Daily Inspiration: Meet Gabriel Martinez

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gabriel Martinez. Them and their team share their story with us below:

Pure Restore was started by Carlos Ramirez. 

Carlos is a Colorado native that used to work on the oil fields by Grand Junction as a roughneck. A few years ago, he decided to do something that would be more fulfilling and supportive for his community. 

After successfully starting and selling his first abatement and restoration businesses, Carlos decided he would start a new restoration company called Pure Restore. The goal would be to further build upon his restoration knowledge and certifications. 

Carlos wanted to create a strong team of managers and technicians that could quickly respond to fire or water emergencies and provide the best mold remediation services to the front range of Colorado. 

He asked Gabriel Martinez to be his General Manager. The two have worked together for almost 5 years in the restoration industry at prior companies, and Gabriel previously spent seven years at Cochlear as a supervisor, business analyst, and more as he went on to streamline IT systems and applications for the company. 

Pure Restore was founded in September 2020, despite uncertainty brought about by COVID-19. Carlos and Gabriel would spend the next year building their team of technicians and managers. In October 2021, they added Max Pena who was previously marketing for Colorado-based High 5 Plumbing. In November 2021, Chris Molloy joined the team—and he brought years of home service experience to Pure Restore as a Business Developer and Project Manager. In January of 2022, Emma Carroll joined the team as the Office Manager. They also added two new technicians, giving us a total of four techs on the field as of February 2022: Jesus, Victor, Jesse, and Jordan. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
On the afternoon of December 30th, their team watched closely as smoke rolled in from the distance at our office location. Pure Restore is headquartered only 20 minutes from the Boulder/Superior area. What started as whispers of a brushfire were quickly becoming viral videos of drivers who were unable to see more than a few meters away from their vehicle. More footage came in, this time from people recording within large retail stores as they planned to run from the doors towards their car as fast as possible. 

By that evening it was clear that we were going to have a serious large-scale residential fire. Pure Restore spent the weekend preparing for the inevitable: next week was going to be extremely hard for thousands of residents in our immediate area. 

Being close to the affected area made it easy for us to start doing sample testing and inspections, but it also meant a massive influx of calls during the 2 weeks following the Marshall Fire. Calls increased as more people were allowed to visit heavily affected areas, which were initially blocked off by military personnel and the local police department for everyone’s safety. 

This was a huge learning experience for people affected by the fires and/or smoke, as many people have never filed a claim before. If they had filed a claim in the past, it was unlikely that it was due to fire/smoke. There was additional anxiety about coverages and timelines for repairs due to the scope of this damage going across multiple neighborhoods. Some callers were frustrated because they were only given the bare minimum coverages by their insurance, in terms of the scope of work to appropriately mitigate their damage. 

The biggest challenge of the Marshall Fire came down to the insurance companies and how seriously they took their customer’s request for fire/smoke remediation. For example, one policyholder would get coverage for their damages, yet their neighbor (with comparable policy with the same insurance company) would somehow have totally different line items on their estimates despite their homes having similar damage only feet apart. Others were confused about “cleaning-in-place” for their home’s contents, a paradoxical concept considering your house is covered in ash, soot, smoke, odors, and particulates that can cause acute or chronic illnesses due to the presence of carcinogens. 

Pure Restore’s goal was ultimately to be the best resource possible for those who were calling in with questions. Being that it was a large-scale residential fire, the traveling toxic smoke carried particulates from burned-up appliances, batteries, wiring, building materials, and electronics. 

Pure Restore had to make the difficult decision of accepting the insurances ‘minimized Scope of Work’ or not. The minimized Scope of Work from the insurance adjusters was not the appropriate or correct way of handling these claims nor did we feel was in accordance to the appropriate processes, procedures, and protocols to produce a clean and safe home or environment for the homeowner and occupants. Public adjusters were then highly recommended in those situations as they can provide more insight when insurance companies push back on claims. 

Despite already being halfway through February, our team is still addressing fire/smoke damage in homes from the affected area. Restoration companies across the front range of Colorado have been working hard to help address the fires, in addition to the other emergencies calls they need to respond to. 

We hope all affected homeowners have found the resources or contacts they need to move forward with the process. For some people, it’s taking days to process claims and start work, and others will take weeks or months until they can move back into their home with assurance that it is safe to occupy. 

Now that our day-to-day is slowly getting back to normal levels, we are back to our previous mission of creating a great team of technicians who can help our community during unexpected emergencies. Pure Restore pays for our employee’s training. Our management team works closely with our technicians to get them trained, certified, and licensed in critical areas; which will make them valuable employees as they move forward in this essential industry. 

Restoration work can be hazardous, but we take pride in approaching every job safely in the eyes of our clients and technicians. It takes a lot of work to perform proper mitigation, restoration, or remediation services, and we do not cut any corners when it comes to ensuring the safety of everyone involved. We’re becoming a leading player in an industry where contractors who don’t always prioritize safety over the bottom line. Pure Restore wants to change the game in terms of safety and other expectations regarding the efficacy of all provided services. 

Pure Restore is disruptive to the industry in terms of training. It is very difficult to hire technicians in this field due to the 24/7 on-call requirements and the challenge of dealing with hazardous environments. That said, Pure Restore has been succeeding in that department because we know employees will flourish when they are given the resources they need to succeed. This team’s hiring process is greatly centered around people who are looking to take the next step in their career. 

It is an exciting time for us as we have two newly wrapped van, new uniforms, and most importantly: an amazing team that is passionate about making a difference for the people across Colorado. Pure Restore is grateful to be growing as an independently owned, Colorado-based restoration company. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Pure Restore’s core services include water damage mitigation, fire damage restoration, and mold remediation. We also perform indoor air quality testing. We are prepared to assist residential and commercial clients with emergency responses 24/7, including weekends and holidays. Pure Restore serves Denver, Boulder, and the entire Front Range of Colorado. If you call us for a water or fire-based restoration emergency, we will be there within the hour. 

Specialty services include sewage cleanups, trauma and crime scene cleanup, and asbestos abatement. 

We are proud of the fact that we can change how people perceive this industry. Anyone can become a contractor and get into a niche with relative ease. The true challenge is getting certified in all aspects of restoration, which includes but is not limited to: fire, water, and mold recovery. Then it’s about producing phenomenal work for clients and helping them be educated throughout the process. You also have to be successful in collaborating with partners on advanced cleaning projects, such as HVAC and duct cleaning companies in order to ensure the environment is fully restored to pre-loss conditions. 

Every day we work closely with homeowners, business owners, or property managers who have had bad experiences with restoration companies and contractors. Our goal is to help them understand that our team is certified, insured, and bonded for these services. Some contractors are hyper-focused on their bottom line, but that is not an option in restoration. Cutting corners in our business could lead to houses getting damaged further, or people getting sick from post-water damage mold growth, or improper mold remediation. People can also get sick from fire damage or smoke restoration because fires and smoke introduce carcinogens and toxins from consumer electronics, building materials, and more. In addition to their health, these home or structure damages can cost people tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on the severity and level of insurance coverage. Knowing this pushes us to perform better services and to share our knowledge and expertise with clients. Everything we do is supported by the highest industry standards and science. 

Restoration is considered a “dirty job” because technicians spend a great deal of their time moving heavy equipment, working in areas covered in inches or feet of water, avoiding hazards like asbestos via testing, cleaning up toxic waste after fires, and remediating mold from hard-to-reach crawlspaces. With the proper protective equipment and processes, all of this can be done safely. 

What’s setting us apart is our approach with employee training. Despite a labor shortage, we are still finding, hiring, and training new technicians. Restoration is quickly becoming a high-tech industry. The instruments and equipment we use are cutting-edge and even day-to-day tools such as professional dehumidifiers are implementing smarter chips with more capabilities, such as wireless reporting via Wi-Fi/Bluetooth. 

Pure Restore is excited about these advancements and we train our team with the right processes every day. We provide 100% paid training for our employees. Employees start at $18-20/hour on the first day, even with zero experience—although experience in adjacent industries will lead to a higher starting rate. We also pay for technician’s certification testing as they gain more field experience, which will give them advanced knowledge across our field—making them valuable employees in our industry. Every time they pass their IICRC certifications, their salary increases further. A challenge we face is simply that many people do not know about the restoration industry. This field has a specific path (comparable to a plumber or electrician’s apprenticeship) which interests our new employees. We have been successful recruiting technicians who were looking for more direction than their traditional construction jobs were providing. 

Being a successful contractor in 2022 means you need to be passionate about your industry. Then you need to convert that passion and knowledge into resources and develop a clear path for your employees to grow. 

Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Pure Restore is a Colorado-based company and we are an independently owned business. 

If someone you know ever needs help recovering from water damage, fire/smoke damage, or mold damage, we are available 24/7 for emergency services. 

If you are interested in becoming a restoration technician, feel free to email your resume and contact details to info@puredri.com 

Contact Info:

• Email: info@puredri.com
• Website: www.puredri.com (Note: we are transferring this domain to www.restorationdenver.com in March)
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/purerestore
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/puredri
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/purerestore

Image Credits
Pure Restore