Building Abatement Demolition Company Inc.: Great, BAD Solutions

When the market took a turn for the worst, Jud Stringer decided to take his experience in asbestos abatement and start his own operation. Stringer founded Building Abatement Demolition Company Inc. (BAD Company) in 2007, despite discouragement from family and friends. Since the Texas-based company’s establishment, Stringer has been able to prove the naysayers wrong.

“Everybody in my family when I started this said I was crazy for leaving a good job,” says Stringer. “When I started BAD Company, I started with a $700,000 backlog of work and $50,000 of working capital.”

Stringer explains that when he started doing asbestos abatement many believed the trade would quickly die out. “People told me I was wasting my time and that asbestos would soon be gone,” he details. However, the longer Stringer remains in the industry, the more he realizes that asbestos is still commonly found intermixed with the building materials of older structures, and it will be a long time before it is completely removed from buildings across the country.

However, Stringer was confident. The management staff he originally organized for BAD Company offered over 55 years of combined experience. Today BAD Company employs only the best in the abatement and demolition industry to complete work across the state.

He had good reason to feel secure with his career change, as Stringer’s experience in asbestos abatement dates back to 1991. “A couple friends of mine and some people close to my hometown did that kind of work,” he says. “The state had just regulated the asbestos and it all had to be removed. I was 18 at the time. It was nothing for us to get called to a job and go work for several months at a time; working 12 hours a day, seven days a week.”

When BAD Company was established, Stringer took his years of experience and knowledge of the construction industry to create a business that is set apart from most competitors in the field. Today the company is an expert in asbestos abatement, lead and mold remediation, structural and interior demolition and underground storage tank removal. According to Stringer, many of BAD Company’s competitors only offer one of these many services.

Managing a Legitimate Hazard

It seems as though Stringer’s dream has weathered the storm, and BAD Company takes pride in its ability to tackle any size of job. Stringer reports the company completes an average of 200 projects a year throughout Texas, and on average projects will range from $25,000 to $400,000; some are larger, some smaller.

Regardless of the scope of a project, BAD Company employs approximately 49 people who are highly trained to help building owners, developers and general contractors tackle any project. This includes making a worksite assessment prior to starting a job. “Before any construction or demolition, there has to be an asbestos assessment on the site,” says Stringer.

He often runs into situations where contractors just were unaware of the presences of asbestos because the assessment wasn’t made. “I find that I get called to a job that a contractor has been working on and had never done a survey,” says Stringer. “About 50 percent of participants in the construction industry know what asbestos is, the other 50 percent are uneducated and just don’t know.”

Officials who enforce state regulations are relentless on monitoring asbestos abatement. Stringer reports some contractors rack up fines that can reach $10,000 a day, a violation for not meeting state standards. He is quick to proudly note that BAD Company can come in and help remedy that issue.

“Asbestos is a legitimate hazard,” says Stringer. “There have been millions of deaths caused by it and trillions paid out in settlements. The statistics alone makes it worth paying attention to.”

Building on Experience

Stringer’s extensive experience and attention to detail ensures BAD Company is a step ahead of the competition. “I ran a division of a large corporation here in central Texas for many years,” he says. “I was wise enough to see through the corporate hoopla and indecisive answers of our future there and I decided to take the leap of faith. It was a hard road the first few years, but now it’s coming around.”

The one thing Stringer realized that many asbestos abatement companies didn’t offer was the step after asbestos was removed. “When you’re doing asbestos abatement, typically there’s going to be demolition behind it,” he says. For that reason, he included the other services BAD Company offers so his business would be the one-stop shop for those needing his services.

The experience and ability to provide not just asbestos abatement, but demolition work, too, has allowed business to boom. Stringer claims the company is able to complete jobs at a more competitive price because services are provided in-house, under one roof.

“I’ve been cross-trained in all these little niches,” says Stringer. “Most abatement contractors don’t have the savvy for demolition. The same goes for demo contractors. Abatement is the right glove and demolition is the left glove and they go together hand in hand.”

What keeps BAD Company priced competitively is the fact that other contractors will often mark up the cost of abatement or demolition services provided by other subcontractors. This helps BAD Company win more contracts and be more competitive in the long run.

History Plays a Significant Role

Stringer does not only recognize the company’s individual timeline; the team often works with buildings that date back to years when United States was expanding west. Stringer expresses a sense of nostalgia, as he is admittedly a lover of history and some of the buildings he has worked on embody the American dream. Within his career, he has personally performed environmental abatement and/or demolition in over 25 county courthouses across the state.

One of BAD Company’s current projects is known as the Katy Building. Stringer reports the building was built by Katy Railroad Company in 1888. “It’s such an awesome opportunity,” he says. “We’re able to get an up close and firsthand look at these old buildings to see how they were constructed and the materials they used. There are square-headed nails in that building that lead to believe they were made on-site, not to mention we’ve got over 100,000-board-feet of old-growth long-leaf pine.”

Stringer embraces such opportunities. “You can’t get stuff like this anymore,” he adds. “This is one-of-a-kind material.”

BAD Company is able to get in, self-perform all the work and get out quickly so the larger-scope project can be complete. Of course, it helps that Stringer’s management and crew members have many years of work together under their belts.

“The people who work for me are some of the best in the business,” he says. “Three of five supervisors, and at least half my workforce, I used to be a worker with, and I haven’t been a worker since 1995. There’s a lot of unspoken direction. We’re all on the same page.”

The crew is also on the same page with plans for the future. Stringer anticipates the need for asbestos abatement to last many more years, setting up Building Abatement Demolition Company Inc. for a long, comfortable future.