Property Restoration History 1970s-80s

The DYOJO Podcast, Ep. 60
The Industry Standards Panel Discussion - Part 1
LIVE Thursday, May 6, 2021 from 9am - 11am

The DYOJO Podcast is THE podcast for intentional restorers, helping you shorten your dang learning curve for personal and professional development. Catch us every Thursday on YouTube.

GUESTS

• Co-host, Pete Consigli, "The Industry Watchdog" and now The Old School Intentional Restorer
• TDP 54 Ken Larsen, Restorative Drying Services Senior Consultant
• TDP 46 John Downey, Executive Director of CIRI
• TDP 28 Cliff Zlotnik - Owner IdeaZ, co-host IAQ Radio

SPONSOR
The DYOJO Podcast is sponsored by Advocate Claim Service (ACS), "Where you can find solutions to claims that are causing you anxiety." David Princeton and his team are ready to help you navigate doubtful and disputed insurance claims.

We will revisit some of the relevant discussion brought up on IAQ Radio Ep. 426

Part 1 - the Wild West of Property Restoration

Our distinguished guests had a front row seat to the emergence of the property restoration industry. They share their perspectives on some of the relevant and interesting history leading up to documenting norms and discussions of consensus industry standards in the years from the 1970s through the 1980s. As someone interested in the history of our industry, I anticipated we would steam slowly down the tracks, but I also tried to help keep your fantastic voyage on the rails.

My question for our guests included what would the industry, resources, and standards look like to an intentional restoration professional in this era? I wanted them to share their recollection of key figures, resources, and of course the development of industry standards from era to era. We discussed (briefly) key figures such as:

• Lloyd Weaver, who developed the Porta Dryer in response to a catastrophic flood in his home town of Rapid City, South Dakota
• Martin "Marty" L. King, an excellent technical writer who helped the industry to think deeper about professionalism. Evolution of associations such as NIRC to AIDS to ASCR coincided with the industry combining technical skills with business acumen. Speaking on the power of collaboration, Marty would regularly say, "No one of the heads knows more than all of the heads."
• Ed York, a man of many inventions and ideas, who also was an agitator of sorts. He also played a key role in reversing the tides with the Stainmaster / Stanley Steemer controversy, as well as how the industry would intersect with big business.

Key topics such as:

• The excitement of exploring new technology, new concepts, and documenting processes that were working in the development of the property restoration industry. Groups such as local carpet cleaners associations, The Innovators, and The Motivators.
• The reality that "consensus" standards do not always reflect best practices but rather the lowest common denominator for industry norms. It is important to distinguish between voluntary (ie S500) and involuntary standards (ie building codes)
• Pete wanted us to focus on the time period between 1998-2006, but we didn't reach this time period during our discussion, primarily because I wanted to dig deeper into the historical aspects. Thankfully, our guests have agreed to come together again and as John said, the conversation was "cathartic". Pete helped to wrap up our current conversation, as well as set the stage for our upcoming one, by recapping some of the significant dates and documents.
• Ed Cross filmed a video discussing some key considerations for property restoration contractors with regards to industry standards.

​
The DYOJO Podcast is THE podcast for intentional restorers, helping you shorten your dang learning curve for personal and professional development. Catch us every Thursday on YouTube