By Peggy Savage
Back in 1974, John Lombardi and his wife Mavis pioneered the home waterproofing industry in the Pacific Northwest armed with a bucket, a brush, a chisel and a product called Xypex.
“Our first job was a leaking basement in Seattle,” Lombardi said. “We went out and filled the cracks.”
The couple named the business John’s Waterproofing Company, and when they moved the operation to Silverton in 1981, they worked out of their home and garage on Bartlett Street.
“It was still just Mavis and me, but I got help from one or two employees as needed,” Lombardi said. “When we started the company, there wasn’t really an industry yet; we were just learning how to solve water issues in basements.”
Today, John’s Waterproofing located on Airport Road in Silverton employs nearly 85 people and covers a service area that stretches from Bend to the Pacific coast and from Eugene to Longview, Washington.
Lombardi oversees daily operations assisted by General Manager Robin Ekloff and a team working in operations, customer service, production, sales, marketing, accounting, system design and service departments.
With more than 40 years in the business, Lombardi has taught and helped create an industry. His award-winning company has expanded to include basement waterproofing, crawl space repair and foundation repairs, and is considered a leader in the industry. He said he has surrounded himself with people as dedicated as he is, keeping the company on the cutting edge of basement and crawlspace science.
As the business expanded, Lombardi moved its base of operations in 2004 from its second location in an old gas station at High and Water streets to the building on Airport Road now known as Building 1. But the business kept growing exponentially. Increasing employees and service vehicles required more space. The biggest change took place in 2012 with the first remodel of Building 1, where the main office is now located.
“We doubled in size within two years,” he said. “We needed to utilize the entire building as our office and warehouse. And then in 2014, we got too big again.”
The company purchased Building 2, now the mechanic shop and warehouse.
Ekloff said the main reason for the burgeoning growth has been the company’s continuing education program.
“We built the market, and the big part of that came from educating the consumer about the problems of mold growing in crawl spaces. We made people aware of good solutions to those problems for their own health and for the value of their home.
“For years, we thought the only water in crawl spaces was in homes that were for sale on the real estate market. That’s a joke, but the reason is because those were the only problems people saw, because the only time they’d go in their crawl spaces was when their homes were being inspected for a sale.”
With a fleet of about 50 vehicles, crews head out daily.
“There is a crew of three people to each service truck going out,” Lombardi said. “We’ve got 10 crews out right now, all over Oregon and Washington. It’s a mad scramble getting them all out to somewhere in the state or beyond, and it changes day to day.”
Sometime in late 2019 Lombardi hopes to retire. He will hand over the reins to Ekloff, who is buying the business.
Ekloff has been with the company for more than 20 years. “When I started in 1997, we had five employees, and now we have around 85,” he said. “John is a great guy. He created a legacy, and my job is to carry that legacy on. We have a lot of people who live in the community. Most employees are from Silverton, Mount Angel and Woodburn. We like employing people in the community.”
“What I am trying to take from John is that we are all about our employees.”
“We take care of our people,” Lombardi said. “We are a team. We promote education and improvement, commit to being the best we can be. We are a close-knit group.”
