Friday, May 6, 2016

Business spotlight - Shamos Sealcoating - By Michelle Libby


Shamos Sealcoating & Pavement Maintenance has created a name for itself with the quality work and attention to detail they provide both their residential and commercial clients, providing longer life to paved driveways.


Andy Shamos started his sealcoating company when he was only 18 years old. It was his summer job and he was able to make it successful through his college years. Shamos was a special education teacher for five years, doing sealcoating during the summer until 2011, when he moved the company to fulltime.
“I enjoy it. I liked growing it so I stuck with it,” Shamos said. Shamos Sealcoating now has 10 employees, the most they have had, which includes a fulltime office manager and a fulltime estimator. 

His crews work on patching, sealing, crack filling and line striping anything from a small path to a 100,000 square foot commercial parking lot. With the home base in Standish, Shamos works from Kennebunk to Brunswick and anywhere in York, Cumberland or Androscoggin Counties. 

“I like running my own company,” said Shamos. “There’s such a need for it.” In Maine, paved driveways take a beating with the cold weather. When cracks open up water gets in them and the cracks get bigger. “I like to go to a job site and see the transformation that happens in a day.” 

Shamos likes the physical aspect to the job as well as getting to know his employees. “I can really make a difference in people’s lives,” he said of those who work for him. “I have excellent people to work with and I trust them all. I respect and reward them.” 

It is not unusual that between the various crews they can do 8 to 18 driveways in a day with prep work (which is 80 percent of the work), doing the sealing and cleaning up. Eighty percent of their work is residential and they work on driveways Monday through Friday all spring and summer as long as Mother Nature cooperates. “Mother Nature is our queen of everything,” Shamos said. He watches the weather from his phone to make sure that storms don’t interfere with the work. 

Shamos is a value to the community and a benefit for the individual families from a convenience factor. If the homeowner doesn’t have the time or skills to do the sealing, they can rely on us while they go do something they enjoy like head to the beach or go play a game of golf. “You can hire us to come take care of it,” Shamos said. “The homeowner doesn’t have to worry about anything.” 

Shamos Sealcoating uses commercial grade sealer. If a client is looking for a professional who is insured, Shamos fits that bill. “It’s important to have good people around to take care of the clients,” he said. Because of that, he takes care of his employees with health insurance. 

Shamos Sealcoating does not do full scale paving, they are on the maintenance side, Shamos said. “We maintain once [the driveway] is installed.” They do however, work with multiple pavement companies and refer clients to the right paver. 

Driveways need to be maintained at least every three to five years to extend the life of the pavement. Once Alligator cracking begins there is a problem with the subbase of the pavement and it will have to be replaced. 

Shamos Sealcoating does have a solution for some of the cracks, and utilizes infrared patching, which recycles 80 percent of the pavement and mixes it with fresh hot mix to compact it back into the area, creating a new patch. The patch is 6 feet by 8 feet, but can be done on bigger spaces. There are no seams to open up because the pavement is thermally bonded. It’s much less expensive from a labor perspective, Shamos said. 

“Call us if you’re looking to get the best service for the best price. When comparing apples to apples, we do more for your dollar,” he said. Shamos Sealcoating warranties their work for a year of any defects. “We stand by our work.” They did over 800 jobs last summer and will return to 10 to “live up to the promise we made.”  In Maine, these values mean something, he said. “If you want quick and cheap, you aren’t our customers.” 

Shamos Sealcoating is offering a 10 percent discount when work is booked and completed before July 4th. It is their best price of the year. 

For more information or to receive a free estimate, call 1-800-DRIVEWAY, visit www.shamossealcoating.com or call 207-749-7058.

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