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Charles A. Boutall II, (Chuck) joined the Restoration Industry in 1988 and took his first IICUC courses from Claude Blackburn, Jeff Bishop, Ruth Travis and Jim Caulfield. He has been an IICUC-RC member since 1988 except for two years. He is a native of New Orleans and has an Associates in Electrical Engineering.
He is co-owner of Air Quality Specialists which provides
Courses and Consulting in Commercial losses with a specialty in Timber and Concrete Drying as well as Climate Control for Surface Preparation and Coating Projects. AQS focuses on IICR’s WRT & CDS courses and several Specialty Restoration courses approved for IICRC’s Continuing Education Credits.
Presently Chuck is Director of Education at The Restoration Technical Institute in Reading, PA. Here he trains with some of the best instructors in the industry and enjoys the ability to have a Three story 1890’s Fabric mill as a lab and hands on training facility.
He began his career as a Product support Representative at Xerox in New Orleans then to San Jose, CA as a Sr. Field Engineer for National Semiconductor Corporation providing Installation and Repair of Mainframe computers and Laser Barcode Scanning systems for the US military all the way to Grocery stores.
At Munters Cargocaire Corporation he was a District Manager for the Moisture Control Services division then moved on to Sr. Application Engineer for Consultation, design and build of dehumidification projects throughout the US and Central America. Here Chuck provided dehumidification services ranging from dog food drying to climate control on Nuclear submarines and the Space Shuttle.
Moving on to Sponge-Jet Inc. Where he planned and implemented the start-up of a new low – dust blasting technology in the Southern United States.
Afterwards, Chuck was National Sales Manager at Eagle Industries – Containment & Abatement Products, where he directed Product Development and new product launches.
He was also owner of Air Quest Systems, a Manufacturer of Custom Desiccant Dehumidifiers, Large Refrigerant Dehumidifiers and Custom Portable Air Conditioning and Heating systems.
Chuck is probably best known for his no nonsense style of Speaking at the Water Strategies Cruises, Dri-Eaz’s Restorative Drying Symposiums, the Water Loss Institute, ASCR National, Connections East and West, DRC Canada, Experience East & West and moderator of Specialty Drying Roundtable on the Water Strategies Cruise.
He has also written a series of articles about Commercial Drying for Restoration and Remediation Magazines.
I have dried millions of square feet of structure, hundreds of thousands of books and documents and designed permanent systems for various manufacturing and storage projects over my 31 year career as an Application Engineer.
The rapid developments from tools to products to software and more has not slowed. We need to be diligent and thoughtful in our investments in technology.
Though the World Wide Web has changed this area immensely, “low-tech” options for automatically tracking moisture in the air have been around for several decades.
Aw shucks, just slap some paint on it!” My favorite line. I
have heard it several times from many people, none of whom are big in the
contracting business today (thank God).
So where do you write down
all your readings? I mean, you do take readings on every job, right? Besides
just being foolish, having poor or no paperwork means you did not perform the
task allotted.
Through the years, all drying equipment, including instruments, has suffered from misinformation, or MUS. I like the equipment we employ, and even though I use all the tools of the trade, I have been labeled by more than a few as “the desiccant guy” which is as good a place to start as any.
I remember attending a new drying class in Tennessee, what must be more than 12 years ago now, where Chuck Dewald declared, “Boys, all we have to do is get this industry to the level of plumbers: adjusters never question them!”
One of the questions I get repeatedly during classes and at breaks is, “Is there a flowchart or check list for doing a job correctly from start (the phone call) to finish (getting paid on time)?”
In May we looked at the different players in the commercial market. This time we will delve into the twisted and somewhat misunderstood world of equipment. Many restorers still use the “WOT” method of equipment selection, as in “Whatever’s On the Truck.”
