Roger Magalhaes: at the end of the class, he came to me and said, You just green into this whole business, right? I said, Yeah, absolutely. have you heard of P and I? And I say, I have no clue what you're talking about. So he explained and he mentioned that you should join a local chapter. how to position yourself, how to talk to people. marketing everything and that's really how the whole B and I thing started for me. So I joined, I gained a lot of experience. I learned how to talk in public because I was kind of shy and kind of didn't know how to, you know, even set myself in front of a client. So it was a great experience. From that point on life took a different direction. welcome to another show of No Shrings Attached. My name is Roger McAllis and I am your host. If this is your first time here, welcome to the show. And if you have been here before, welcome back. Today I'm talking to Dave. Dave is here in Florida. He's a contractor, he's specialized in outdoor living. And he's part of my BNI. And BNI, if you know don't know what that is, is is a global organization that specializes in creating networking groups. So if you if you're looking for connections, you join BNI, they're gonna find a local chapter where makes sense for you. And the whole point with B and I. You're going to be the only trade in that group. So there's no two window treatments in that company. There's no two lawyers doing the same field on the same group. And from that, you build trust. You show people your true colors and you engage, you create this environment that people feel confident to refer you to other people. It's not a place that you're just gonna come and get business, get referrals. It doesn't work like that. You need to build trust. And the beauty of BI: if you don't have anyone in your group that for a specific trade or a specific profession that you're looking for, you reach out to other local chapters, and everybody technically wear the same. attitude and they will try to help you out. They're going to follow up on referrals and everything. So in this case, we have a master group for the Bay, Tampa Bay area. And someone in that group was looking for a window treatment guy to do an exterior job. And obviously they didn't have one on that group. So some some people start mentioning my name. And out of that, Dave was on that group and he saw my name. He reached out and said, Hey, I do exterior living work. I'm an exterior contractor, and I'm looking for someone like you to provide the shades for my projects. And out of that, the whole relationship started. Dave also has a podcast, and today he's my guest on my podcast. And welcome to the show, Dave.
Dave: Thanks so much, Roger, man. I appreciate you having me on and the value that you're bringing to people. And you know, what you said about B and I is very true, man. It's a powerful organization. I would recommend, you know, all the other contractors out there or small business owners check it out if you haven't already.
Roger Magalhaes: Absolutely. And the funny thing with B and I, I just celebrated 20 years in business, right? So when I first started, I didn't know what I was doing. Obviously, most people don't know it's very different than know what to do with your hands versus running a company. It's completely different, night and day. So the only thing I knew is that I didn't know anything. And I said, I need to go. And at least get educated on the books. So when the money comes in, what do I need to do? How do I need to allocate this money? What do I need to do with that? So I went to a night class in the local high school just to learn how QuickBooks work. So nothing else. I got there. The guy teaching the class realized that I didn't know what I was doing. But I was really interested in learning it. So at the end of the class, he came to me and said, You just green into this whole business, right? I said, Yeah, absolutely. Say, have you heard of P and I? And I say, I have no clue what you're talking about. So he explained and he mentioned that you should join a local chapter. You're gonna learn a lot, you're gonna learn a lot about, you know, how to position yourself, how to talk to people. marketing everything and that's really how the whole B and I thing started for me. So I joined, I gained a lot of experience. I learned how to talk in public because I was kind of shy and kind of didn't know how to, you know, even set myself in front of a client. So it was a great experience. From that point on life took a different direction. So I left B and I But then 18 years later, when I moved to Florida and I didn't know one single person in Florida, I rejoined BI and I said, you what? I should grow my connections here. It was the best thing that happened to me. Not because I needed the business as much, but I needed my network. Because I did a good job and been people asked, Roger, do you know a painter? Do you know, you know, a lawyer or a fence guy or a tree? Guy, whatever. And I say, you know what? I should rejoin BNI. That's exactly what I did. And even being busy for that long is still create a lot of trust and create the right connections. And we take it from there. And Dave is the real deal right here, just to confirm what I'm saying. So having great connections make the whole difference in your business. Isn't that true, Dave?
Dave: Absolutely.
Roger Magalhaes: So how did you start with contractor? The w what was the the starting point?
Dave: Yeah, so I graduated from college in two thousand six. I got degree in marketing and communications. I have been in sales and marketing pretty much my whole life, professional career about twenty years. And then when COVID hit, looking to kind of transition. I was living in Michigan at the time. I had a friend who was a home builder here in Tampa and
Roger Magalhaes: Mm.
Dave: he invited me to come out and help him. it was Part on the real estate side to help him find lots to build on, but also he needed help, you know, with project management and a foreman as well. So that's when you know, he had me get wanted me to get my builder license to help qualify as his company. And that's when I kind of got into contracting at that point.
Roger Magalhaes: Well that's interesting. Are you originally from Michigan? That's cool. So
Dave: Yes, sir. Yep. Detroit area. Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: right before COVID, right during COVID, you came here?
Dave: Well, shortly after, about a year after in March of twenty one. Hm?
Roger Magalhaes: Okay. And up to that point you were not a hands on kind of guy. You're more like a office guy with marketing.
Dave: Well, more sales. You know, I was doing all kind of inside sales mainly for a lot of technical things, websites, IT,
Roger Magalhaes: Yeah.
Dave: ERP systems, and then I got into real estate for a while after that too.
Roger Magalhaes: It's a big change, isn't it?
Dave: yeah, yeah, yeah. So but you know, there's a lot of advantages too because you know the things that I'm good at,
Roger Magalhaes: Yeah.
Dave: a lot of the contractors are not. So it it you know I I makes for a good team with a lot of them.
Roger Magalhaes: That's great. Yeah, compliments, right?
Dave: Mm-hmm.
Roger Magalhaes: And how did you end it up on the outside of the house? A lot of contractors do they do the interior part, right?
Dave: Yeah, yeah. So you know, I like I said, I got was in real estate and things were kinda dying down short you know, four a few years after I moved to Florida and
Roger Magalhaes: Yeah.
Dave: I had a friend who was looking out for me and got me a position working at a sales job for a paper company. And so that's where I kind of just learned about the industry and I just noticed that there was a need for somebody that's like an outdoor living GC type of a guy. Okay. Cause I would go out and I would do sales appointments for just to do like a paver walkway or something. And then they would ask me about, you know, hey, do you know somebody who does turf? What are you know, what are we looking for an outdoor kitchen and some of these other things. And so I just realized, okay, well, there's a need for something like this because if you build a good rapport with somebody, they would rather just deal with one person as opposed to trying to vet all these different guys for all these different trades and and whatnot. So that's kinda
Roger Magalhaes: Agree.
Dave: yeah, where I where I came in.
Roger Magalhaes: It it's funny. So you're from Michigan. I'm from Boston. Kinda very cold, regardless which which state we're talking about.
Dave: Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: So for the first eighteen eighteen years of my life, I only did interior shades, right? And to me it was the only world that existed. And then I moved to Florida and I realized people live outside of the house for most of the time. except when the summertime is extremely hot like today it is one of those days. But
Dave: Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: the point is that's a lot of work outdoors for especially on the south that people spend a lot of time on the exterior. So I learned that my business grew doubled overnight just because there's so much work that is Roller shades for lanes for exterior areas for pool cages, you know, you want privacy, or you want to put a blackout shade there so you can work as a screen projector for the night so you can play movies on those things. Or perhaps you want a little privacy from the neighbor. You do
Dave: Mm-hmm.
Roger Magalhaes: extending awning awnings. So you can have sun and you can have shade depending on the time of the day. You need hurricane shutters for hurricanes, and that's a very good thing in Florida because we have a ton of hurricanes. So that's a lot of business on the exterior side, and I'm sure the same thing for you, Dave, right?
Dave: Yeah, I I'll never forget the first time I came down and played golf with one of my friends here in Florida and I was looking at the backyards and seeing these screen enclosures and I'm like, What the what the heck are these things? but
Roger Magalhaes: Uh-huh.
Dave: it I it immediately hit to me like, Man, that's probably a good business to be in over here. I mean, I I never, you know, thought that I would actually be in it. you know, probably fifteen years after that first you know, experience. But yeah, I mean people are are spending a lot of time outdoors here. It's something that you can do year round. And even you know, when there is maybe a little bit of a slower time in the winter, that's when people are more apt to do bigger projects because they're not going to be using their pool or outdoor. So so we can it's not so cold that we can't even work, you know, out here in in December
Roger Magalhaes: Correct.
Dave: or January. So I'm finding that a lot of people, you know, want to hold off and kind of just start those projects at that time. So year round, man, we stay pretty busy. this is one of the slower times of the year too in August. So it's good timing for this podcast, you know, when kids go back to school and they're doing vacations and everything. But yeah, I mean I mean I I love it and I'm really glad that I got into it.
Roger Magalhaes: That's nice. Now, how do you leverage your sales experience with the contractor part? How that help you be different than your competition?
Dave: Well, I think main the main thing is just communication. I mean, I understand the importance of that. you know, asking the right questions, listening, you know, to what the client wants and you know, just just kind of forming that. I mean, unfortunately, the bar is pretty low, you know, for a lot of these contractors
Roger Magalhaes: Yeah, I agree.
Dave: and the way that they communicate. So really, I mean y you know, if you just say what you if you just do what you say you're gonna do and you you know, are are consistent and get back in a timely manner. it's not that it's s so hard, but it's you know, just something that you know you have to pay attention to and and have the time to to do.
Roger Magalhaes: Yeah, I I I joke with the people say it's not that hard to just pick up the phone and say you're gonna be five minutes late.
Dave: Well listen, I mean, even text messages nowadays, man, I mean, it makes it so much easier. But I'm I'm old school. I mean, I usually I call people a lot more than I think most people do. But yeah, I mean, that's how easy it is to just text, I mean, just makes it so much easier to at least communicate and and just be be make sure people know, you know, that we're all on the same page.
Roger Magalhaes: Right. Now let me understand this. You don't do any work yourself. You just coordinate and have all the subcontractors do the work for you.
Dave: Correct. I'm I'm not the installer. yeah, I have partners that I use to to do the work and I'm I'm the you know, project manager per se as well. Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: Product ma product manager, okay. So l list to me all the potential work that can be done outside of or a regular home.
Dave: That we do? Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: Yeah, so you do favors.
Dave: Yeah, so I mean pa screened in paved patios, that's our specialty.
Roger Magalhaes: Okay.
Dave: you know, and then it would be like outdoor kitchens, pergolas, and lighting. those are probably our five five main categories.
Roger Magalhaes: Okay.
Dave: Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: And tell me some something odd or kinda a request that you kinda do you really want to go this route? Anything kinda out of the ordinary that people because to me, you know, and I deal with homeowners all the time, a lot of times they kind of find something on the internet or they watch HTTV and they feel like, this is so easy. And they come to you and say, Can you do these? And you, no, this is not exactly possible. Anything
Dave: Mm-hmm.
Roger Magalhaes: that kinda jumps to mind
Dave: Well, un fortunately not too many of those. I mean, you know, it's more people are unrealistic about, you know, pricing that that
Roger Magalhaes: Okay.
Dave: they think it can be. But you know, with the research that people can do nowadays, I think you know, a lot of people have better expectations than at least they used to.
Roger Magalhaes: Mm-hmm.
Dave: I mean the one thing that I get sometimes is people asking about the screens like the roof of of them. You know, we can do composite screens, but I had somebody recently ask me about like a metal. pan roof for for whatever reason they wanted to have that. And it's like a beautiful, nice area. And I'm like, why would you want that? You know, you got all this other nice stuff. And that would kind of
Roger Magalhaes: Mm.
Dave: I feel like ruin it. But the nice thing too is, you know, we do a lot of 3D renderings for bigger projects. So
Roger Magalhaes: you do.
Dave: they can have a good idea of what this is going to look like. So there's not
Roger Magalhaes: Okay.
Dave: any any surprises on at least a lot of the bigger projects. Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: That's cool. It sounds like everything is going well with your business, but is that at any point there was something that you kinda didn't know you're getting into it? Or like my friends all think that this is just perfect, but in reality, I work nights, you know, I answer phone over the weekend, anything like
Dave: Hmm.
Roger Magalhaes: that.
Dave: yeah, man. I mean, yeah, thankfully things are going well now. But I had a a lot to to learn when I first started in the business. I mean, for example, I didn't even know like where to put some of the the permit packages, you know, when I first started the job. I didn't even 'cause I didn't have a a holder for it per se. And so I was like, I don't even know where I'm supposed to put this thing. So yeah, I mean there were there was a lot of just small little learning things like that, but you know, ultimately the responsibility always falls on me as like the the general G C you know project manager. So I I can't until I've like seen s somebody's work and really vetted them out, I can't just like take somebody's word for it where they say, yeah, yeah, we can do that or we it's like, no, we gotta we gotta make sure, you know, what we're on the same page and we're talking about the right thing. But yeah, I mean fortunately we haven't had any really big you know, errors or or anything. I mean small things come up here and there, but overall
Roger Magalhaes: Right.
Dave: it's been great.
Roger Magalhaes: That's great. And what is the best source of referrals for you at this point?
Dave: B and I for sure. Yeah. So like you
Roger Magalhaes: Okay.
Dave: said, I mean I I don't only only network with my group that I'm in, in B and I. I I I visited I think seventeen or eighteen different chapters.
Roger Magalhaes: Wow.
Dave: so yeah, I mean meeting other people face to face because you know, if they need something, they can go on the app or they can search it out, but it's totally
Roger Magalhaes: Mm.
Dave: different if they've met you before and they know who you are and you know, that they know the different things that you do. So You know, D and I has been great. But yeah, I mean once you really make some good partnerships with other guys in the industry, I mean they look out for you and you look out for them and it it all tends to, you know, work out, you know, one hand washes the other, so to speak. Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: For sure, for sure. And it yours is not exactly just a regular general contractor, right? You're kinda a specialty, a niche, right? not everyone is spending money on the outdoors or they don't spend as much as, you know, to make the place as nice. Is that correct?
Dave: Yeah, so there's not many guys like me per se, even in the outdoor realm, because the usually the pool builders are the guys who will control the projects, you know, bigger projects on the outside.
Roger Magalhaes: Mm-hmm.
Dave: so seeing the fact that, you know, we we have people we partner with for pools if if somebody wants it, but you know, there's not a lot of guys who just do what we do and specialize in screened in paper patios. So a lot of people may not know that that there's a few different three different well four different I'm sorry, five different traits, you know, that that will be a part of like a screened and paper patio project. Can can I just elaborate on that real quick? Is that okay? Yeah. So it's not
Roger Magalhaes: Sure, please. Yeah, absolutely.
Dave: it it's the pavers and the screens, but you know, you gotta do the concrete footers to for the screens to be anchored into. So you gotta have a concrete guy.
Roger Magalhaes: Yeah.
Dave: they also need to be treated for termites, so you have to have a pest control guy. And These projects need to be permitted. So, you know, you had I I have my builder license, thankfully. So I can do this all under one roof. But you know, a lot of people may not be aware of it's not just scre you know, pavers and screens. I mean, there's a few other things that go into it. So it's it's kind of a a complicated, more complicated than I think more people most people know. And it's great to have somebody like myself who you can just have one guy to kind of handle it all.
Roger Magalhaes: And can a homeowner pull permits to do the whole thing themselves or not really.
Dave: Yeah, I mean they can if if they want to. And in most areas I believe, you know, homeowner can pull the permit. Yeah. But but they don't
Roger Magalhaes: Interesting. Yeah.
Dave: I mean it's a it's a pain in the butt process. I mean most people don't have the time or the I mean if they really want to they can, but I don't think most people want. They'd rather just pay somebody to do it, you know.
Roger Magalhaes: believe me. So we moved into this new house. I mean, I moved to Florida and I never been to Florida in my life. So I said we're just gonna rent for a year until we figured out where we really wanna live.
Dave: Mm-hmm.
Roger Magalhaes: So it happened to really like the area that we kinda was renting. So we actually find a house across the street from the apartment complex that we're living in. We put an offer in, bought it. Moved in in a week after we got hit by Helene, which was a big
Dave: wow. Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: hurricane, three feet of water inside my house. Two weeks later we had another hurricane Milton and finished the whole process. So we got two hurricanes back to back. And I'm dealing with all of these baloney that I just moved in, not even half my business up and run the way it's supposed to, it's still kind of trying to find my foot. And now I have to deal with hurricanes and everything. So I learned that I could do all the permitting and I start doing it just because I'm in the trades. I kinda I understand more or less how these things work. And then I realize how complicated and how many different layers of permitting is required in this place called Florida. So if you have a little bit of sense in your mind. You just don't wanna deal with that at all. So all different towns and legal and counties, right? And cities and everyone talks a different language and they not even talk to each other. It's so complex and complicated.
Dave: Yeah. Well, and on top of that you got the HOAs. And I mean, sometimes those guys are even worse. I mean, they just wanna feel important for some reason. I mean, they're d you know, maybe they are struggling with certain
Roger Magalhaes: Yeah.
Dave: other things in their life and they just wanna try to exercise their certain powers that they have, but man, they can be very difficult to deal with too.
Roger Magalhaes: Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. So be beside works, what else you like to do, Dave?
Dave: man, I'm big into sports. you know, b both watching and playing. I played golf, basketball, and baseball in high school. So that's still a big part of my life. you know, just just a normal guy, man. I mean I like to hang out at the cigar bar when you know, when I have time, you know, good food, good music, movies, all that kind of stuff. And
Roger Magalhaes: Nice.
Dave: yeah, so just that's that's my main thing.
Roger Magalhaes: That's great. So you still have family up in Michigan?
Dave: Yes, sir. Yep. most of my family's there. My brother is in Chicago area. and my sister and nieces are in Troy, Michigan, just north of Detroit.
Roger Magalhaes: Cool. Cool.
Dave: Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: So any plans growing your company? You you find you are in a good space. You it's kinda easy to manage the way it is, to stay that way or you wanna grow or you wanna kinda step back a little bit. What is the plan?
Dave: Good question. yeah, I mean I we still have room to grow, you know, as far as kind of where we're at currently. I mean, I'd I would like to continue to expand the next couple of years, but I'm not looking to get bigger than, you know, a couple of million or whatever. You know, I don't
Roger Magalhaes: Mm-hmm.
Dave: I don't I think once you get past that it b it would be something that would be maybe a little bit more than I would I would want. So but yeah, I mean just just covering the areas that we do and You know, we're in a really good area in Lando Lakes. I mean, it's where the path of progress is going, north of Tampa. So, you know, we have communities that we work in that we're getting, you know, pretty well known in and that seems to work very well for us. Mm-hmm.
Roger Magalhaes: Right. Now, if people in my industry is watching this and they kinda, I never thought I could, you know, do exterior shade, whatever. And they want to partner with someone like you. They're kinda you kinda I don't need to go sell the jobs. You are basically the one selling the jobs and coming to me just to provide a product and install it and make you look good. So what kinda information, what kind of questions they should ask the contractor or what would be a good relationship between the two?
Dave: With the customer even?
Roger Magalhaes: With the if one colleague of mine that does shades and they want to expand into these and they want to find a Dave in their area, so
Dave: okay.
Roger Magalhaes: what would be a good interaction between them? So what do they look for in the Dave they are looking for to get the right, you know, business going?
Dave: Uh-huh. Well, good luck. I'm hard to find out there, man. But I'm just Yeah, right, exactly.
Roger Magalhaes: The second best Dave.
Dave: yeah, man, I mean just you know, somebody who communicates well who, you know, you know, obviously you want to look at their experience and other projects that they do. But I mean, man, I really value all of my partners. So I try to make it as easy as possible. The nice thing again with you know, people having more information and doing more research, a lot of times they know what they want. So it's just me being there and saying, Okay, well This is what you want, you know, where do you want it? And I just, you know, s measure the dimensions and take pictures and photos and videos and send to the guys. And so, you know, somebody who values you and somebody who knows what it takes to kind of make it easier for you to do your job and so you can both kind of get more business that way and and you can do what you do best, the installing and I'll just I'll sell it and take care of everything else and customer service
Roger Magalhaes: Right.
Dave: and managing. Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: And being up front, right? So I even have jobs that people come to me and say, Roger, I have this idea, I want to do these. I would have tell them, say, I'm willing to work with you. I never done that. So but if you let me try it, we'll figure it out. And some people say now I need this, cannot be sideways whatsoever. And some people say, Yeah, I'm willing to let you, you know, figure it out because I already trust you, I know you're gonna do your best. So are you kinda open the same way with your partners?
Dave: Yeah, yeah. I mean I I just wanna make sure I know you know, what to look for, you know, any potential problems that might come up and
Roger Magalhaes: Mm-hmm.
Dave: just make sure that they have a good handle on on what it is that they would be doing. But yeah, I mean since everybody I work with is a specialist in their area, they they know, you know, what the questions to ask and to make sure that we you know we know what's going on with it. Mm-hmm.
Roger Magalhaes: And what what kind of projects you like to do the most that you kind of just enjoy no matter what?
Dave: man, the screened in paper patios are are are our best jobs. I would say personally though, I love turf jobs. I
Roger Magalhaes: Okay.
Dave: love, you know, the the effect that the turf it's just it's so clean, it's nice, you know. Sometimes those turf and tile, if you've ever seen those kind of jobs,
Roger Magalhaes: No.
Dave: it just man, it I I feel like it just really pops and it really makes the property look great. So I I personally really like any job with turf.
Roger Magalhaes: It's interesting because, you know, as I said, we moved in, we got the hurricane, the messed up the whole thing. We fixed the backyard with regular grass. And I said,
Dave: Mm-hmm.
Roger Magalhaes: I'll take care of it. And no problem. It's gonna be my you know, weekend workout. I'm gonna love it. I'll tell you, I hate it every single freaking minute.
Dave: Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: And it's not it listen, listen to me. It's not the cutting grass that I complain. It's knowing that I need to fertilize it, and the the whole soil moves, and you need to replenish and you need to water it. There's so much more work behind that I had no clue what I was getting into it. That now we are considering to do the turf. So, but one but
Dave: Well, it's different.
Roger Magalhaes: one One thing that I learned here is the city needs to approve it, right? So not every place can do turf. Even if I want it, the city needs to allow me to do that. Is that true?
Dave: Yeah, I mean s I you know, some places the impervious ratio is gonna come into effect. I mean, depending on how they put the base layer in there.
Roger Magalhaes: Uh-huh.
Dave: but yeah, I mean that's something that you always wanna make sure and check about.
Roger Magalhaes: So can you tell can you elaborate a little more on details? What is this that you just talked about?
Dave: impervious ratio. So yeah, that's
Roger Magalhaes: Yeah.
Dave: basically green space, you know, so there's like concrete or pavers and so they want to make sure that there's a certain percentage of the property. I think it's sixty five percent in most areas that is I forget w is pervious. So in other words, the
Roger Magalhaes: Okay.
Dave: the rain can come in and kind of soak into some
Roger Magalhaes: Penetrates the the soil.
Dave: correct. Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: Is this just my house alone or is that kind of the whole neighborhood they consider these this ratio?
Dave: just your property. So
Roger Magalhaes: Just my property.
Dave: yeah, I mean the you have you have to do a survey drawing and tell them where the turf is going to be and kind of calculate okay, this is how much square feet the house is, this is the driveway, this is what we're gonna be doing in the back, and so altogether this is how much pervious you have and how much impervious you have.
Roger Magalhaes: Okay. And what is the benefits Rio Grass versus Turf?
Dave: Well, again, you know, the the maintenance that you you talked about aesthetically pleasing the the grasses. so I mean for me, I mean that's that's the main thing. Obviously it's a turf is more expensive, but if you if you're gonna be there for a while and you have you know the long term perspective, I mean the value of you know not having to maintain it and having something that looks great and for resale value for me is is the biggest selling points for turf.
Roger Magalhaes: When you say it's more expensive, is more expensive initial investment or kinda overall? If I if I stay here ten, fifteen years, would that even out or even that much I still kinda losing money?
Dave: yeah, yeah, yeah. If you're gonna stay there for ten or fifteen years, yeah, but I mean you're talking about ten to twelve a square foot usually for for turf, whereas I don't even know, I mean what like a dollar or two. So yeah, it's definitely
Roger Magalhaes: Okay.
Dave: definitely much more cost. But if you're gonna stay there for a long term, yeah, I mean and and and you don't wanna maintain it like that, sure. You'll get your money's worth out of it for sure if you stay there ten years or more. Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: I it it looks a lot nicer every day of the week. So we just we were away in for five weeks. We just came back and looks like entering the wrong house with this thing is just this big
Dave: Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: look like going to Amazon forest with so much grass that just grew and if I had turf it would be a different problem.
Dave: You got a guy you can you got a B
Roger Magalhaes: Just walk right in.
Dave: and I guy you can have to cut the grass for you when you're gone?
Roger Magalhaes: because my B and I is in St. Pete, nobody wants to come all the way to to Tampa. So I need to find I need to find a local guy.
Dave: I don't know. I think I mu I got I think I might know after you are let me see if I I'll check my Rolodex when we're done.
Roger Magalhaes: You got it. So now in regards to turf, I actually got a couple people calling me because obviously s Florida is very sunny and people are having problems with the sun hitting the window and the window reflecting on the turf. Have you found
Dave: Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: that? have you got those kind of calls as well?
Dave: I haven't got any calls for it, but yeah, I mean it's something we take into consideration when we're planning the project. And yeah, I mean something you definitely want to be aware of if you're putting turf, you know, close to where the windows are. Yep.
Roger Magalhaes: And they kinda the the reflection can burn the turf, correct?
Dave: Yeah, yeah, I can.
Roger Magalhaes: It interesting. Yeah. All right, David. I appreciate all your help here, educating people and you know, things that they can be doing well outside of their homes and a lot of times they not even know what to do. You you gave us some nice options here. If people want to find you, how do they do? Where do they go?
Dave: thanks. Yeah. So the website is get your outdoor oasis dot com. same on Instagram. that's where we're pretty active at Get Your Outdoor Oasis. and then as you mentioned in the beginning, I have my own podcast, which I hope you'll be able to join me soon. It's it's the Outdoor Oasis podcast. You can check us out there as well.
Roger Magalhaes: That's great, man. I appreciate and definitely we'll pass the word around. Dave,
Dave: Of course, I appreciate it.
Roger Magalhaes: my pleasure. Thank you so much, man, and I'll talk to you again.
Dave: All right, man. Thank you.
Roger Magalhaes: You too, bye bye.
Dave: Okay, bye.
Dave: Thanks so much, Roger, man. I appreciate you having me on and the value that you're bringing to people. And you know, what you said about B and I is very true, man. It's a powerful organization. I would recommend, you know, all the other contractors out there or small business owners check it out if you haven't already.
Roger Magalhaes: Absolutely. And the funny thing with B and I, I just celebrated 20 years in business, right? So when I first started, I didn't know what I was doing. Obviously, most people don't know it's very different than know what to do with your hands versus running a company. It's completely different, night and day. So the only thing I knew is that I didn't know anything. And I said, I need to go. And at least get educated on the books. So when the money comes in, what do I need to do? How do I need to allocate this money? What do I need to do with that? So I went to a night class in the local high school just to learn how QuickBooks work. So nothing else. I got there. The guy teaching the class realized that I didn't know what I was doing. But I was really interested in learning it. So at the end of the class, he came to me and said, You just green into this whole business, right? I said, Yeah, absolutely. Say, have you heard of P and I? And I say, I have no clue what you're talking about. So he explained and he mentioned that you should join a local chapter. You're gonna learn a lot, you're gonna learn a lot about, you know, how to position yourself, how to talk to people. marketing everything and that's really how the whole B and I thing started for me. So I joined, I gained a lot of experience. I learned how to talk in public because I was kind of shy and kind of didn't know how to, you know, even set myself in front of a client. So it was a great experience. From that point on life took a different direction. So I left B and I But then 18 years later, when I moved to Florida and I didn't know one single person in Florida, I rejoined BI and I said, you what? I should grow my connections here. It was the best thing that happened to me. Not because I needed the business as much, but I needed my network. Because I did a good job and been people asked, Roger, do you know a painter? Do you know, you know, a lawyer or a fence guy or a tree? Guy, whatever. And I say, you know what? I should rejoin BNI. That's exactly what I did. And even being busy for that long is still create a lot of trust and create the right connections. And we take it from there. And Dave is the real deal right here, just to confirm what I'm saying. So having great connections make the whole difference in your business. Isn't that true, Dave?
Dave: Absolutely.
Roger Magalhaes: So how did you start with contractor? The w what was the the starting point?
Dave: Yeah, so I graduated from college in two thousand six. I got degree in marketing and communications. I have been in sales and marketing pretty much my whole life, professional career about twenty years. And then when COVID hit, looking to kind of transition. I was living in Michigan at the time. I had a friend who was a home builder here in Tampa and
Roger Magalhaes: Mm.
Dave: he invited me to come out and help him. it was Part on the real estate side to help him find lots to build on, but also he needed help, you know, with project management and a foreman as well. So that's when you know, he had me get wanted me to get my builder license to help qualify as his company. And that's when I kind of got into contracting at that point.
Roger Magalhaes: Well that's interesting. Are you originally from Michigan? That's cool. So
Dave: Yes, sir. Yep. Detroit area. Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: right before COVID, right during COVID, you came here?
Dave: Well, shortly after, about a year after in March of twenty one. Hm?
Roger Magalhaes: Okay. And up to that point you were not a hands on kind of guy. You're more like a office guy with marketing.
Dave: Well, more sales. You know, I was doing all kind of inside sales mainly for a lot of technical things, websites, IT,
Roger Magalhaes: Yeah.
Dave: ERP systems, and then I got into real estate for a while after that too.
Roger Magalhaes: It's a big change, isn't it?
Dave: yeah, yeah, yeah. So but you know, there's a lot of advantages too because you know the things that I'm good at,
Roger Magalhaes: Yeah.
Dave: a lot of the contractors are not. So it it you know I I makes for a good team with a lot of them.
Roger Magalhaes: That's great. Yeah, compliments, right?
Dave: Mm-hmm.
Roger Magalhaes: And how did you end it up on the outside of the house? A lot of contractors do they do the interior part, right?
Dave: Yeah, yeah. So you know, I like I said, I got was in real estate and things were kinda dying down short you know, four a few years after I moved to Florida and
Roger Magalhaes: Yeah.
Dave: I had a friend who was looking out for me and got me a position working at a sales job for a paper company. And so that's where I kind of just learned about the industry and I just noticed that there was a need for somebody that's like an outdoor living GC type of a guy. Okay. Cause I would go out and I would do sales appointments for just to do like a paver walkway or something. And then they would ask me about, you know, hey, do you know somebody who does turf? What are you know, what are we looking for an outdoor kitchen and some of these other things. And so I just realized, okay, well, there's a need for something like this because if you build a good rapport with somebody, they would rather just deal with one person as opposed to trying to vet all these different guys for all these different trades and and whatnot. So that's kinda
Roger Magalhaes: Agree.
Dave: yeah, where I where I came in.
Roger Magalhaes: It it's funny. So you're from Michigan. I'm from Boston. Kinda very cold, regardless which which state we're talking about.
Dave: Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: So for the first eighteen eighteen years of my life, I only did interior shades, right? And to me it was the only world that existed. And then I moved to Florida and I realized people live outside of the house for most of the time. except when the summertime is extremely hot like today it is one of those days. But
Dave: Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: the point is that's a lot of work outdoors for especially on the south that people spend a lot of time on the exterior. So I learned that my business grew doubled overnight just because there's so much work that is Roller shades for lanes for exterior areas for pool cages, you know, you want privacy, or you want to put a blackout shade there so you can work as a screen projector for the night so you can play movies on those things. Or perhaps you want a little privacy from the neighbor. You do
Dave: Mm-hmm.
Roger Magalhaes: extending awning awnings. So you can have sun and you can have shade depending on the time of the day. You need hurricane shutters for hurricanes, and that's a very good thing in Florida because we have a ton of hurricanes. So that's a lot of business on the exterior side, and I'm sure the same thing for you, Dave, right?
Dave: Yeah, I I'll never forget the first time I came down and played golf with one of my friends here in Florida and I was looking at the backyards and seeing these screen enclosures and I'm like, What the what the heck are these things? but
Roger Magalhaes: Uh-huh.
Dave: it I it immediately hit to me like, Man, that's probably a good business to be in over here. I mean, I I never, you know, thought that I would actually be in it. you know, probably fifteen years after that first you know, experience. But yeah, I mean people are are spending a lot of time outdoors here. It's something that you can do year round. And even you know, when there is maybe a little bit of a slower time in the winter, that's when people are more apt to do bigger projects because they're not going to be using their pool or outdoor. So so we can it's not so cold that we can't even work, you know, out here in in December
Roger Magalhaes: Correct.
Dave: or January. So I'm finding that a lot of people, you know, want to hold off and kind of just start those projects at that time. So year round, man, we stay pretty busy. this is one of the slower times of the year too in August. So it's good timing for this podcast, you know, when kids go back to school and they're doing vacations and everything. But yeah, I mean I mean I I love it and I'm really glad that I got into it.
Roger Magalhaes: That's nice. Now, how do you leverage your sales experience with the contractor part? How that help you be different than your competition?
Dave: Well, I think main the main thing is just communication. I mean, I understand the importance of that. you know, asking the right questions, listening, you know, to what the client wants and you know, just just kind of forming that. I mean, unfortunately, the bar is pretty low, you know, for a lot of these contractors
Roger Magalhaes: Yeah, I agree.
Dave: and the way that they communicate. So really, I mean y you know, if you just say what you if you just do what you say you're gonna do and you you know, are are consistent and get back in a timely manner. it's not that it's s so hard, but it's you know, just something that you know you have to pay attention to and and have the time to to do.
Roger Magalhaes: Yeah, I I I joke with the people say it's not that hard to just pick up the phone and say you're gonna be five minutes late.
Dave: Well listen, I mean, even text messages nowadays, man, I mean, it makes it so much easier. But I'm I'm old school. I mean, I usually I call people a lot more than I think most people do. But yeah, I mean, that's how easy it is to just text, I mean, just makes it so much easier to at least communicate and and just be be make sure people know, you know, that we're all on the same page.
Roger Magalhaes: Right. Now let me understand this. You don't do any work yourself. You just coordinate and have all the subcontractors do the work for you.
Dave: Correct. I'm I'm not the installer. yeah, I have partners that I use to to do the work and I'm I'm the you know, project manager per se as well. Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: Product ma product manager, okay. So l list to me all the potential work that can be done outside of or a regular home.
Dave: That we do? Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: Yeah, so you do favors.
Dave: Yeah, so I mean pa screened in paved patios, that's our specialty.
Roger Magalhaes: Okay.
Dave: you know, and then it would be like outdoor kitchens, pergolas, and lighting. those are probably our five five main categories.
Roger Magalhaes: Okay.
Dave: Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: And tell me some something odd or kinda a request that you kinda do you really want to go this route? Anything kinda out of the ordinary that people because to me, you know, and I deal with homeowners all the time, a lot of times they kind of find something on the internet or they watch HTTV and they feel like, this is so easy. And they come to you and say, Can you do these? And you, no, this is not exactly possible. Anything
Dave: Mm-hmm.
Roger Magalhaes: that kinda jumps to mind
Dave: Well, un fortunately not too many of those. I mean, you know, it's more people are unrealistic about, you know, pricing that that
Roger Magalhaes: Okay.
Dave: they think it can be. But you know, with the research that people can do nowadays, I think you know, a lot of people have better expectations than at least they used to.
Roger Magalhaes: Mm-hmm.
Dave: I mean the one thing that I get sometimes is people asking about the screens like the roof of of them. You know, we can do composite screens, but I had somebody recently ask me about like a metal. pan roof for for whatever reason they wanted to have that. And it's like a beautiful, nice area. And I'm like, why would you want that? You know, you got all this other nice stuff. And that would kind of
Roger Magalhaes: Mm.
Dave: I feel like ruin it. But the nice thing too is, you know, we do a lot of 3D renderings for bigger projects. So
Roger Magalhaes: you do.
Dave: they can have a good idea of what this is going to look like. So there's not
Roger Magalhaes: Okay.
Dave: any any surprises on at least a lot of the bigger projects. Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: That's cool. It sounds like everything is going well with your business, but is that at any point there was something that you kinda didn't know you're getting into it? Or like my friends all think that this is just perfect, but in reality, I work nights, you know, I answer phone over the weekend, anything like
Dave: Hmm.
Roger Magalhaes: that.
Dave: yeah, man. I mean, yeah, thankfully things are going well now. But I had a a lot to to learn when I first started in the business. I mean, for example, I didn't even know like where to put some of the the permit packages, you know, when I first started the job. I didn't even 'cause I didn't have a a holder for it per se. And so I was like, I don't even know where I'm supposed to put this thing. So yeah, I mean there were there was a lot of just small little learning things like that, but you know, ultimately the responsibility always falls on me as like the the general G C you know project manager. So I I can't until I've like seen s somebody's work and really vetted them out, I can't just like take somebody's word for it where they say, yeah, yeah, we can do that or we it's like, no, we gotta we gotta make sure, you know, what we're on the same page and we're talking about the right thing. But yeah, I mean fortunately we haven't had any really big you know, errors or or anything. I mean small things come up here and there, but overall
Roger Magalhaes: Right.
Dave: it's been great.
Roger Magalhaes: That's great. And what is the best source of referrals for you at this point?
Dave: B and I for sure. Yeah. So like you
Roger Magalhaes: Okay.
Dave: said, I mean I I don't only only network with my group that I'm in, in B and I. I I I visited I think seventeen or eighteen different chapters.
Roger Magalhaes: Wow.
Dave: so yeah, I mean meeting other people face to face because you know, if they need something, they can go on the app or they can search it out, but it's totally
Roger Magalhaes: Mm.
Dave: different if they've met you before and they know who you are and you know, that they know the different things that you do. So You know, D and I has been great. But yeah, I mean once you really make some good partnerships with other guys in the industry, I mean they look out for you and you look out for them and it it all tends to, you know, work out, you know, one hand washes the other, so to speak. Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: For sure, for sure. And it yours is not exactly just a regular general contractor, right? You're kinda a specialty, a niche, right? not everyone is spending money on the outdoors or they don't spend as much as, you know, to make the place as nice. Is that correct?
Dave: Yeah, so there's not many guys like me per se, even in the outdoor realm, because the usually the pool builders are the guys who will control the projects, you know, bigger projects on the outside.
Roger Magalhaes: Mm-hmm.
Dave: so seeing the fact that, you know, we we have people we partner with for pools if if somebody wants it, but you know, there's not a lot of guys who just do what we do and specialize in screened in paper patios. So a lot of people may not know that that there's a few different three different well four different I'm sorry, five different traits, you know, that that will be a part of like a screened and paper patio project. Can can I just elaborate on that real quick? Is that okay? Yeah. So it's not
Roger Magalhaes: Sure, please. Yeah, absolutely.
Dave: it it's the pavers and the screens, but you know, you gotta do the concrete footers to for the screens to be anchored into. So you gotta have a concrete guy.
Roger Magalhaes: Yeah.
Dave: they also need to be treated for termites, so you have to have a pest control guy. And These projects need to be permitted. So, you know, you had I I have my builder license, thankfully. So I can do this all under one roof. But you know, a lot of people may not be aware of it's not just scre you know, pavers and screens. I mean, there's a few other things that go into it. So it's it's kind of a a complicated, more complicated than I think more people most people know. And it's great to have somebody like myself who you can just have one guy to kind of handle it all.
Roger Magalhaes: And can a homeowner pull permits to do the whole thing themselves or not really.
Dave: Yeah, I mean they can if if they want to. And in most areas I believe, you know, homeowner can pull the permit. Yeah. But but they don't
Roger Magalhaes: Interesting. Yeah.
Dave: I mean it's a it's a pain in the butt process. I mean most people don't have the time or the I mean if they really want to they can, but I don't think most people want. They'd rather just pay somebody to do it, you know.
Roger Magalhaes: believe me. So we moved into this new house. I mean, I moved to Florida and I never been to Florida in my life. So I said we're just gonna rent for a year until we figured out where we really wanna live.
Dave: Mm-hmm.
Roger Magalhaes: So it happened to really like the area that we kinda was renting. So we actually find a house across the street from the apartment complex that we're living in. We put an offer in, bought it. Moved in in a week after we got hit by Helene, which was a big
Dave: wow. Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: hurricane, three feet of water inside my house. Two weeks later we had another hurricane Milton and finished the whole process. So we got two hurricanes back to back. And I'm dealing with all of these baloney that I just moved in, not even half my business up and run the way it's supposed to, it's still kind of trying to find my foot. And now I have to deal with hurricanes and everything. So I learned that I could do all the permitting and I start doing it just because I'm in the trades. I kinda I understand more or less how these things work. And then I realize how complicated and how many different layers of permitting is required in this place called Florida. So if you have a little bit of sense in your mind. You just don't wanna deal with that at all. So all different towns and legal and counties, right? And cities and everyone talks a different language and they not even talk to each other. It's so complex and complicated.
Dave: Yeah. Well, and on top of that you got the HOAs. And I mean, sometimes those guys are even worse. I mean, they just wanna feel important for some reason. I mean, they're d you know, maybe they are struggling with certain
Roger Magalhaes: Yeah.
Dave: other things in their life and they just wanna try to exercise their certain powers that they have, but man, they can be very difficult to deal with too.
Roger Magalhaes: Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. So be beside works, what else you like to do, Dave?
Dave: man, I'm big into sports. you know, b both watching and playing. I played golf, basketball, and baseball in high school. So that's still a big part of my life. you know, just just a normal guy, man. I mean I like to hang out at the cigar bar when you know, when I have time, you know, good food, good music, movies, all that kind of stuff. And
Roger Magalhaes: Nice.
Dave: yeah, so just that's that's my main thing.
Roger Magalhaes: That's great. So you still have family up in Michigan?
Dave: Yes, sir. Yep. most of my family's there. My brother is in Chicago area. and my sister and nieces are in Troy, Michigan, just north of Detroit.
Roger Magalhaes: Cool. Cool.
Dave: Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: So any plans growing your company? You you find you are in a good space. You it's kinda easy to manage the way it is, to stay that way or you wanna grow or you wanna kinda step back a little bit. What is the plan?
Dave: Good question. yeah, I mean I we still have room to grow, you know, as far as kind of where we're at currently. I mean, I'd I would like to continue to expand the next couple of years, but I'm not looking to get bigger than, you know, a couple of million or whatever. You know, I don't
Roger Magalhaes: Mm-hmm.
Dave: I don't I think once you get past that it b it would be something that would be maybe a little bit more than I would I would want. So but yeah, I mean just just covering the areas that we do and You know, we're in a really good area in Lando Lakes. I mean, it's where the path of progress is going, north of Tampa. So, you know, we have communities that we work in that we're getting, you know, pretty well known in and that seems to work very well for us. Mm-hmm.
Roger Magalhaes: Right. Now, if people in my industry is watching this and they kinda, I never thought I could, you know, do exterior shade, whatever. And they want to partner with someone like you. They're kinda you kinda I don't need to go sell the jobs. You are basically the one selling the jobs and coming to me just to provide a product and install it and make you look good. So what kinda information, what kind of questions they should ask the contractor or what would be a good relationship between the two?
Dave: With the customer even?
Roger Magalhaes: With the if one colleague of mine that does shades and they want to expand into these and they want to find a Dave in their area, so
Dave: okay.
Roger Magalhaes: what would be a good interaction between them? So what do they look for in the Dave they are looking for to get the right, you know, business going?
Dave: Uh-huh. Well, good luck. I'm hard to find out there, man. But I'm just Yeah, right, exactly.
Roger Magalhaes: The second best Dave.
Dave: yeah, man, I mean just you know, somebody who communicates well who, you know, you know, obviously you want to look at their experience and other projects that they do. But I mean, man, I really value all of my partners. So I try to make it as easy as possible. The nice thing again with you know, people having more information and doing more research, a lot of times they know what they want. So it's just me being there and saying, Okay, well This is what you want, you know, where do you want it? And I just, you know, s measure the dimensions and take pictures and photos and videos and send to the guys. And so, you know, somebody who values you and somebody who knows what it takes to kind of make it easier for you to do your job and so you can both kind of get more business that way and and you can do what you do best, the installing and I'll just I'll sell it and take care of everything else and customer service
Roger Magalhaes: Right.
Dave: and managing. Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: And being up front, right? So I even have jobs that people come to me and say, Roger, I have this idea, I want to do these. I would have tell them, say, I'm willing to work with you. I never done that. So but if you let me try it, we'll figure it out. And some people say now I need this, cannot be sideways whatsoever. And some people say, Yeah, I'm willing to let you, you know, figure it out because I already trust you, I know you're gonna do your best. So are you kinda open the same way with your partners?
Dave: Yeah, yeah. I mean I I just wanna make sure I know you know, what to look for, you know, any potential problems that might come up and
Roger Magalhaes: Mm-hmm.
Dave: just make sure that they have a good handle on on what it is that they would be doing. But yeah, I mean since everybody I work with is a specialist in their area, they they know, you know, what the questions to ask and to make sure that we you know we know what's going on with it. Mm-hmm.
Roger Magalhaes: And what what kind of projects you like to do the most that you kind of just enjoy no matter what?
Dave: man, the screened in paper patios are are are our best jobs. I would say personally though, I love turf jobs. I
Roger Magalhaes: Okay.
Dave: love, you know, the the effect that the turf it's just it's so clean, it's nice, you know. Sometimes those turf and tile, if you've ever seen those kind of jobs,
Roger Magalhaes: No.
Dave: it just man, it I I feel like it just really pops and it really makes the property look great. So I I personally really like any job with turf.
Roger Magalhaes: It's interesting because, you know, as I said, we moved in, we got the hurricane, the messed up the whole thing. We fixed the backyard with regular grass. And I said,
Dave: Mm-hmm.
Roger Magalhaes: I'll take care of it. And no problem. It's gonna be my you know, weekend workout. I'm gonna love it. I'll tell you, I hate it every single freaking minute.
Dave: Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: And it's not it listen, listen to me. It's not the cutting grass that I complain. It's knowing that I need to fertilize it, and the the whole soil moves, and you need to replenish and you need to water it. There's so much more work behind that I had no clue what I was getting into it. That now we are considering to do the turf. So, but one but
Dave: Well, it's different.
Roger Magalhaes: one One thing that I learned here is the city needs to approve it, right? So not every place can do turf. Even if I want it, the city needs to allow me to do that. Is that true?
Dave: Yeah, I mean s I you know, some places the impervious ratio is gonna come into effect. I mean, depending on how they put the base layer in there.
Roger Magalhaes: Uh-huh.
Dave: but yeah, I mean that's something that you always wanna make sure and check about.
Roger Magalhaes: So can you tell can you elaborate a little more on details? What is this that you just talked about?
Dave: impervious ratio. So yeah, that's
Roger Magalhaes: Yeah.
Dave: basically green space, you know, so there's like concrete or pavers and so they want to make sure that there's a certain percentage of the property. I think it's sixty five percent in most areas that is I forget w is pervious. So in other words, the
Roger Magalhaes: Okay.
Dave: the rain can come in and kind of soak into some
Roger Magalhaes: Penetrates the the soil.
Dave: correct. Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: Is this just my house alone or is that kind of the whole neighborhood they consider these this ratio?
Dave: just your property. So
Roger Magalhaes: Just my property.
Dave: yeah, I mean the you have you have to do a survey drawing and tell them where the turf is going to be and kind of calculate okay, this is how much square feet the house is, this is the driveway, this is what we're gonna be doing in the back, and so altogether this is how much pervious you have and how much impervious you have.
Roger Magalhaes: Okay. And what is the benefits Rio Grass versus Turf?
Dave: Well, again, you know, the the maintenance that you you talked about aesthetically pleasing the the grasses. so I mean for me, I mean that's that's the main thing. Obviously it's a turf is more expensive, but if you if you're gonna be there for a while and you have you know the long term perspective, I mean the value of you know not having to maintain it and having something that looks great and for resale value for me is is the biggest selling points for turf.
Roger Magalhaes: When you say it's more expensive, is more expensive initial investment or kinda overall? If I if I stay here ten, fifteen years, would that even out or even that much I still kinda losing money?
Dave: yeah, yeah, yeah. If you're gonna stay there for ten or fifteen years, yeah, but I mean you're talking about ten to twelve a square foot usually for for turf, whereas I don't even know, I mean what like a dollar or two. So yeah, it's definitely
Roger Magalhaes: Okay.
Dave: definitely much more cost. But if you're gonna stay there for a long term, yeah, I mean and and and you don't wanna maintain it like that, sure. You'll get your money's worth out of it for sure if you stay there ten years or more. Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: I it it looks a lot nicer every day of the week. So we just we were away in for five weeks. We just came back and looks like entering the wrong house with this thing is just this big
Dave: Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: look like going to Amazon forest with so much grass that just grew and if I had turf it would be a different problem.
Dave: You got a guy you can you got a B
Roger Magalhaes: Just walk right in.
Dave: and I guy you can have to cut the grass for you when you're gone?
Roger Magalhaes: because my B and I is in St. Pete, nobody wants to come all the way to to Tampa. So I need to find I need to find a local guy.
Dave: I don't know. I think I mu I got I think I might know after you are let me see if I I'll check my Rolodex when we're done.
Roger Magalhaes: You got it. So now in regards to turf, I actually got a couple people calling me because obviously s Florida is very sunny and people are having problems with the sun hitting the window and the window reflecting on the turf. Have you found
Dave: Yeah.
Roger Magalhaes: that? have you got those kind of calls as well?
Dave: I haven't got any calls for it, but yeah, I mean it's something we take into consideration when we're planning the project. And yeah, I mean something you definitely want to be aware of if you're putting turf, you know, close to where the windows are. Yep.
Roger Magalhaes: And they kinda the the reflection can burn the turf, correct?
Dave: Yeah, yeah, I can.
Roger Magalhaes: It interesting. Yeah. All right, David. I appreciate all your help here, educating people and you know, things that they can be doing well outside of their homes and a lot of times they not even know what to do. You you gave us some nice options here. If people want to find you, how do they do? Where do they go?
Dave: thanks. Yeah. So the website is get your outdoor oasis dot com. same on Instagram. that's where we're pretty active at Get Your Outdoor Oasis. and then as you mentioned in the beginning, I have my own podcast, which I hope you'll be able to join me soon. It's it's the Outdoor Oasis podcast. You can check us out there as well.
Roger Magalhaes: That's great, man. I appreciate and definitely we'll pass the word around. Dave,
Dave: Of course, I appreciate it.
Roger Magalhaes: my pleasure. Thank you so much, man, and I'll talk to you again.
Dave: All right, man. Thank you.
Roger Magalhaes: You too, bye bye.
Dave: Okay, bye.
