May 18 2006
When insurance companies began severely capping payments for mold removal or excluding coverage altogether, Alliance Environmental, a Calif.-based environmental contractor, knew it had to respond. “Customers were facing a $20,000 job and were being told by their insurance companies that coverage -- if it existed -- was capped around $5,000," said Joe McLean, CEO of Alliance. "We had to find a new way to save customers money and differentiate our business." Alliance turned to E-Therm, creators of the ThermaPure process, an entirely new, non-chemical alternative heat treatment that streamlines remediation.
“Not everyone has deep pockets so we need to offer customers an alternative and let them decided how to manage risk,” explains McLean. “Do they want to borrow money or re-finance their home or look at alternatives like ThermaPureHeat, which lets us kill the mold and manage it in place?" The ThermaPure process uses heat with little or no demolition.
Technical training is a key to success with the ThermaPure process, a more complex approach than traditional remediation. Originally Alliance sent only their managers to a five-day course. After each session, however, the company realized a definitive increase in sales, so technical training became mandatory for all sales staff. The training has proven especially important in preparing sales staff to address clients’ questions.
While common wall homes, commercial installations, strip malls, condominium complexes, and inaccessible areas in both residential and commercial structures are all ideal candidates for the ThermaPure process, Alliance finds the biggest demand is for water-damaged kitchens or bathrooms. “ThermaPureHeat is much more cost effective than pulling all the base cabinets, removing the granite countertops, destroying the kitchen and losing its use for three or four months,” says McLean. “We go in, cut out little drywall, heat the area, clean the area and within a couple days customers have full use of their room.”