pricing, it's like, okay.

Yeah. They're happy. Right.

Because they, they have no context for it being good or bad or compared to anything else. And, and they'll just be like, oh, that, that was a lot. Like, I, I had one lady recently, she was like, well, I, The, the, the, the service we were gonna do for her, I think it was gonna be like $120.

Right.

And she goes, well, the last company that was here told me it was gonna be $1,500. I was like, for what?

Yeah.

I mean, it's like, what, what were, like, really? And she's like, well, I'm glad I told them no.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And that's what she, and that's what the homeowner needs to do.

Yeah.

If the, if it doesn't feel right in your gut, then the homeowner just needs to say no. But if you— like, we just did a project for somebody and they were in the shadows with it. They didn't talk about it besides, you know, in their household, but they were following me for a while. So when I showed up, they were like super excited to meet me, you know what I mean? Like, they've been following my page, my projects, like they like what I do.

Yeah.

So they were already wanting me.

Yeah.

Um, versus just new people. Right, you know, um, that don't know anything. And you're like— but whenever you do get into that scenario as a homeowner, you need to tell them, uh, like, if you're not comfortable with it, move on to the next. Get at least— get 3 prices. If it's a $1,500 estimate, at least get—

yeah, you gotta get another opinion or something.

Yeah, compare apples to apples.

I mean, you just moved into a brand new house. I mean, like, $1,500, $1,500.

Yeah, no doubt. Well, I mean, it doesn't really matter who you are, like We were talking about this the other day, like $1,500, but I don't care if you're a millionaire, like $1,500 is not something to just throw away, you know? So make sure that it's— you're getting what you're getting.

Oh no, absolutely. I mean, sometimes those millionaires are millionaires because they know how to spend their money and save it. So I mean, the majority of my clients, I would say, are millionaires. And no, they want a broke-down estimate. They want to know where it's going. They want to know why. Sometimes they haggle. Yeah, um, I mean, it's not common at all. Yeah, yeah, it's not uncommon.

Yeah, yep, makes sense.

So are people, uh, doing these koi ponds anymore now? Is that, is that still a thing?

They ask me for them sometimes, and I've done a couple nice ones. Yeah, I don't enjoy doing them really. They're very hard.

What makes them hard?

Uh, water leaking.

Okay.

It's like if you want, like, the one All right, the ones that people expect to see whenever I'm like, hey, the job's done, I need to get paid.

Uh-huh.

It's like it almost needs to get built like a pool. Oh, you know what I mean? Yeah. And then you want a landscaper to finagle a plastic tub around and make it look pretty, and it doesn't.

Yeah.

You know, so I've built a couple nice ones with retaining wall blocks and stuff, and, um, but I actually try to steer away from them. So I gouge the price on the koi ponds.

Yeah.

Because I don't want to do them.

Yeah.

But if you're going to pay the price that I ask, I will tackle it for you.

Sure. Yeah, sure.

I mean, on the ones that you've done, I mean, like, is it, is it their expectation that you're gonna get the fish, that you're gonna do the return and the send and all that kind of stuff?

Now, the return and the send, yes, but like the fish, like the cosmetic stuff in any landscape is almost not included. So like in my 3D renderings, I'll put couches and a fan, you know what I mean? Like outdoor furniture, right? But they already know that that's not coming in, and it's on the line item estimate that it's not there, right?

Right. You know, so no, I'd like to see the 3D rendering of the koi pond with the fish in there. Fish not included.

So yeah, I try, I, you know, I try not to do the renderings as much either, um, just because I have a daughter and I like to spend my afternoons with her. Yeah, yeah. And the renderings come in at night. Yeah, you know, so, um, I charge for the renderings, um, and on the koi fish pond we didn't do one.

Nice. Yeah, yeah, I wouldn't either. But I would, I would just love fish not included. Like, that would be so great.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, the fish are probably expensive. I wouldn't even know what to—

Oh no, that's why I was asking. I was like, I don't even know where you go to get them.

Well, I think you just go down to the Chinese restaurant. They don't know how many they have.

No, they have some fish places around that are nice, you know.

But there is, there is like a big like aquarium place right there on 45.

Yeah, the fish, uh, what is it called? called? Um, yeah, I know what you're talking about.

It's actually near Outdoor Equipment on 45 there.

Oh yeah, I mean, there's one down 242 as well.

Oh yeah?

They better send you a free fish for this.

Yeah, that's why I didn't say the full name. Not because I didn't know it. I knew it. I just didn't want to give them a free plug.

And then you'll have to call me to build you a koi fish.

That's exactly—

no, that's what— that's all part of the plan.

No, see, I don't want one. I, I have no desire.

I feel like it would be a headache.

Yeah, I just, I mean, I'm thinking of all the things I got to take care of already. Like, so we, we just, we just moved and bought some, bought some land, and I mean, it's not much, it's like 3.5 acres, but, um, like, still a lot to take care of. Like, Craig has more acreage, but I think I have more land to mow. But it's more open. Yeah. And so we got a new puppy already. My daughter's like, I want a rabbit. My son's like, I want this. And then I'm like, I don't have time to— like, I'm gonna be— take— I'm gonna take care of all that stuff. Like, I mean, the rabbit maybe not, but

like, if we got a koi pond, no one would ever look at it, no one would enjoy it, and I'd have to clean that sucker out.

So like, around here, what I know is that people with them don't really enjoy them because they end up just covering them with nets.

I have a great client that loves the one that we built for her. She shows it off all the time. Um, her and her kids and her, and her husband, they enjoy it. They really do like it.

Yeah, I would, I would like it. What I'm, what I'm saying is, is the people I know that have had one, once the cranes find it, you're done. Yeah, because they just keep coming back and killing your fish.

Huh.

So, and, and the darn cranes, you end up with a bloody fishy mess just all over your pool deck or whatever it is that it's close by. And yeah, it's just no fun. Yeah, so there's— I mean, like, but like, I guess it's like if they find it, right? You know, I guess, you know, if you're a— an outdoorsman, you could handle that. Yeah, not that that's legal or anything.

No, but we're not going to talk about that.

That's right.

So, oh, okay, I got a question. So we, we have a lot of deer that come through our yard.

Yeah.

So like, people— I think some people in the area that have lived there for a little while and kind of know there's deer, that kind of stuff, they kind of have an idea of like what grows and what doesn't based on what the deer will eat and what they won't.

Yeah.

Um, like if I were to hire you to come out and like landscape an area of my yard, if I were to say, hey man, like we've got deer, is that something that you would be able to say, okay, here's the types of things you need, here's the types of things you don't? Like, I guess my question is, that's my specific situation, but I'm sure people have specific situations with like Can— how does that work as far as like creating a landscape area?

So what I think benefits me the most in this area is that I speak perfectly clear English, and I'm not hating on Hispanics. Sure, I also speak Spanish, but I only learned that through my industry. But when it comes to the homeowner with that specific question, um, it's experience. So I'm a Master Gardener as well. Oh, so whenever, um, you have a question about, hey, is this deer friendly?

Yeah.

Is this shade friendly? Is this going to do good in the sun?

You know.

I know.

Yeah.

And it's almost you have to trust me, but whenever I send the estimate and the customer agrees, then I'll give them plant options. So I fall— I don't just— I talk about plants in person, but I really write them down for the client. So then you could do your research on your own to double-check me. Oh, and double-check me, see which ones you like, which ones you see fit for your home. Um, and then I'll also tell them like, hey, I recommend these, this is my recommendation, here's some other options, these are all deer-friendly.

I love that. I mean, we, we actually, Craig and I, early on we did a, uh, we did an episode out at the, uh, Master Gardeners. Yeah, the AgLife, AgriLife Extension Center over there. And like, we learned Or he probably already knew that his mom's, his mom's a Master Gardener.

I love going to those appointments. Like, they're super intense. I'll bet it's the most intense thing that I can go through is meeting up with another Master Gardener because then it's just a who knows the most.

Right, right, right.

Yeah. Now you show me, you show me yours, I'll show you mine.

Let's see.

Let's go.

We're not even there talking about like what you want anymore. We're just walking around the garden pointing at stuff and who names it first. Yeah.

Yeah, because it's like, it's like, I forgot, sorry.

Oh, you got that from Asia? Okay, I don't know that one, sorry.

You know, it's like, oh, you harvested that from the Amazon yourself?

Yeah, right, lucky you.

Jerk.

Yeah, congratulations, I'm out. No, but that's, that's really good because I, I mean, like, that's got to separate you from a lot of people because I mean, like, Yeah, 'cause I think, and we talked about the 3D renderings and stuff like that, like, I think that that really takes you to another level. There's a lot of guys out there, they're like, yeah, I mow yards, or yeah, like, I mean, I can't tell you how many times I've talked to people and it's like, hey, so I would like this to happen. They're like, oh yeah, I do that. How many have you done? Oh man, I've done 'em.

Yeah.

It's like, done 'em?

You have to prove.

Right, yeah, like, show me.

Pictures.

Yeah, but they're like, oh man, I've probably not done one exactly like that, but like, I could totally do it.

And I—

and they probably could. Like, honestly, some of these guys, I mean—

You'd be surprised.

Yeah. I, I, I'm, I'm not trying to throw shade at all because some of these guys, man, they come— especially the ones that come from Mexico and stuff— like, they, they can do everything. And they're, they're, they're fast, they're efficient, they're smart. They're like, they're good at what they do a lot, a lot of times. But it's like, I know, I know I can do it, but it's not like something that I've worked at doing a lot of, you know. So you doing some of these things sets you apart from—

And that's what I try to do, honestly. I am a businessman. I only landscape— I'll say this clearly— I only landscape to support my family. It is something I do enjoy, but I do not do it for free. So I try to take as much work as possible. I try to have the most knowledge. I try to do the best, the smoothest techniques, you know. Um, so like in pavers, I have certifications. In gardening, I have certifications. You know what I mean? I speak the language of the majority of the people that work in my industry, you know.

Um, which is true because before we started, you started speaking Spanish. I'm like, dadgum, like not only is he Spanish, but like his vernacular is good too.

So it's not like 100%, like if you understood Spanish for sure, you would say my Spanish sucks. But if I didn't know you at all, you would know what I'm telling you.

Sure.

Yeah, it's more work Spanish.

How long did— was that something you've learned since you were a kid, or did you pick it up as an adult?

No, absolutely not. So I took Spanish 4 in high school.

Okay.

Learned nothing.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's a— I was an adult and I was wheelbarrowing next to this guy and I was tired of whipping out my phone to translate. So one guy befriended me and he was an employee and, um, he taught me within a year and a half.

Really?

Yeah.

So I mean, if I see you every day and you only speak Spanish, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna catch on.

Yeah, yeah, it's immersion, right?

Yeah, yeah.

It was one word. You learn one word a day and you say it annoying amount.

Yeah.

And, um, you'll learn majority of the Spanish quick, but you really have to try at anything.

Right.

You know, if you give anything some effort, yeah, you'll, you'll figure it out.

I mean, I mean, I tell people this all the time because I'm like, look, you didn't know how to do that until you did, right? Right. Like, whatever it is, like, you didn't know how to do it till you did. And once you, once you started doing it, like, you learn how to do it and you learn how to do it better. And yeah, that's true with a lot of things.

Everything, everything that I do.

Well, you know, like, how many times have you like, I've never done this before, I'm an expert. Like never, right? It doesn't happen. No. So you gotta, you gotta work at it. Yep.

You gotta give it, you know, if you're gonna wake up and thank God that you're breathing another day and be happy, you know, get out there and give it 100% and go home and enjoy your time with your family.

Yep.

So if it's speaking Spanish or if it's grabbing carts out of the parking lot, be happy while doing it and give it your best shot.

Yeah. Yeah. I love that.

Yeah.

Cool.

If you can't do it and be happy, why would you? Exactly.

I don't know, man.

Like, Exactly what he's talking about. If you can't, like, if you can't push, like, gather the shopping carts at H-E-B and find some sort of, like, meaning and happiness in it, like, stop doing it.

Yeah.

Like, find something else.

Yeah.

I mean, there's days where I'll have bad days. Well, yeah, but I'm still happy that I own my own company. You know what I mean? Happy that I'm bringing in some money, you know, and I woke up and then I have a beautiful family at the house, you know? So it doesn't matter how bad the workday goes. I try not to, and that's where I'm at in my company. I don't like getting yelled at by the clients. I don't put up with it anymore, you know what I mean? I just don't. Like, I'll hang up on one.

Yeah.

Um, but I think I set that message pretty clear with the clients too, that they're not gonna do that, right? And if I do get one, that's where it's—

I'm out. We're gone. Yeah, no, I get it. I get it.

Gotta fire some, uh, some customers every once in a while.

Well, I mean, we, we've talked about this a lot of times. Um, Where it's like, look, you— I, I don't understand why anybody in the world—

this is just—

maybe, maybe someone needs to educate me, I don't know. But I don't understand why anybody in the world thinks that anybody else deserves anything less than their respect, right? Yeah, I mean, nobody's better than anybody else. Like, I'm just out there doing my thing. Okay, maybe I'm not as good as you are, it's fine. But like, I'm still gonna respect you.

Right.

You're— you should still respect me. And look, just because I'm paying you money does not give me the right to treat you like garbage. That's right. Like that. And there's— like, I hope people listening to this agree. If you don't, like, stop listening.

Find another podcast.

I don't want you to listen to this show. Like, go find someone else to annoy because that's all you're— you're just annoying, right?

I mean, I give everyone— as I'm getting older, I try to give everyone the respect.

Yeah.

But, uh, if, if I feel disrespected, I cut it. very short.

Well, I mean, I think that's a response though. Like, that's different than like being disrespectful. Like, you've been disrespected. Like, I think that there's somewhere along the line where it's like, I'm, I'm not gonna allow you to run over me right now. That, that could still be like, all right, dude, like, we're not gonna continue this conversation, right? Um, it's different than like lashing back out, I guess. But like, I think that—

And if you're in a customer service like industry, Yeah, and you do end up upsetting someone and you attempt to make it right, and then maybe they don't want you to because they're that upset with you. Yeah, and they start yelling at you. Whatever the scenario is, I've got a better response of standing up for myself rather than just, yes ma'am, yes ma'am, I'll do whatever, you know what I mean? Because then you'll still— then they feel like they have you by the leash, right? And they'll still leave you that bad review even though you tried to fix it.

Yep.

Absolutely. So with me, it's like, hey, you're not gonna talk to me that way. I'm a grown man and I'm here to do the right thing. I'm not, I'm not out drug dealing. I'm over here trying to make an honest living. Yeah, you know what I mean? And whenever you stand up for yourself, they're like, you know what, I blew it out of proportion and I'm sorry. Yeah, that's usually the response.

Sure.

Yeah, it's interesting, like, people are fine with confrontation until someone else is confrontational with them too, and then it's like, uh, I didn't Okay, I thought you were gonna— are you gonna bow to me? No, it's like, no, it's not the way that works.

But, you know, at the same time, like, I'm— we're grateful for anyone that is hiring our company, so we show that respect off the bat, you know. But everything we do is a custom thing, you know. No job is the same.

Nope.

And we have experience in the materials that we're using. Yeah, right. And but we're trying to paint the best picture for your property or whatever the scenario is. Sometimes it doesn't come out the way you envisioned, the way I envisioned it, you know. So in that scenario, yeah, we try to make the customer at the end of the day just happy.

Yeah, no, it's all you can do. That's all you can do.

So is there, uh, is there a landscaping project that you haven't tackled yet that you're like, man, that's, that's the next one for me, that's the next thing I'm going to figure out? I mean, because you've done, you've done a ton already, but I'm wondering if there's anything out there that you're on the horizon going.

The harder things to sell, to be honest with you, is going to be like outdoor kitchens.

Yeah. Um, pizza ovens. Come on.

I haven't even done one of those. I won't, but like, you can, you can do that. It's, you can't just hire any dude that's going to do that for you. You know what I mean? Like he has to have a masonry, something like he needs to really have a lot of background to even be comfortable to talk about something like that, you know what I mean? And if anyone's ever like stuttering or they can't talk clearly about like something that is difficult to them, yeah, then don't hire them. Yeah, I mean, it can get, it can get intense, you know? I mean, right now my company is kind of maxed out on like the landscaping. We just want more volume, right? You know,

like add more trucks, cover more ground, do more projects at one time. higher management, you know what I mean? Um, but no, there's nothing that I haven't done in the outdoor, like, living enjoyment. You know, there's— there are times where, like, I'll— I'm not 100%. Like, the first time I did irrigation, I had a subcontractor for it. Yeah, I'm a quick learner. I saw the guy do it, I learned it, I did it myself. Oh, that's the one step I was missing. Same thing when it came to the pavers, the retaining wall, the, the outdoor kitchen.

Plate compactors. Yeah.

So you got me. Um, but no, I mean, you just have to watch somebody that does know what they're doing, sub them out, you know, watch and learn.

Take the opportunity to learn.

And then, you know, practice on your own time.

Yeah. Have you, have you done these, uh, these outdoor fireplaces people are putting in now?

Like a gas or regular?

No, just like a regular one that like just sitting out in the open.

All the time.

Yeah.

Yeah, easy.

You guys do those a bunch?

Oh yeah.

So like, are those, are those big projects?

No.

Really?

Easy. You can like, I mean, if I were to put a dollar amount on one, like, like a nice wood-burning fire pit, sure, let's say it was on your property, it would run anywhere from like a cheap one is like $1,000.

Okay.

All right, but then a nice one is $3,000.

Sure. All right, that sounds reasonable.

So it's not like out of line expensive, right? Um, even the $1,000 one's nice. The $3,000 one, it's just more cosmetic, right? But they are still gonna do—

it's gonna have a big, like, they're still gonna have a fire mantle and all that kind of stuff, right?

Well, I mean, you know, you can have like the metal grate on top where you can like throw a couple things to cook on there or something, you know. Um, that's gonna be in like the, the higher dollar ones. Maybe it has retaining wall blocks with a nice finish cap, uh, with mortar in it. But, you know, more on the bottom line is going to be like a loose stack stone.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it still burns, right?

Right.

Yeah. It'll still contain— yeah. Contains a fire, burns the stuff. Makes you—

I have to imagine that's one of the more popular things around here because—

Not really.

Really? I mean, I see a lot of them.

It's what the salesman's trying to push.

Uh-huh.

So like, I used to be a salesman, and this might sound stupid, but at a restaurant.

Uh-huh.

I was a waiter. The higher you get the tab, the bigger the tip.

Yep.

So you're trying to push the flavored teas. You're trying to push the steak topping. You know what I mean? So whenever I use that technique in my landscaping, I'm constantly like, you call me out for irrigation. I'm gonna look and see if you have a drainage problem. You know what I mean? I'm gonna look and see if your flower bed looks bad. You know, and I will slowly bring that in to upsell the job.

Sure.

Right.

And try to get more going. So, you know, whenever I try to bring up the fire pits, it's not really like a, a big thing unless you called me for that. Now pavers is going to be like my niche. Okay. We do a lot of pavers. You know, I probably do 2 to 3 installs a week.

Oh wow.

Right.

Do you own a plate compactor then?

No, there's other techniques where you don't have to have that. The plate compactor—

Kevin's like, you should have done this interview 2 weeks ago.

Yeah, the plate compactor is needed, um, if the base is not 100%.

Sure.

Yeah, so like you do these pipes on pavers where my guys will pack the base material. Like we have it down to a math equation on every job. And above the base material, crushed granite, you would have these pipes. You level the pipes to the slope that you want, then you fill it in with sand and you bring a board across and it perfectly levels it to the height that you need it. And then you should be able to just come in and lay all the stones perfectly. Maybe rubber mallet a couple stones here and there, but, um, that's all you need.

Well, that sounds super simple.

It does, right? You could probably tell me something simple that you do every day and I would think it would be difficult.

Yeah, I drive my truck.

Super difficult.

That's about it.

I've watched everybody else. I know it's difficult.

Obviously it is not as easy as they make it seem. That's right. All right, well, let me ask you this question. Like, we've talked about quite a bit, and we— I mean, there's so much more we didn't talk about. Like, we didn't really get into kitchens, we didn't really get into like pergolas and, um, you know, porches and those types of things, which, you know, that just means we're gonna have to have you back.

Yeah.

And do that too. But like, as far as like landscaping and stuff like that goes, is there anything that we haven't talked about that you're like, this would probably be something then it would be good. Anything?

Keep your blades sharp.

That's a good one.

Yeah, keep your oil changed.

Oh, that's a huge one, man. Like, I, I can't imagine.

Your fuel filters.

Yeah, I mean, I think that there's a lot of people that don't maintenance their lawn mower ever, right?

And I mean, I've gotten busy to where we didn't, and it was a big regret. Yeah, I mean, I've tried to hire mechanics. It doesn't work. When you're gone, they're just sitting in a chair. Yeah, you know. Um, so I'm the first one at my shop every day and I'm the last one to clock out every day. So I am my mechanic.

Yep.

And if I can't figure it out, then it goes to my trusted dealer.

Yeah. And they— Yeah, I think that like a lot of people are like, sharpening a blade, like that means I gotta take the blade off and then I, I don't have a grinder. Like, now I gotta grind. What am I supposed to do?

Yeah, you got to be a man about it.

That's true. Yeah, it's true.

Like, I, I—

it's about all there is to it. Yeah, it's just, come on, man, get your tools out and just take it apart.

Quit being lazy, you know? Like, you know the steps. Yeah, but you're not gonna have the best looking lawn if you don't keep up with the equipment that's cutting it.

That's true.

Or just call Faust Landscaping.

That's right, just have it done professionally. You know what I think it is with a lot of that kind of stuff, man? I think, I think most people go into like fixing, fixing their lawnmower. You know, like, I'm gonna go sharpen the blades on my lawnmower.

Right.

I think most people go into it with a mental expectation of this is going to take me 45 minutes. And if, like, and maybe for someone like you, you could probably knock something like that out in 45 minutes because if you have the tools and, and the shop and, and just, you know, and the know-how.

Right.

You know, you could probably do that. But, like, I think most people go into it because they've watched a YouTube video, and that YouTube video only took them, like, 5 minutes to watch. And, and so they get there, and, like, when that 45-minute mark hits and they haven't even gotten the blades off yet.

Yeah.

I think that's when most people just throw the towel in.

Yeah.

And they're, they're not willing to learn in order so that they can do it quicker the next time.

Right.

And so they just— they're just done.

Yeah.

Or they just, they just go buy a new mower.

Exactly.

Yeah. Or, or they, you know, even better, they're like, I just go buy a new blade.

Right.

And then— and what's—

or that—

what's crazy is, like, if, if they're gonna do anything, what's crazy is, like, okay, So you went out there, you started working on it, you got frustrated, and then you got in your vehicle and drove 25 minutes to Home Depot. Took you 30 minutes to find the right blade because you had to find someone because you had no clue what you were supposed to get. Then you waited 10 minutes in line, drove back to your house. Now it's 2 hours later, right? And you still hadn't put the blade on.

Well, I mean, It's like, as you get older, you realize more things.

Yeah.

So like more wisdom. Everything has a lot of detail to it. It doesn't matter what you're doing.

Yeah.

So like with the lawnmower, if you sharpen the blades wrong, then you throw out the spindle. You have to balance the blades, sharpen them. So it is a— it is a technique that you need to know. And I will say that, um, it is bad to sharpen the blades. You know, it is better to buy a new set. Sure, because once you sharpen the blades, once you're breaking away the, the weld and the coating that's on the, that's on the blade themselves, so you only— once you sharpen it one time, you probably get one mow and then it's dull again. So it's good to give it that one sharpen to hang you in to before you go buy another set, but it is better to buy a new set of blades.

Yeah, but, but again, I think that—

but I get what you were saying.

I think the point is like for— to your point, Craig, is like the time it takes.

Like, I— oh yeah, I definitely agree with you.

Be smart about like, like if you, if you feel like it's going to take more time, then a couple of days before start figuring out what do I need. Oh, I'm gonna pass Home Depot.

Like, yeah, I'm gonna, uh, roll back for just a second because I want, I want people to, to catch what you were saying because I don't think a lot of people even know what the spindle is.

Sure.

Why would it be bad to throw out the spindle?

So like the spindle, all right, so there's a pulley, a belt system, right? When it is engaged, the belt rotates all these pulleys. All right, underneath the pulley is a spindle. The spindle is a— it has bearings in it, and it's what spins the blade. So it's connected to the blade in there. If the blade is off-balanced, it throws the bearings off in the spindle, and the spindles are expensive.

More expensive than the blade, I would imagine.

Correct. Yeah, so like one spindle on my— well, I do have commercial stuff, but like one spindle is $150. And each mower has 3 sets.

Yeah. I would also imagine, like—

So I can't just let anybody come in there and, like, sharpen my blades.

Yeah. Well, and, like, I have to imagine it's sort of like a ceiling fan, you know, like a ceiling fan gets unbalanced, it starts doing that lovely wobbly thing, and then it becomes dangerous, not just for your employees, but for anybody standing near that thing. You know, you could start throwing chunks of metal.

Yeah.

So, I mean, we've had them fall completely off.

Oh, gosh.

You know what I mean? Like, it has happened, you know. I mean, we're using the mowers anywhere from like 6 to 11 hours a day.

Yeah.

So, you know, it's a lot of time, and I don't even know how fast those things spin. But if, if it's— if one flies off, yeah, it could be, it could be bad.

Well, I mean, when you're able to mow with your commercial stuff, you know, 15 miles an hour on some of these places and still make a really good cut, right? Those things are spinning, dude.

Oh, they're going crazy. Yeah, I don't even want to guess.

No, I don't either. Yeah, but I'm like, some of these guys, I'm like, dude, you are flying. You're passing me. I'm driving, you're passing me.

Yeah, I mean, landscaping is a dangerous job. Yeah, people cut their feet off, you know what I mean? Like, um, I've seen a lot of damage from my employees at my company.

Yeah, I mean, it's, it's You're dealing with heavy machinery, right? You really are.

The guys have— they've cut themselves. I've seen guys burn themselves. I've seen guys smashing toes and fingers, and I mean the whole nine. Yeah, you know, so I mean, the guys are out there and they're earning their dollar, you know what I mean? They're, they're, they are working hard. Yeah, sometimes you look out and you go, oh, they're just sitting under a tree. It's because they have to, right?

You know what I mean?

Like, they've been hired.

Yeah.

They've been up since 6 in the morning getting it.

Those— hey, I'll tell you what, man, those guys are professional tree sitters, right? That I'm looking at, I'm like, that is not the first time you sat up against a tree. Like, I could not be that comfortable sitting up against a tree, but you figured it out. Yeah, you figured it out.

No, they definitely are. They get comfortable where they can. Yeah, I mean, yeah, it sucks. It is hot.

It is hot. You've been working that hard, it doesn't matter what it is.

No.

I've already gotten to where like I eat like them, you know what I mean? Yeah, I drink like them now. I would say those are my friends. Yeah, you know what I mean? Like it's, um, but in a business sense, sure, we kind of touched the base a little bit before we got on live, but sure.

Um, that's good.

Yeah, we enjoy hanging out with each other.

Cool. Well, I think it's time.

Yeah, I think so.

Sure. Yeah, so, uh, we're gonna move into the most important section of our entire show. thing that people wait and just cannot get enough of, and that's obviously the Final Four.

The Final Four.

That's right, the Final Four questions that we ask each and every one of our guests. So we're glad you're here because you've never answered these questions before. So here we go. All right, first question: what is the must-have tool you won't leave your house without?

My phone.

Yeah.

Number one.

Is that a number one answer?

Yeah, pretty much.

Yeah.

I mean, without the phone there— I mean, that's what it is nowadays. It's 2023, you have to have it.

Yeah, that's right, man.

Like, I—

2022. Yeah, it might as well be.

It's coming up. It's coming.

It might as well be.

That's how fast life goes.

Nobody— it's like, I don't know about y'all, but I'm already planning.

I mean, yeah, I, I don't know how— it's funny, like, we survived growing up without our We did. I don't know how old you are, but we survived without cell phones.

I'm 30.

But, okay, you're a young, young little boy. Um, so, like, like, we survived without cell phones.

No, I was in—

Yeah. And it's like, but now it's just we don't live in a world. We literally just don't live in the same world.

Well, I mean, back then, if you would ask that question, it might have been different.

Yeah.

Oh, no, it would have been. But now, like, I can take notes. I can find out where I'm going. Like, I can contact whoever I need. Like, it's a must.

It is.

It's not— whenever I said phone, that didn't mean Snapchat and Facebook.

No, no, no, no.

Yeah, it's a tool.

It's a tool.

Yeah. I mean, well, Craig and I were talking just today about, you know, softwares for companies and like different, different ways that those things cater to specific niches for route planning and, you know, quote giving and, you know, bookkeeping and like customer, you know, retention and all this kind of stuff. Like, it just, it does everything. Without it, what are you gonna do, man? Like, that's, it's super, super important for sure.

Yeah.

So even, even keeping up with mileage, everything. Yeah. Like, you, I don't know, do you use MileIQ or anything like that?

Dude, QuickBooks does it for me now.

It does?

Yeah. I got offered to do it, but it was for like an insurance thing, and I feel like I get a pretty good insurance price. Yeah. So yeah, I'm not bothered by it.

That's cool. Cool. All right, next question. You ready?

Yeah.

What's a job you walked away from?

A job I walked away from. I went into a job and the guy was a really nice guy at the beginning, but as the appointment went on, he became rude. And again, I just don't deal with rude people or clients. As a business owner, it's my right to make that decision. Um, and then he started nitpicking at everything before I even gave him an estimate. And he asked me one question. He said, um, do you mark up the materials? And I said yes. And we both turned around and he, he said, well, then I'm not gonna do business with you. And I just walked. I didn't even say bye.

Yeah.

I mean, he just— whenever you said I'm not gonna do business with you, it just— there's no need to continue talking, right? You know what I mean? Like, that's— I'm only there to talk to you. We're not here to hang out, you know what I mean? I'm here to talk about business and Whenever he dropped that line, I just walked away.

Well, and like, like, I'm sure— here's the other thing a lot of people don't understand. Like, you're getting things at a different price than they can get them.

Correct.

So even your markup might be less than what they could go get it for.

Majority of the time it is. Yeah. So, but I'm an honest person, you know, I'm transparent. He asked me a question, of course. Yeah, I'm gonna answer it honestly.

Yeah, no, I— and, and as you should. But I, I think the one thing that I want homeowners to hear right now is you saying, yeah, I do upsell on— I mean, not upsell, but I do charge extra for the materials that I used than what I pay, right? But they need to also hear it's still probably less than what you're gonna get it for. If anything, it's a couple dollars more, if that, because then you're not having to go pick it up, right? You're not having to install it. You're not having to do all that kind of stuff. Like, you're still In a fine place. Chill out.

Yeah, calm down. Like you're getting someone else to do a job for you.

It's such a weird question. It's a weird question to even ask somebody.

It was disrespectful.

Yeah.

I mean, it's like, you know, you're automatically—

what you're doing is you're accusing them of lying. Right, right. I mean, that's what you're— that's essentially what you're trying to like rat out of them is like, hey, are you lying to me about what you're charging me?

And then whenever you tell them yes, then they're pissed.

Yeah.

Like, there was no winning with him. That's why he was comfortable with just turning around.

We're done.

This is gonna be a problem.

Yeah. I mean, if it's a problem in the interview for the contractor, you should also consider walking away.

Yeah. Have fun with the next guy that's gonna lie to you that he's not and charging you the same. Yeah.

Then you're gonna be fighting for payment. You're gonna be—

oh yeah.

Then you're gonna, you have the possibility of getting a bad review, which stops work in the future. I mean, it's just a, it's a continuous thing. Just work for people that accept your price and, um, that you enjoy working with.

Yeah, yeah, I like it. All right, next question. How do you wind down at the end of a long day?

The truth.

Absolutely.

So I'm 30, so this may not like be the best answer.

Uh-huh.

I definitely warned my wife. Um, I enjoy playing video games.

There you go.

Yeah, so it's what gets me away from reality. I get to focus on my video games. It puts my mind at ease. Of course, I take care of all my responsibilities. It's my wind-down time. Yeah, but you know, uh, 5 days out of the week I play PlayStation 5.

Yeah, what you rocking these days?

Yeah, what game? Yeah, you know, just what everyone's playing. I play Apex, Call of Duty, and, uh, 2K.

Okay.

Is it like—

It's a basketball game. Basketball game. Okay.

Yeah, but like, those things are hard to find. You're real.

You got a 5, man.

You got a 5 because they're hard to find. Even still, they were hard to find at Christmas. They're still—

No, I paid the extra money for it.

Yeah, of course.

I did. Um, I mean, and one of my best friends that I don't— he's a weird friend. I mean, we never hang out in person, but he— we've been friends for over 10 years, but we game together.

Okay. Yeah.

So it's kind of— it's not— it's a good friend because like I can, you know, we have good conversations kind of like we're having now, but it's, uh, it's not about work, right? You know what I mean? And it's, it's, it's a laugh and it's a good time shooting. And then we're both enjoying what we're doing, you know what I mean? And we take it seriously too, you know.

Yeah.

But I get to focus on that and not the bills. Uh, is the wife happy? Is the baby good? You know, is the— it's my own time. And that's what I do.

Yeah, that's not a— that, trust me, we've had a lot weirder.

I bet you have. But yeah, it's just like whenever you're a gamer like I am, you don't talk about it. Yeah, it's one of those like shush things. Yeah, especially my age, you know, it's something that you did in like 18 and below. You know, when you get into your 30s and you're still rocking the headset, you know.

No, dude, let me, let me tell you this because I, I now have teenagers. it becomes acceptable again because it's something that you do with your children.

Right.

Yeah.

I have a 1-year-old.

So you got a while, you got a while to, like, keep it in the closet. Right.

Yeah. Well, but I'll tell you this, like, one of our, one of Craig and I's good friends, for years and years and years, he's a programmer. For years and years and years, he— it was his new job. Yeah, it's his job to play games because his whole job was they found cheaters and kicked him out. Oh yeah, that was his job, right? I was like, that's the coolest job, like a video game cop. Yeah, and because it, it, it degraded the integrity of the game to have the cheaters in there because they would expose the code and figure out what to do. And so he would go in—

Well, unless people wanted to play when people were cheating, right?

So yeah, so anyway, kind of, kind of—

yeah, because my kids are super into Fortnite.

Yeah, that's a big one.

Do you play that one at all?

I mean, I played it, but it's not something the same. It's not what I enjoy. Yeah, it's more for the younger kids. Yeah, yeah, yeah, in my opinion.

All right, last question.

There's adults out there, right? It's like, yeah, I know, right?

All right, last question. What's one of the best pieces of wisdom or advice that you've ever received?

I mean, it was from a movie.

Okay, that's fine.

Um, Rocky Balboa.

Nice.

He was telling his son.

Oh dude, that's a— the speech.

Yeah, he was like, hey, um, I don't know it verbatim, but don't worry about the getting hit. It's about— do you know it, Craig?

It's, it's not how hard you can— it's not how hard you can get hit. It's how, how many times you can keep getting back up. Right. Yeah.

And I actually, every time I take a loss, if it's any loss, I just remember I just got to keep moving forward, keep going, don't dwell on the loss, and just keep making progress.

Yeah. Well, I mean, you— I love that, first of all, because I think the thing is, like, you, you learn so much when you fail, right? And, and, you know, I, I look at people like Albert Einstein. You do some of the research on how many times he failed before he succeeded.

Yeah.

Like, it was like 918 times or something like that. It's a ridiculous number. And you're like, I sure am glad he didn't stop at 917.

Yeah.

You know what I mean? Like, You, you learn something every single time that you fail. And I think people are scared of failure. And like, if you're, if you're too scared of failure, then you're never gonna, you're never gonna succeed, right? You know? So I love it.

I think, I think a lot of people would— at least my comeback to that would be, I think more people are worried about failure now because failure has become public.