Third generation sandbag man
My need for sandbags begin when my house was flooded. At first I couldn’t tell where the water was coming from, but it was coming fast, into my pool, my backyard and into the house. Eventually I realized it was coming form my neighbors pool runoff.
The strangest thing was taking place. I could look at my pool and see water standing 1” above the edge. I was 40’ away holding the gate open to let more water out and trying to keep the dogs in at the same time. I thought to myself this is amazing, “water coming down so fast it is hovering over the pool till it runs off! Well not exactly, the water was coming through the fence and filling my pool and that was the elevated water level. After 3 floods in 2 weeks I called a surveying company to see what the problem was, but nobody wanted to help me. It took 4 months for me to finally understand what was happening.
My house suffered $10,000’s in damage. No insurance company would help. My company said surface water was not covered, the neighbor’s insurance asked me to prove my findings. Thats where sandbags came into the picture and I used them as a short term solution.
My family had been in the bag business since 2000. From this business, I new someone that could source 1,000 bags. I also knew someone in the concrete business that would deliver 80,000 lbs Of sand.
My motivation was not making money but protecting my property from what was a disaster in the making. With bags, sand, and shovels we started back braking work to protect my house. We had to get enough bags to barricade the east side of my property before the rainy season began. The entire time I was doing this work, I started thinking about my neighbors in and around the city. With the expansion of our city and floods by rain occurring more often, I was sure others would also be in need of flood protection. Over the next year I researched how to barricade for flooding, the best ways to get sand in bags, and the equipment I would need.
The bank I was with for 30 years could not see my vision. They did not think the area would ever have flooding issues. This meant no financial assistance.
During the next year I tried to convince myself and others of this need. Ninety-nine point 9 percent of people said, “no, I just dont see you making any money.“
That drove me to continue working the problem. By the end of 2016 I managed to purchase a sandbag machine, “this machine was going to be the solution and I had discovered the missing link”.
Without the machine our bag filling process was taking 2 minutes per bag and this machine promised up to 1200 in 1 hour! With this machine, I started bagging pea gravel for a local barricade company. Next, the company I bought the sandbag machine referred me to a “sandbag broker.” who thought there was a larger need across the states. Everyone in the family worked part time from the late 1970’s till I graduated hi school in 1983. From there it was full time and college for a year. Eventually I was spending all of my time at work. This point is where I started learning more about the industry, and started working long and hard hours, but I realized this was not sustainable.
Today I am still following in my grand fathers foot steps. He started imperial company bag in the 1930’s. He bought used burlap bags and burlap material. People told my grandfather that he had lost his mind. With determination and hard work he managed to turn his business into a successful operation.
I have built my business with a goal of creating a high quality sandbag that will work time and time again. After all we are helping our clients protect their homes, businesses and more. You have to be able to rely upon the sandbag to protect your property, and thats why we have put so much time into testing and ensuring our bags are built for the job at hand. The other vital aspect of flood protection is time. By the time our customers realize they need sandbags, its almost too late. This is why we are heavily focused on making sure your deliveries are fast and made on time.
Today we also service many states, industries (from municipalities to pipeline) and home owners. We have the inventory and trucking/shipping connections to make it happen. Call today for a free estimate.
Thank you
Barry Joachim
President / Owner