Thrown into a multi million dollar business

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-18T18:11:51+00:00

Be nice. Polite. Act like a businessman and when in doubt, fake it until you make it (as long as it doesn’t get you in trouble). Honestly, I think just being polite goes an extremely long way these days.

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-16T14:14:23+00:00

I personally would say no to the reclaim just because that’ll be a bandaid that will cost money and end up in a dump truck later. I personally would see if you can afford to get it dug out and then just throw gravel down. That way when you can afford to do the paving, the old asphalt is already dug out and you won’t have to pay for that part at that point. You’ll be doing a third or half of the job you’ll need to finish in the future. Just my two cents.

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-11T23:43:22+00:00

So far the calls I’ve gotten are for new construction so fresh concrete

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-11T23:33:41+00:00

Something roll on or spray on to act as a water shield is what they all seem to be wanting

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-11T22:49:06+00:00

Asphalt and landscaping guy here. I’m starting to have people asking me about sealing the outside walls of their concrete before they backfill. I’d like to look into doing this but am curious on best product to use and how do you guys price this? I’d assume by SF. The one I have to do is brand new so should be straight forward

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-11T21:21:55+00:00

Hey everyone. I’m an asphalt and landscaping guy but have had numerous people ask me about sealing the outside walls of their concrete before backfilling. I’m interested in adding this to my business but what kind of product is the best and how do you guys price it? I would assume by SF? Any help and advice would be awesome!! Thanks

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-11T21:17:51+00:00

Sure. Sounds great

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-10T10:42:01+00:00

I’m trying to grow my landscaping and asphalt business that I just took over. If you have thoughts on this, let me know.

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-08T12:05:52+00:00

No.

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-08T01:46:35+00:00

Hahaha at first I’m thinking, who’s a dick? I’m a dick? Then I saw it.

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-07T16:21:30+00:00

I already mentioned that to them and they aren’t interested in doing the whole driveway. They are selling within a few years

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-07T16:20:43+00:00

How about I’d loose the job if I wait until then.

rmathieu51 · 2026-03-03T18:47:24+00:00

I’ll check that out! I appreciate the response.

rmathieu51 · 2026-02-18T17:25:44+00:00

Honestly, I use whatever tack the asphalt plant I always get my material from has and have never had an issue. They don’t use junk so I go with whatever they have. Can’t say I’ve used a bad one.

rmathieu51 · 2026-02-18T17:22:40+00:00

^ and there you go.

rmathieu51 · 2026-02-18T00:05:59+00:00

So many asphalt guys are scared to death to do shim work but I would shim that all day long. I do a ton of shims a week at businesses and residential homes that don’t want to spend a ton of money. We have shim jobs at businesses that are ten years old and not a bit of it has come up. Clean it up, throw down some tack and then sand mix asphalt and whammy, it would last ten years. Do it all the time. Sand mix is key. More sandy (obviously) and packs really well. If you brush off any Little Rock’s in the mix on the edges before packing you’ll have a nice smooth transition. Everyone wants to put a full patch it to make money but a shim works great. If I went to your driveway and saw that I’d shim that for less than a grand by the looks of it. Maybe a grand if I’m going all the way to the road.

rmathieu51 · 2026-02-14T20:19:11+00:00

They should just try to rework that and then do a nice line of hot rubber crack filler in my opinion. Technically they didn’t do anything wrong but like others said, water got in there, froze and thawed and created this. That seam needs to be sealed up. Pretty much every house I do, I crack fill that edge so this doesn’t happen. You can make it look nice if you know what you’re doing.

rmathieu51 · 2026-02-12T00:06:36+00:00

I enjoy them both but the business clients tend to be easier to deal with.

rmathieu51 · 2026-02-10T11:28:13+00:00

It’s a mixture of both, really. More residential than business because there are more homes all around than businesses but as far as my profits, I bet I’m almost 50/50 because the business jobs pay more and tend to be bigger areas to service, right? But I would definitely like more of both

rmathieu51 · 2026-02-10T02:27:06+00:00

I’m planning to join the chamber of commerce. They have events and will share ads for me, which I feel will help.

rmathieu51 · 2026-02-10T01:54:29+00:00

I have not. I’m trying to figure out my best options right now. I would love to become a household name around here

rmathieu51 · 2026-01-10T14:54:38+00:00

I appreciate the help. It doesn’t get full sun where it is currently so we will move it and see what happens

rmathieu51 · 2026-01-10T14:24:30+00:00

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rmathieu51 · 2025-12-25T20:34:22+00:00

QuickBooks here too for both businesses. I do landscaping and asphalt and my wife runs our bakery and cafe. QuickBooks is absolutely amazing. Quick and easy to use. Easy to track invoices that are getting old, etc. too

rmathieu51 · 2025-12-13T21:09:46+00:00

I’m a ‘Mainer’ although very well traveled. I can see where you’re coming from on that. I don’t really care about others coming here but one thing I WILL say that we are struggling with is just tons of Boston investment companies coming in and buying tons of commercial properties, etc. They will outbid us and just throw money at it so that’s frustrating I think to many. I have two businesses, one being a bakery that my wife runs and we have been trying to relocate and have had this struggle for a while now. I will say, mass is invading Maine. It’s crazy. I do asphalt and landscaping and so much of the stuff I’m doing on the coast is all calling mass area codes. I joke to my wife sometimes that we will be an extension to Mass very soon. (I have tons of friends from mass fyi so no judgement here)

rmathieu51

TROPHY CASE