August 29, 2024 • 10 mins
1978 the Waterproofing company where DiCello worked folded on a Friday afternoon. DiCello's over-the-weekend scramble prompted a new business venture: Ohio State Waterproofing. With a shoestring budget, a basement waterproofing system that would prove to be years ahead of its time, and dogged determination to make the home services company succeed, DiCello was well on his way to building the industry-leading provider of basement waterproofing services.
Early on, the Company's vision was week to week, with the main objective to generate enough revenue to make payroll for its three employees. Fourty-six years later, DiCello has grown the Company, establishing Ohio State Waterproofing as the number-one provider of waterproofing services in Northeastern Ohio, and operating 13 EverDry Waterproofing franchises throughout the United States.
To date, the Company has installed more than 100,000 successful waterproofing and foundation repair systems.
In an industry laden with fly-by-night contractors, Ohio State Waterproofing has established itself as the professional and dependable solution for basement water issues. The Company invested in R&D efforts, refining and then patenting its Multi-Step waterproofing system in 1984. Today, it remains the only system on the market that attacks water issues from inside and outside the home. DiCello worked with vendors to ensure quality product procurement, and in the process, developed patented concrete mixes and other products that are incorporated into the exclusive waterproofing system. Quality is it’s benchmark: Ohio State Waterproofing guarantees it’s work for the life of the home-a point that differentiates the Company from its competitors.
Early on, the Company's vision was week to week, with the main objective to generate enough revenue to make payroll for its three employees. Fourty-six years later, DiCello has grown the Company, establishing Ohio State Waterproofing as the number-one provider of waterproofing services in Northeastern Ohio, and operating 13 EverDry Waterproofing franchises throughout the United States.
To date, the Company has installed more than 100,000 successful waterproofing and foundation repair systems.
In an industry laden with fly-by-night contractors, Ohio State Waterproofing has established itself as the professional and dependable solution for basement water issues. The Company invested in R&D efforts, refining and then patenting its Multi-Step waterproofing system in 1984. Today, it remains the only system on the market that attacks water issues from inside and outside the home. DiCello worked with vendors to ensure quality product procurement, and in the process, developed patented concrete mixes and other products that are incorporated into the exclusive waterproofing system. Quality is it’s benchmark: Ohio State Waterproofing guarantees it’s work for the life of the home-a point that differentiates the Company from its competitors.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Okay, time for another edition of CEOs you Should Know
on iHeartRadio. I'm Mark Nolan and in studio with us
right now CEO Nick Deicello from Ohio State Waterproofing, And
my gosh, you know you're hearing the name and you're
thinking yourself, I've seen this guy at the end of
all the all the commercials. Nick, thanks so much for
(00:20):
coming in. We appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
So this is you know, you're moving up on fifty years.
We've been saying actually we've been saying it off the air,
we've been saying it NonStop. You don't get to do
that unless you're unless you're doing something right. Talk a
little bit about how Ohio State Waterproofing started. You were
it was you and I'm guessing a truck and a shovel.
How did this all start?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
You know, the industry going back fifty years ago, it
didn't have a good reputation.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
I mean when people would ask me what I did
for a living, I didn't tell them waterproofing. I told
them I was in the construction field. And and for that,
if you go back fifty years ago, what was being
done was not waterproofing. Oh it was water control, which
(01:15):
meant they were bringing water into the home and then
pumping it out. And there's a problem with that because
if the pump goes or your electricity goes, instead of
a waterproof basement, you now have an indoor swimming pool.
And that's what the industry was, and that's what I
(01:37):
was part of, not knowing any better. That's all I knew,
and I believed in what I was doing. But like
so many companies that did water control, they're no longer
in business. You don't need too many homes to flood
before you have a lot of problems, right. So the
(01:58):
company that I was working for called me at four
o'clock in the afternoon and said that they were closing
the doors. This was a national firm and when I
said when are you closing, they said in an hour.
Let everybody go.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
So that was on a Friday. I met with a
couple of people over the weekend. I said, here's the deal.
I don't have any money, but I know there's got
to be a better way, So let's come up with
a better mouse trap for a lack of better words.
And the industry is wide open, and that's exactly what
(02:37):
we did. We came up with a system that water
proofed a basement and it took off. It took off.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
You've owned it. I mean, you really have owned this
industry since was it nineteen seventy eight with that the
official nineteen and was it? Do you think it was
because your idea of just keeping the water out completely
was so vastly different than what was happening already that
that was what made it really take off. And you
(03:09):
just said, Okay, we're just going to ride this.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Yeah. Well, again, the industry had a terrible reputation, okay,
and what we were doing was working, and it was
catching on really really quick. And that's when I said
to myself, you know, I should patent this, and we
did get a patent on it, and then we had
(03:31):
the system evaluated by an organization called the ICC. And
what they do is they look at building materials or
building systems to make sure that they meet code. And
years and years ago we were evaluated and we're the
only waterproofer that has been given the green light by
(03:57):
the ICC as far as water proofing walls and waterproofing
floors and waterproofing the basement, which sets us apart.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
It really does, and you've been able to so we're
looking at over one hundred thousand customers since the beginning
of that. I can't wrap my head around that. That
is just absolutely amazing. But you know, I've also been
out at the building there and I see the trucks
and they're going in and out, and it is just
it's NonStop. It's amazing.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Yeah, we now have a campus. We have three separate
buildings just to house the amount of vehicles that we
have incredible. I mean, we have a total of two
hundred and fifty employees working out of the Macedonia location.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
That's important you bring that up. You have two hundred
and fifty employees. They are Ohio State waterproofing employees.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
We've never subbed anything, not once.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Now, was that a decision you made early on and
said this is the way we're going to do this,
or how did that work?
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Again, when you go back fifty years ago with all
these companies that were from out of state, they were
just subbing everything. They didn't take the time to hire
and develop and have a company culture for lack of
better words, and our culture is we care about people,
and we want to do right by people.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
And you care about the people who both work for you,
and obviously you care about the customer as well. I
learned after being on site with you that you a
couple of different things happen. As far as communication with
the customer. There is while the job is going on,
there's at least one daily phone call from you to them.
(05:44):
It's not them saying, hey, your guys are here, it's
you contacting the customer and talking to them about how
the project's going.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Yeah, we talk to the customer every day. We want
to know in real time are we meeting your expectation,
because if we're not, we have an opportunity to change course.
I don't want to know when the job's completed or
a week later or a month later, that we didn't
give you what you expected. So we know in real time,
(06:15):
and when the job is completed, there's a telephone call
where we talk about where you walked around the property,
do you understand everything? Have we met your expectations? And
that happens on every job. And then about a month
later we taken another step where we actually go into
(06:38):
the home with an individual and he does an interview,
wanting to know what the homeowner's total experience was from
how did you find us? Was it Mark Nolan? And
you know, how did the representative educate you? As far
(06:59):
as it's going on? How about the crew, the foreman,
the crew chief, the field soup. We want to know
everything and anything about your experience, and we've learned so much.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Talk a little bit about that about because you know,
anytime any of us buy anything, it seems I instantly
get an email somewhere down the road says, hey, will
you you know, go through and take this or I
love the fact that these are personal, one on one
human beings you know that are coming out and doing
these surveys. Well, what are some of the things you
have learned over the years you think that have allowed
(07:33):
you to continue to hold on to again for almost
fifty years.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
You know, something we learned at least twenty thirty years ago,
and it's only been recently that the people like the
World Health Organization CDC and the EPA have learned. And
I think it was really the result of COVID, But
twenty thirty years ago we learned that a wet, damp
(07:58):
basement is really a breeding ground for molds and mildews
and other forms of bacteria that thrive on the moisture,
and all of that affects our respiratory system, so people
can develop asthma and analogies or other respiratory issues. There's
(08:22):
a laundry list of things that the EPA. As a
matter of fact, the EPA just put this out recently
that indoor air pollutants have now been ranked among the
top five environmental risks to public health. I knew this
thirty years ago, okay. And part of our system we
(08:45):
ventilate the basement also, so any kind of excess moisture
that might be in the air just from relative humidity
that will fuel these bacterial things growing in the home,
we ventilate the home and we improve the air quality
in the house. And we again learned that from homeowners
(09:07):
kind of saying, hey, it still feels a little funky
down here.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Sure, And here you are, more than one hundred thousand
homeowners later, moving up on fifty years owned and operator,
You're still the guy out front. You're still the one
that is that is you know, here talking about it.
And again you don't get to do that. You don't
get to stick around that long and keep two hundred
(09:32):
and fifty employees around unless you're doing something right, and
that's what you do at Ohio State Waterproofing. Nick, I
got to tell you you've been fantastic. I appreciate you taking
the time. We all appreciate it. You're there's a reason
you are a CEO. You need to know. There are
a number of reasons. And every time you and I
cross paths, I learn a little bit more about it.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
I tell you one thing I'm really proud of. Thirty
percent of our employees have been around for more than
thirty years.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
I've watched this gentleman sitting next to me. He was
sixteen years old riding a bike to work. Okay, there's that,
and that was forty years ago.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Wow. Yeah, that's amazing. So and and you know, workers,
they want to they want to stick around employees and
really their their partners, right, you know these are these
are that's an extension of your company that goes and.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
You love what you do and you believe in what
you do. Okay, it's not a bad place to work.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Can't thank you enough, Nick de Chello, CEO. You should
know Ohio State Waterproofing. Thank you much, sir, appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Thank you
Okay, time for another edition of CEOs you Should Know
on iHeartRadio. I'm Mark Nolan and in studio with us
right now CEO Nick Deicello from Ohio State Waterproofing, And
my gosh, you know you're hearing the name and you're
thinking yourself, I've seen this guy at the end of
all the all the commercials. Nick, thanks so much for
(00:20):
coming in. We appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
So this is you know, you're moving up on fifty years.
We've been saying actually we've been saying it off the air,
we've been saying it NonStop. You don't get to do
that unless you're unless you're doing something right. Talk a
little bit about how Ohio State Waterproofing started. You were
it was you and I'm guessing a truck and a shovel.
How did this all start?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
You know, the industry going back fifty years ago, it
didn't have a good reputation.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
I mean when people would ask me what I did
for a living, I didn't tell them waterproofing. I told
them I was in the construction field. And and for that,
if you go back fifty years ago, what was being
done was not waterproofing. Oh it was water control, which
(01:15):
meant they were bringing water into the home and then
pumping it out. And there's a problem with that because
if the pump goes or your electricity goes, instead of
a waterproof basement, you now have an indoor swimming pool.
And that's what the industry was, and that's what I
(01:37):
was part of, not knowing any better. That's all I knew,
and I believed in what I was doing. But like
so many companies that did water control, they're no longer
in business. You don't need too many homes to flood
before you have a lot of problems, right. So the
(01:58):
company that I was working for called me at four
o'clock in the afternoon and said that they were closing
the doors. This was a national firm and when I
said when are you closing, they said in an hour.
Let everybody go.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
So that was on a Friday. I met with a
couple of people over the weekend. I said, here's the deal.
I don't have any money, but I know there's got
to be a better way, So let's come up with
a better mouse trap for a lack of better words.
And the industry is wide open, and that's exactly what
(02:37):
we did. We came up with a system that water
proofed a basement and it took off. It took off.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
You've owned it. I mean, you really have owned this
industry since was it nineteen seventy eight with that the
official nineteen and was it? Do you think it was
because your idea of just keeping the water out completely
was so vastly different than what was happening already that
that was what made it really take off. And you
(03:09):
just said, Okay, we're just going to ride this.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Yeah. Well, again, the industry had a terrible reputation, okay,
and what we were doing was working, and it was
catching on really really quick. And that's when I said
to myself, you know, I should patent this, and we
did get a patent on it, and then we had
(03:31):
the system evaluated by an organization called the ICC. And
what they do is they look at building materials or
building systems to make sure that they meet code. And
years and years ago we were evaluated and we're the
only waterproofer that has been given the green light by
(03:57):
the ICC as far as water proofing walls and waterproofing
floors and waterproofing the basement, which sets us apart.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
It really does, and you've been able to so we're
looking at over one hundred thousand customers since the beginning
of that. I can't wrap my head around that. That
is just absolutely amazing. But you know, I've also been
out at the building there and I see the trucks
and they're going in and out, and it is just
it's NonStop. It's amazing.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Yeah, we now have a campus. We have three separate
buildings just to house the amount of vehicles that we
have incredible. I mean, we have a total of two
hundred and fifty employees working out of the Macedonia location.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
That's important you bring that up. You have two hundred
and fifty employees. They are Ohio State waterproofing employees.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
We've never subbed anything, not once.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Now, was that a decision you made early on and
said this is the way we're going to do this,
or how did that work?
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Again, when you go back fifty years ago with all
these companies that were from out of state, they were
just subbing everything. They didn't take the time to hire
and develop and have a company culture for lack of
better words, and our culture is we care about people,
and we want to do right by people.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
And you care about the people who both work for you,
and obviously you care about the customer as well. I
learned after being on site with you that you a
couple of different things happen. As far as communication with
the customer. There is while the job is going on,
there's at least one daily phone call from you to them.
(05:44):
It's not them saying, hey, your guys are here, it's
you contacting the customer and talking to them about how
the project's going.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Yeah, we talk to the customer every day. We want
to know in real time are we meeting your expectation,
because if we're not, we have an opportunity to change course.
I don't want to know when the job's completed or
a week later or a month later, that we didn't
give you what you expected. So we know in real time,
(06:15):
and when the job is completed, there's a telephone call
where we talk about where you walked around the property,
do you understand everything? Have we met your expectations? And
that happens on every job. And then about a month
later we taken another step where we actually go into
(06:38):
the home with an individual and he does an interview,
wanting to know what the homeowner's total experience was from
how did you find us? Was it Mark Nolan? And
you know, how did the representative educate you? As far
(06:59):
as it's going on? How about the crew, the foreman,
the crew chief, the field soup. We want to know
everything and anything about your experience, and we've learned so much.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Talk a little bit about that about because you know,
anytime any of us buy anything, it seems I instantly
get an email somewhere down the road says, hey, will
you you know, go through and take this or I
love the fact that these are personal, one on one
human beings you know that are coming out and doing
these surveys. Well, what are some of the things you
have learned over the years you think that have allowed
(07:33):
you to continue to hold on to again for almost
fifty years.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
You know, something we learned at least twenty thirty years ago,
and it's only been recently that the people like the
World Health Organization CDC and the EPA have learned. And
I think it was really the result of COVID, But
twenty thirty years ago we learned that a wet, damp
(07:58):
basement is really a breeding ground for molds and mildews
and other forms of bacteria that thrive on the moisture,
and all of that affects our respiratory system, so people
can develop asthma and analogies or other respiratory issues. There's
(08:22):
a laundry list of things that the EPA. As a
matter of fact, the EPA just put this out recently
that indoor air pollutants have now been ranked among the
top five environmental risks to public health. I knew this
thirty years ago, okay. And part of our system we
(08:45):
ventilate the basement also, so any kind of excess moisture
that might be in the air just from relative humidity
that will fuel these bacterial things growing in the home,
we ventilate the home and we improve the air quality
in the house. And we again learned that from homeowners
(09:07):
kind of saying, hey, it still feels a little funky
down here.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Sure, And here you are, more than one hundred thousand
homeowners later, moving up on fifty years owned and operator,
You're still the guy out front. You're still the one
that is that is you know, here talking about it.
And again you don't get to do that. You don't
get to stick around that long and keep two hundred
(09:32):
and fifty employees around unless you're doing something right, and
that's what you do at Ohio State Waterproofing. Nick, I
got to tell you you've been fantastic. I appreciate you taking
the time. We all appreciate it. You're there's a reason
you are a CEO. You need to know. There are
a number of reasons. And every time you and I
cross paths, I learn a little bit more about it.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
I tell you one thing I'm really proud of. Thirty
percent of our employees have been around for more than
thirty years.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
I've watched this gentleman sitting next to me. He was
sixteen years old riding a bike to work. Okay, there's that,
and that was forty years ago.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Wow. Yeah, that's amazing. So and and you know, workers,
they want to they want to stick around employees and
really their their partners, right, you know these are these
are that's an extension of your company that goes and.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
You love what you do and you believe in what
you do. Okay, it's not a bad place to work.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Can't thank you enough, Nick de Chello, CEO. You should
know Ohio State Waterproofing. Thank you much, sir, appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Thank you
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