This is the Good Neighbor Podcast , the place where local businesses and neighbors come together . Here's your host , Scott Howell .
Hello good neighbors , and welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast for the greater Chattanooga region . My name is Scott Howell and I'm your host today . This program is brought to you by the Friends and Neighbors Group of the Chattanooga area as well . You know , a lot of people ask us what's the Good Neighbor podcast all about ? What's your theme ?
Well , we just have a desire to bring an awareness to the residents living in our communities regarding the locally owned and or operated businesses that are . You know the locally owned and or operated businesses that are , you know , that are operating right there in their neighborhoods or in the close proximity or maybe somewhere across the region .
Just to let you know who is operating in your communities and your area , that , if you need their products and services , that you know who to reach out to . You know a lot of times we forget and , living in this day of corporate giants , we forget that you know , locally owned businesses are the backbone of our communities .
We took all them away , there wouldn't be much left , and so we want to support them and do all we can to encourage you to support them as well . Every local owned and operated business has a story to tell .
Owned and operated business has a story to tell , and here at the Good Neighbor Podcast , we just want to help them to tell it loud and proud to all you good listeners out there . And today we've got one of our good neighbors with us . His name is Troy Regan and he is at Perfect Pain Window Cleaning and Pressure Washing .
Troy , thanks for being on the program with us today .
Yeah , thank you Scott . Thank you Scott . Uh , uh , enjoy what you do and uh , uh , absolutely the backbone . Um , we're out there working hard and , uh , you know , trying to make a living and going , going above and beyond , um , you know , the normal eight to five .
Yeah , absolutely . And and what y'all do is a wonderful service because , hey , just tell it like it is . There's a lot of us don't want to get out there when it's 100 degrees and pressure wash our house . Right , that's right .
So , hey , troy , before we get into talking about the business part , is there anything you'd like to share with us regarding you and your family ?
Yeah , I'm married to my beautiful wife , samantha Regan . We've got our first son . He's two and a half . I got into this business so she could stay home and raise him and homeschool him , so we're really just living the American dream on your son .
That's , that's a wonderful thing Getting to start a family and , uh , that's an awesome opportunity and and kudos to you for making a way that she could stay home and and and raise your child yourself , and kudos to her for being willing to do it . You know , having that desire to do it as well .
So , uh , that's one thing that I had the opportunity of having a mother at home . So I know one of these days your children will appreciate it . Yep , they will appreciate that . Well , Troy , let's just dive into talking about perfect pain , window cleaning and pressure washing .
What I want you to do is I want you to share with us not only your business and what you offer , but I want you to tell us about your journey , what brought you to this business , and just kind of tell us your whole story .
You got it , you got it . I'm 41 years old . I started cleaning windows in high school , so it's been , you know , over 20 , 25 years . High school job cleaning windows had a bunch of friends doing it and one day my boss decided to come by and meet my parents . My dad owned a catering company at the time .
He was a very successful entrepreneur and my window cleaning boss left his receipt book at our house when he was meeting them . And my dad looked through it and put two and two together and left the catering business and asked me if I would teach him how to clean windows . And I did , and he ran with it from there .
And that's when Perfect Pain Window Cleaning was established , I believe 1991 in California , and me and my dad worked shoulder to shoulder for 10 , 15 years Owner operator . We didn't get big , we didn't get corporate or franchise , we just went out every day and cleaned windows .
And in 2019 , me and my wife decided to move from California to Chattanooga and on the drive out here I thought you know what ? I don't want to clean windows anymore . I've been doing it a long time . I want to do something new .
Uh , so I decided to get into the fire service and , uh got on with Katusa County fire department , uh , full time um for three years . And that's when , um , our son Jackson , was born in in 21 . And she came to me and said you know , I really want to stay home , I want to raise her son .
I don't , you know , I don't want him to be raised by other people going to school . And can we , you know , figure out how way to make this work ?
And .
I thought , okay , because when we made the plan of life , it was her job and my job , and this is what we're going to do . And I wasn't making a lot of money at the fire department and she was doing pretty good at her job , and I thought I don't know how we're going to . You know , uh , make this combined income work .
And uh , it just dawned on me one day to start cleaning windows on the side , and so I I let my friends know and my first uh friend , jimmy , uh said , hey , you want to do our house ?
And did one , and it turned to another , and turned to another , and next thing I know , I was booked up and it came down to , you know , leaving the fire service , which I did leave in 21 . And then we've been at it full time now . So that's a short version of the story .
Well , I guess a curiosity question . You said you came in 2019 . Now recently , in the past few years , we've heard of a lot of folks moving to the Chattanooga area from California and different places , but we kind of know why the real estate market is driving a little bit of that . But what drove you and your wife to decide to move here ?
I'd always enjoyed the outdoors , the forest , the less population , the creeks , the streams , and so when we came out to visit her family that lived in East Brainerd , I just fell in love with the outdoor stuff .
And then the people you know , that southern hospitality , the fact that people , would you know , pull over on the side of the road when the hearse went down there was just a lot of good culture . And we're coming from California . There was a lot of good people , but it just wasn't . It didn't feel like home .
It didn't feel like somewhere we could settle down and raise children and have a lot of the same beliefs that I do believe the people out here in the South do believe in .
Well , that's great , we're glad to have you . We always like it when we hear people move across the country and they're kind of kin to our ways , you know .
Yeah , yeah , yeah , we're not to our ways , you know . Yeah , yeah , yeah .
We're not looking to change , you know .
No , no , we're just getting in line and we're not . We're not . Transplants for refugees .
So your wife had family here . That was one of the things that helped you become familiar with this area , so that's , that's great . Well , so you know you talk about . You started cleaning windows on the side . How did the pressure washing come into it ?
I actually went to work for a company , a local company here , and they did pressure washing and soft washing and so I learned , you know how to do it .
And then when I started the company , I really wanted to have like a complete exterior cleaning services so we can come in and we can do clean all the windows , we can clean the driveways , do house washes , roof washes , you know the whole package deal .
And so I think that's what really separates us apart from the other companies , because a lot of there's not a lot of companies that do both .
Well , and you mentioned that you and your dad started a company in California , but you're using the same name , right ? So it was just kind of a perfect fit for you to cross over and bring the family name over to Tennessee , right ?
Yep , yep , absolutely yeah , and he couldn't be more proud .
That's great , is he still ?
in California . Yeah , they moved out here too . Oh , they moved here too .
Okay , Is your dad still involved in the business ? Uh ?
he just coaches me , you know , okay , all right .
Well , that's great . Nothing like having a good coach , right .
That's right , that's right .
So I want to ask you a little bit of something we experienced lately ourself . Of course , you know we didn't know about your company , but we didn't know about any of the companies at the time that we did this . But so we had a pressure washing experience when we hired somebody to come and pressure wash our house .
And it was pretty obvious , when they left they didn't know what soft washing was . Uh , they , they damaged our home . Uh , could you kind of talk to us about that a minute ? But just because my experience , I'm thinking it might be something that needs to be shared with other people .
Yeah , so the first . The first thing is uh , people use the term pressure washing . We never want to put pressure on anything that's um softer or or that we put in so much money into . Everything on our home has some sort of coating on it , whether it's the vinyl siding , the gutters , um , you know , you name it .
So we're not going to come in with pressure to try to clean something , because it's actually it's not the pressure that cleans , right . A lot of times people will go to Home Depot , they'll get a pressure washer , they'll go home to start doing the concrete , and what they don't realize is they're not really cleaning the concrete .
What they're actually doing is they're removing the top layer of it . Actually doing is they're removing the top layer of it . So what we do is we provide a product that we use that cleans the concrete or house or whatever it is , and then what's really getting into the cleaning process is our gallons per minute .
And so with our machines , we're , we're running , you know 8 , 12 gallon per minute machines , when most machines at home deep are only running you know 2.5 um , but everything to the clean wise . We know what are we here to clean .
Are we cleaning organic growth off the house , or does the customer have an oil stain in the driveway or is there a rust stains from the patio furniture ? So everything we get into there has to be some sort of process . We're not just coming in with pressure to try to remove something because in the end it's going to be causing , it's going to cause damage .
Yeah , well , that's what happened on our house . They obviously used pressure on everything and knocked some of our siding off and knocked some of it loose , and it was bad . It was really bad . So thank you for sharing that with us , because I found out the hard way . That is important .
Yeah , yeah , and a lot of guys that are getting into into it . They go get a pressure washer and then they show up and they try to pressure wash someone's house and you just cause damage .
Yeah , and then later on the next professional company that comes in , they've removed the um finish off of that and now you can't clean it because the dirt and the grime has actually got into the material .
Yeah , I'm sorry to say that may happen to us the next time as well , but lesson learned right , well moving forward . We'll know next time . Now , do you also do commercial as well as residential ?
We do , we do . Yeah , we just got done doing the Lazy Boy over in Dayton . We've done a lot of big churches here in town . I'm actually trying to put a bid in right now . If anyone hears this and can help , I do have a warm introduction but to do the aquarium downtown .
Oh , wow , yeah , Okay , yeah , that's nice . That would be a good job for you , wouldn't it ?
Absolutely yeah .
Now let's talk about the window cleaning part for just a good job for you , wouldn't it ? Absolutely yeah . Now let's talk about the window cleaning part for just a moment . When you clean windows , you clean residential as well as commercial , but residential is a little bit more painstaking , I guess , than a lot of commercial jobs , isn't it ?
It can be yes .
I guess what I'm thinking about is you've got the smaller windows , you've got more trim , more of some . Some of the newer windows have the panes in the glass , but some don't go right . Correct , correct , yeah .
And I mean all that . With all that being said , it's just the way that we're going to tackle it and having the right equipment . What really the education that needs to be is is the type of glass . As you know , of everything these days , everything has gotten cheap , right .
So now this glass that's being made , it's not being correctly made in the exact heat that it needs to be in cooling , so a lot of times , this glass has a lot of imperfections in it so you need to know exactly what you can use on this glass . Um , you know whether there's silicone on there or paint overspray from the new construction ?
Um , is there water damage from a sprinkler that's been hitting it ? Um , so that's really a lot of it . Is no one ? Uh , knowing the glass , having the right tools and um , and then letting the customers know ? You know what we can clean .
A lot of times we just come in and it's just a general window cleaning , right , we're just using a little bit of soap , a little bit of squeegee and a little bit of elbow grease , and if that won't remove what's on the glass , then we have to be a little bit more aggressive with it .
I never thought about that . I'm sorry , I didn't mean to interrupt , go ahead .
Yeah , we always let the customers know , you know , as we walk through with them and we do a sample window to let them know what to expect , so that we're not saying , hey , this is a , you know , a hundred dollar window cleaning job and then giving them a $500 bill because we did this , this and this . Uh , we don't operate that way . We .
We always inform them and the expectations we don't operate that way .
We we always inform them and the expectations . That's good to know . Yeah , and you , you said something that kind of kind of part sparked my attention . You said that a sprinkler can actually do damage to the glass yes , yeah .
So calcium , uh , the amount of calcium in our water over time . Hitting the glass will actually etch the glass what about that ? And the other thing you don't want to do is you never want to go outside and start rinsing the windows down with your clothes .
Now , why is that ? Because of the calcium .
Because of the calcium in the water . Yes , over time it'll leave water stains on the glass .
I never thought about that before .
I never thought about that before . Yeah , if we don't get out there quick enough to clean it , over time it can actually ruin the glass .
But you know , speaking of now that you're mentioning these things , what types of myths or misconceptions sometimes do you hear from people who maybe are inquiring about your services , things that maybe they don't know . You go out to look at a job and you find these little things that are wrong and maybe the normal , the untrained eye can't see .
What kind of misconceptions do you hear ?
Well , I mean , the hard part is just knowing being in there so long and getting it , been in there so long and getting it , but a lot of times people just think oh hire a company and we're walking into something . Windows have never been cleaned in 10 years . There's water . Uh , uh , uh , uh . Have you ever seen a foggy window ? Ever seen a foggy window ?
Sometimes the customer and we can't so it's just glass . Yeah , good question , scott . A lot of the misconceptions you know . Say , a customer calls us and wants the windows cleaned , we might be walking into something that the glass hasn't been cleaned in over 10 years . Maybe they have seal leaks , maybe there's paint or spray left over from the construction .
So it's really just educating them and letting them know up front hey , this is the process that we're going to do and this is the cost , and this is what you're going to get at that price . And nine out of 10 times it works great .
And it's that one time where we've explained to them hey , if you want this paint and silicone removed , we can do it , but this is what it's going to cost . And glass can be very tricky for anyone out there that's cleaned glass before it can look really good at .
You know , when the sun's down and then when the sun comes up , it's like , wow , that does not look good at all . Um , so you know being able to , you know , professionally use squeegees in the right rags .
Uh , we use deionized water on all the exterior services , which is a pure water that goes through our um , you know a stage process that goes through water fed pools , um , and .
And you know the reason we do that is because you never want to be outside trying to wipe a window that has , um , dirt on it , cause all you're doing is smearing dirt back onto the window at a very molecular level .
Wow , okay , that's . That's a lot of information there . I hope everybody's really catching all that , because those are important things , no doubt . I mean , when you come out and what I'm hearing is you know what you're talking about . You know what you're talking about . So that's what I'm hearing when you give all that information .
Yeah , and I mean here's the thing , that information you know , yeah , and I mean here's the thing it's .
You know , if a customer , say in , a customer has 20 windows in a new home , that we're all um say Andrew windows , um , anderson windows , I mean they're probably looking at a 40 to $60,000 investment and to get a company out that might use a razor blade on there or might use something abrasive and scratch all that glass , I mean that's so you really you
really need to know and it's , I wish it was more simple . Uh , it's really not , and it takes a lot of time to uh , you know , even train my guys on on the proper ways to clean glass . Um , but we , we we've been doing well and we haven't had any instances . Knock on wood .
Great , great . Well , you know , get on a personal level . You're talking about your wife . Do I remember her name correctly ? Samantha , is that correct ?
Yes , Scott .
So so you and Samantha , what do y'all like to do for fun when you're not working ? What do y'all like to do when you get outside ? And of course , you got that two and a half year old .
So I guess a lot of things are planned around him , right ? Yeah , that's why I'm smiling . We don't , we don't do much , our world . And uh , we just got back from camping at Chester Frost . Um , yeah we got to take him to the splash pad and just kind of decompress .
So we like yeah , we like camping and um uh , we , we , we love serving people anytime we get an opportunity through the church or to go help , uh , others . That's kind of our passion that's cool , that's awesome .
Yeah , there's a giving back to the community is really important . It is , it's really important . That's what we try to do here . We're giving back to the community . That's been good to us . You know , when you talk about your business and you talk about your family , you know , when you're an entrepreneur and you're self-employed , it's kind of intertwined .
Everything works together . Your wife may not be out helping you in the business , but she's , she's taking care of your family , which takes a load off you , knowing that the family's taken care of and you can go out and do your work with a free mind and it all kind of works together . You know but , but , uh , you know but .
But you know , when you , when you talk about moving from california to tennessee I mean that's no short move uh , and and when you , when you come , and of course , you , you got on with the fire department , which , uh , which is , you know , a great job as far as stability , uh , but I'm sure there was probably a few little bumps in the road along the way
Can you share anything in particular with us that you feel like , after having went through that kind of makes you a better business person or maybe gives you a little bit more mindful attitude about others .
Yeah , yeah , thank you , wow , wow , good question , I think just for me living in California , growing up , you know , running the business , my dad there was always that safety net , you know . It's kind of like if something happened , you know , dad , can you help with this .
Or you know you had your friends and family and to make that move out here , it's kind of like you start looking around . It's like you know , I mean , I was 36 years old and it was , it was grow up time and it was like on my own , you know , but it was just a really big life lesson , sure , and it was hard on our marriage .
It was hard leaving all our friends and coming out here and trying to find new things to do . And it took time . That big idea of , oh , we're going to move cross country and everything's going to be great . It was great , but it was also a lot of work .
Yeah , yeah . Well , thanks for sharing that with us .
Yeah .
I know we don't , we all don't often like to talk about things that maybe cause bumps in their marriages . But hey , it happens , it's good . It's good to know other people went through it and came through it , and it encourages encourages everybody else .
You know , if there was one thing , troy , that you wish that all of our listeners knew about , perfect pain , window cleaning and pressure washing but they probably wouldn't know unless you shared it with them and you'd like to just state it loud and proud here today . On the Good Neighbor podcast .
Yeah , what would that ? be , you get what you pay for . Um , if you want quality service , premium service , um call . Perfect pain window cleaning , we're going to come up out , we're going to be on time , we're going to do what we say we're going to do .
And , uh , you're going to get some some you know gentlemen in your house that are wearing booties and shirts , tucked in and have clean background checks . They're going to treat you like family . They're going to work hard for you and try to fulfill all of your expectations that you have out of a window cleaning and pressure washing business .
That sounds very professional . I remember the first time that I had a construction company come out to my house and they put on those booties and it made a big impression on me . I never forgot that . I never forgot it . It's been years ago , but I never forgot them for doing that . So that's a very professional attitude .
But I want to give you just a moment , Troy , to just kind of share all your information about your contact and how people can find out more about you , whether it's online or offline .
OK , yeah , you can find us at PerfectPainWindowCleaningcom . You can always call my cell at 562-208-7797 . We do advertising on J103 . Um , we do advertising on J one , oh , three , um , the uh . Most of our work comes in off referrals , um , and I do enjoy those because you know it's someone saying , hey , they did great work for us .
And so they already know walking into that , um , but if you want a free estimate , give us a call . Uh , we'd be happy to walk you through the process and what that looks like . Call , we'd be happy to walk you through the process and what that looks like .
As far as all of our services , we do roof washes to gutter cleaning , to house washes or building washes , window cleaning inside and out , all the tracks and sills and everything screens . We do concrete cleaning and then come November we shut down the business and we actually do holiday light installation . So we do Christmas installation .
We provide the lights , we set them up and we take them down for you .
Oh wow , take them down too . That's hard to beat . Yep , yep , that's the dreaded part of putting up . You put up all those Christmas decorations , then you got to go take them down . Yep , yep , it's the dreaded part of putting up .
You put up all those christmas decorations , then you got to go take them down yeah yeah , it's the dreaded part of the job , uh , and you also just to help you out a little bit too you also do residential as well as commercial and you do churches . Yes , sir , yep , yeah , so that's that's something .
A lot of times people you talk commercial , people don't think about churches , so I like to help include that in for people that do work for churches , because you know a lot of churches need that extra help in taking care of things .
But hey , well , it was great having you on with us today and for sharing all your information , and it sounds like you have a very professional organization and a lot of knowledge a lot of knowledge in the industry and can help people out , and we look forward to hearing good things from you . Best wishes to your continued success .
Yeah , thank you , scott , appreciate it .
Absolutely , absolutely . And all the good neighbors of the greater Chattanooga region .
You know , after hearing Troy talk about the company Perfect Pain Window Cleaning and Pressure Washing , I know that he hopes you'll take a moment to consider everything that he has shared with you today about his knowledge about how to do the job right , not to cause damage to your property .
That would be long-lasting and , you know , be hurtful in the in the long run . There's a lot of things he shared with us today that I didn't know Very helpful information to myself . I wish I had known it a few months ago , but you know , I know he hopes you'll take a moment also to consider all that .
And when you need these services that he offers , give him a shot , give him a call . Give him a call , get him priced from him , find out if it's something that you can work with in your budget . If not , just share that with him and just try your best to work with him if you can .
And also I'd like to thank you , all the listeners , for taking time out of your busy schedule and , just , you know , sharing your time with Good Neighbor Podcast today . You know I always like to say this you know , from Cleveland to Dalton , from Jasper to Benton .
The Chattanooga region is full of small businesses and we encourage you to please make sure that you support those small businesses with your consumer dollar , your spending dollar , give them a chance to earn your business and do all they can .
And again , my name is Scott Howell and I'm with the Good Neighbor Program and the Good Neighbor Podcast , the Friends and Neighbors Group , and I hope that y'all all have a good day and go out and make this a remarkable day .
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast . To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show , go to GNPClevelandcom . That's GNPClevelandcom , or call 423-380-1984 . 8 4 .