If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Bud Humphries, owner of R.A.H. Solutions, took this message to heart three years ago. The upstate South Carolina-based contractor had historically provided commercial and industrial plumbing service and drain cleaning but knew there was more to explore in the trade.
“I grew up doing commercial, industrial plumbing and utility work, and I love it,” Humphries explains. “But things didn’t go according to plan. So, in 2020, an aide and I just completely started over.”
He shifted R.A.H.’s focus to trenchless services, including drain cleaning, sewer pipe repair and pipe lining. Over the next two years, Humphries witnessed his gamble pay off big time.
“We made around $290,000 in sales that first year,” he notes. “The next, we grew almost 500%.”
Humphries also set the crew’s sights solely on pipe lining and coating. “Now we’ve got ten guys on two separate crews. It’s been an awesome experience and ride. Everyone here genuinely loves what we do, and it shows.”
Today, R.A.H. provides non-invasive sewer repair, pipe lining and other trenchless services to a growing number of clients across the Southeast. Pipe lining has become the crew’s specialty.
To help support its rapid growth in the trenchless pipe repair arena, the contractor recently invested in the SpeedyLight+ light-based curing system for small-diameter CIPP.
R.A.H. relies on efficient, reliable equipment like SpeedyLight+ to keep business booming. Humphries particularly appreciates the system’s versatility and ease-of-use.
“We went with SpeedyLight+ for its versatility in terms of pipe sizes and mediums; we can now do 300-foot-long shots in four to twelve inch pipe. We even tried another brand’s UV-cure system prior to getting our SpeedyLight+, and it just didn’t have the same capabilities.”
“The UV mitigates the typical risks of pipe lining and repairs,” Humphries explains. “When lining with traditional resin with heat assist, you never know when an issue is going to pop up. There are so many possible problems. When you line pipes using UV, it’s a more controlled setting and it’s much less stressful all around. Plus, it makes a good environment to train new operators in.”
The increase in job turnaround he’s seen for his crew since purchasing SpeedyLight+ is “huge,” he says.
“The productivity is just unmatched. We recently did a 295-foot shot of eight-inch pipe with a crew of guys with little to no lining experience. The SpeedyLight+ system opened the doors to let us do these jobs with minimal stress and will help us continue to scale our company. We can’t say enough how SpeedyLight+ has helped with growth,” Humphries says.
And how does he feel about the future? “All gas no brakes has been our mindset since we started in 2020 and it’s working just fine!” says Humphries.
With enthusiasm and passion aplenty, the R.A.H. crew isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
Want to see SpeedyLight+ for yourself? Request an onsite demo with one of our rehab pros.