Most restoration companies do not fail because they lack work. They stall because the first big loss shows up and the equipment is not on the truck, so the job goes to whoever can put 30 air movers on the floor that afternoon. This is a buying plan for getting from a pickup and four fans to a fleet that can take a whole-house loss, without financing gear that sits in a warehouse.
The most common residential loss is a kitchen, a bathroom, or a burst supply line that wets two or three rooms. To take that job you need:
You can assemble that from singles, but the 1,000 sq ft package (6 AM33, 1 DH80, 1 AF500) is priced below the same units bought separately and arrives on one pallet with one freight bill. That freight line matters more than people expect; see below.
Once you are landing referrals, the next loss is the one that wets a whole downstairs. That needs roughly 16 air movers, 2 dehumidifiers and 2 scrubbers, which is the 2,400 sq ft Pro package. The sensible move is to buy the 2,400 package and keep the 1,000 package on the truck, so you can run two jobs at once or stack everything on one big one.
This is where fleet buying starts to pay. A 4,000 sq ft loss wants 24–32 air movers, 4 dehumidifiers and 4 scrubbers. At this size you are choosing between the 4,000 sq ft Pro package and building it from bulk packs (24-pack of AM33, 5-pack of DH80, 10-pack of AF500) so you can also refill the small kits. Either way you are shipping a pallet, not parcels.
Buy singles when you are replacing a lost or stolen unit, adding a specific model (an axial fan, a big 268-pint dehumidifier), or testing a brand for the first time. Buy packages or bulk packs when:
Freight. Single units ship parcel; packages and bulk packs go LTL freight on a pallet. MOUNTO ships everything from Corona, CA, so West Coast and Southwest customers usually see units in 1–2 days and the rest of the country inside a week. One pallet is always cheaper than the same gear in twelve boxes.
Power. Count circuits before you buy. A typical house gives you six to eight usable 15 A circuits. Plan on two to three air movers per circuit, one dehumidifier per circuit, and a dedicated circuit for each scrubber. Low-profile 1/4 HP units draw less and let you place more per circuit; that is a legitimate reason to bias the fleet toward them.
Warranty and parts. The real cost of a fleet is the day a unit is down. Every MOUNTO unit carries a 1-year warranty plus 3 years of free parts, handled from the same Corona warehouse the equipment ships from. Ask any vendor what a replacement motor costs and how long it takes to arrive before you compare sticker prices.
Storage and transport. Stackable units let a cargo van carry a 2,400 sq ft package with room for tools. If the gear does not fit in the vehicle you already own, it is not the right gear yet.
If you want a second opinion on the mix for your market, email info@mounto.com with the size of jobs you are seeing and how many vans you run. We size fleets for restoration companies every week and will tell you plainly when you are buying too much.
