Reliable Contractor Services expanding services, rebranding

Reliable Contractor Services is expanding services now that its back in its hometown of Lorain

Having relocated back from Elyria to 234 E. 34th St. in Lorain, the company is in “heavy growth mode” and is adding new services complete with investments in technology.

Founded in 1999 as Reliable Basement and Drains, the company began its operations in Lorain before relocating to Elyria for a few years.

Looking to expand, the company returned to their Lorain roots in a new 50,000-square-foot building in October.

Traditionally known as Reliable Basement and Drain, Founder and CEO Ken Weaver said the company is in the midst of rebranding itself and have added Reliable Contractor Services to its name to account for the new services being offered.

It recently added hydroexcavation services in addition to expanding its sewer and plumbing services to try and become a “one-stop shop” for Lorain County.

“I don’t want to be a WalMart, but I have many customers who don’t want to call somebody else and we can,” Weaver said. “We have the ability, but we just don’t market it. Reliable Contractor Services just allows us to do anything.”

The company currently has 16 employees and Weaver is hoping to double the size of his familyowned business by 2020 with plans to add about 10 new positions over the next three years.

“In all the years I’ve been in business, I’ve never really tried to grow,” he said. “We’ve grown naturally to where we are right now which is a fairly large company.”

With a customer base of 7,000, Weaver said he conducts more than 50 percent of his business in the city of Lorain and believes his company has the most technical expertise in the field of any family-owned business in the area. He recently purchased a $360,000 vacuum truck to provide vacuum and hydro-excavation services.

“The big thing here for us and the success of the business is really the technology,” Weaver said. “It’s the ability for us to have the people. The skill that we house within this building is unmatched.”

Weaver said returning to the building has been a fullcircle experience.

As a child, he lived in a house right behind his present location and began working part-time at the former Gross Plumbing building from the age of seven and even had the first few dates with his wife there.

“So when I was 7 years old, I used to run over here to the little corner market and I lived in a house right behind this building,” he said. “My grandfather knew Jim Gross, who owned this building. I would come over and sweep the floors, make a little bit of cash to go buy some candy.”

Weaver also bought the building next door where his grandfather once owned a machine shop and plans to continue renovating it.

ERIC BONZAR — THE MORNING JOURNAL Reliable Contractor Services Founder Ken Weaver has returned his family-run business to his “roots” in Lorain. The Wellington resident said he is re-branding his company in the city which provides upwards of 50 percent of its business.