RSG Caulking & Waterproofing Industry Articles

Family Sets the Standard

From skyscrapers to curtain walls, RSG Caulking & Waterproofing puts safety & quality first

By Chancellor Page , Blue Book Building & Construction

Imagine if the Manhattan skyline was your portfolio and you could simply tell prospective clients to look up to see the quality of your work. That’s a reality for RSG Caulking & Waterproofing, Inc. (RSG), a family-owned-and-operated business established by Robert Guerrerio Jr. in 1984.

“It’s been a family business since day one,” says Robert Guerrerio III, Vice President and Co-Owner of RSG Caulking & Waterproofing. “My father is still president, and he’s still heavily involved. He’s built up the company from the ’80s and ’90s to where it is today. My dad’s brother and brother-in-law have been here since the ’80s. My two brothers, Joe and Paul, are also in the business.”

Family values have set the standard of quality for this business. From the start, Robert Jr. has been at the helm mentoring and guiding the performance of his team and the quality of each of RSG’s projects. He’s created a business that values and develops quality employees. Some have been with the company for three decades. Robert Jr.’s mentorship is especially relevant to his sons, Robert III and Joe. Their growth in the business has been a natural extension of their relationship with their father and family.

“I grew up around the office, and when I got older, I grew up on job sites,” Robert III says. “It’s been natural because I’ve always been involved in the business.”

Trust and Investment in the Future

Robert Jr. and his team have helped cultivate long-lasting relationships, ensuring each client is heard, expectations are met and everyone is treated like family. Because the business is family based, the RSG team leads with a strong element of trust and a belief in the leadership and the industry. Employees view each project as an investment in their future, a re-investment in the foundations and infrastructure of the company, and a step toward fulfilling the vision and values of its founder.

“You can trust each other,” Robert III says, speaking to the strength of culture in a family-owned-and-operated business. “We’re fast-paced but at the same time totally respectful. We all work together to get jobs done. We all have the same common goals of quality and safety. We value quality over quantity and are building the company for long-term growth.”

Craftsmanship and Project Mix

RSG specializes in caulking, smoke seal, waterproofing, major exterior renovation projects, including total curtain wall rehabs, and more. According to Robert III, the spectrum and specialty of work is a tribute to Robert Jr.’s ability to find talent that fits with the RSG brand. His leadership has been foundational for the company’s culture of excellence and teamwork. Handing down lessons of craftsmanship to his sons and hiring union workers whose expertise aligns with the standards of the company have helped RSG meet its quality goals.

“We’re proud of the quality of our workmanship,” Robert III says. “Caulking is a very quality-oriented trade. You can do a sloppy but passable job or an amazing job. We’ve done an amazing job on hundreds of high-end buildings in Manhattan with zero leaks. We don’t just hire guys with certificates. Our guys are in-house, and our new guys go through a lot of training and vetting before they’re left on their own.”

Safety and On-Site Assurance

Each RSG employee is required to complete a minimum of 30 hours of OSHA training and 16 hours of NYC Suspended Scaffold User Training courses. Company foremen step it up a notch and log 62-hour OSHA Site Safety Training for supervisors and have NYC Special Rigger cards. This commitment to training ensures safety and quality. Word gets around. “Clients know that RSG will send experts in their craft who have been trained to provide exceptional customer service and support,” Robert III says. “What’s more, the company’s focus and guarantee of the highest-quality workmanship on industrial projects has led to approvals and special warranties which are not attainable by most contractors from material manufacturers, including Dow, General Electric Company, Henry, Grace, Sika, Tremco, Pecora Corporation and many more.”

Every job is reviewed by company officers to make sure it meets RSG standards. The team brings decades of insight and hands-on experience to the company’s caulking, firestopping, waterproofing and general contracting services, and shares the focus that every job should meet family standards.

“We’re all heavily involved in the jobs ourselves,” Robert III says. “My brothers and I are on jobs every day coordinating with job site supers and making sure the project meets quality and safety standards. It has to look great and be done correctly, from start to finish. We go out there continuously and check the entire job to make sure it’s done 100% properly. We’re on top of it. My brother Joe, who is also a Vice President, and I meet with the clients every day and ensure all work exceeds the standards and satisfaction of our customers. Our Chief Estimator Carlos Pou, who has been employed by us for over 20 years, and my youngest brother Paul are constantly meeting with our workers in the field to review details.”

High-Profile Portfolio

RSG is thorough and its employees have made a living by ensuring quality. What more would you expect from a company that has specialized in caulking exterior panels on skyscrapers in Manhattan since the 1980s? RSG has worked on many of New York’s iconic architectural marvels and high-profile high-rises.

“About a third of the big skyscrapers in Manhattan have been caulked or fire-safed by us,” Robert III says. A few notables in Manhattan include AOL Time Warner Center, 220 Central Park South, Hearst Tower, 217 West 57th Street, One57, and Trump International Hotel & Tower. “We work off beam-and-weight-suspended scaffolds,” continues Robert III, who holds an NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) special rigger license. “I rig them myself, along with my uncle Anthony who is also an NYC special rigger and Local 580 ironworker with over 35 years of experience, to ensure the job is done right. We have strict safety enforcement. All of our scaffold foremen are heavily trained and licensed.”

The team also provides scaffolding for other trades and has installed suspended scaffolding and provided scaffold supervision and permits for other subcontractors. They stay ahead of safety requirements and comply with using environmentally friendly products. No job is the same, and each brings a new level of complexity.

“We did the Four Seasons at 99 Church Street (30 Park Place) in Manhattan,” Robert III says. “It’s one of the largest precast concrete exterior buildings in the world. It came with a lot of design and engineering challenges. We helped make it work. We caulked all of the exterior precast panels with a triple bead of caulk, working from suspended scaffolds 1,000 feet in the air. We also fire-safed the entire building, installed snow guards on the exterior and worked with other trades to provide them with scaffolding. It was a very large project it and came out great.”

Robert III is proud to say that RSG does work for all of the major general contractors in New York City. “We have repeat and new clients from word-of-mouth referral, and they know the buildings that we’ve done,” he says. “And we’re a safe company. We haven’t had any accidents on-site. We’re extremely reliable.”

Today, RSG’s clients and work extend beyond New York and into New Jersey and Connecticut. Consistency speaks volumes about RSG, and about Robert Jr.’s influence, commitment to quality and development of the team he has put around him. Robert III sums up his bottom line: “We’ve been around since the 1980s and, God willing, this family business will be around for another 100 years.”

Call RSG today for professional caulking services.

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