Hays & Sons Complete Restoration: It’s All Covered

Charles, Brian and Mark Hays founded Hays & Sons Construction – better known as Hays & Sons Complete Restoration (Hays & Sons) – in 1982. Charles worked for many years prior as a homebuilder, but when the construction bust hit in the early 1980s he saw the need to diversify, and turned to his sons for help.

“He had a good friend on the insurance side of the business,” says Chris Novotney, current director of business development for Hays & Sons. “His friend suggested Charles and his sons help a client who needed restoration after a fire destroyed his home.” Charles, Brian and Mark accepted the challenge.

After the Hays’ first project, the trio developed relationships with a number of insurance carriers, many of which Hays & Sons still works with today. One project lead to another, and eventually Hays & Sons was officially incorporated in 1982.

Hays & Sons has since grown to work with insurance companies to restore residential, commercial, multifamily and industrial buildings devastated by fires, floods and other natural and unnatural disasters. “All of the emergency services work is performed in-house, like board-ups, water remediation, mold removal, cleaning, mitigation and contents restoration,” explains Chris.

Superior Service

Hays & Sons’ employees operate out of six offices spread across Indiana and Ohio. “We have more in-house restoration services than any of our competitors,” says Chris. “That’s what really sets us apart.”

Disaster recovery is a service-oriented business, and the Hays & Sons team works hard to keep clients comfortable, despite the unfortunate circumstances of a house fire or storm damage. “We hold ourselves to a high standard,” Chris elaborates. “We are all about being proactive instead of reactive. Our people are building relationships. This is a referral business, so these relationships are really important to us.”

Building solid relationships has in turn built success for Hays & Sons. “It’s easy to get into the restoration business, but it is hard to stay around,” explains Chris. “A lot of our business comes to us through insurance carriers or adjusters. We don’t storm chase or go door to door. We grow as our relationships grow.”

Happy Customers

The Hays & Sons team performs a high volume of jobs every month, even with tolerable weather. When nature – and for Hays & Sons, duty – calls, the scope of work ranges from flooded basements to the total reconstruction of residential or commercial facilities.

“About a year-and-a-half ago we did a project on a large historical German building,” says Chris. “It housed a YMCA, a theater, a bar, a restaurant and a meeting space. The building owner had a crew working in the back and taking a chimney off with a crane. The crane lost balance and fell into the building. It caused structural damage and set off the sprinkler system, flooding four floors of the building. We were able to go in and get the water controlled and remediated in the morning and the owner had a portion of his restaurant open by that evening.”

However, quick action and turnaround by the Hays & Sons team led to a very successful project. Of course, such successful projects lead to more referrals, as well as better returns for the team at Hays & Sons. The company continues to build important relationships with insurers and customers alike, but, according to Chris, the dedicated employees of Hays & Sons make this success possible.

Hays & Sons has managed to stay true to its customers throughout the years, which is a testament to the company’s employees and management. “Our statement of satisfaction score is at 98.8 percent,” Chris says. “We use those numbers internally to make ourselves better. Our clients are happy so we get a lot of referrals.”

It is evident that the team’s hard work has not gone unnoticed. In 2012 Hays & Sons is celebrating 30 years in business. “We’ve just opened a new contents cleaning building,” says Chris. “We’re going to combine an anniversary celebration with our grand opening.”

The team continues to grow and diversify, without compromising quality. Customer satisfaction is the most important component of any project for Hays & Sons. The team works with top-of-the-line equipment, delivering a final product that is just as good, if not better, than its predisaster state. Hays & Sons Complete Restoration is a family business with family values, consistently and professionally extended to clients all over the Midwest.