"A lot of people are afraid of contractors coming into their businesses and messing everything up," says Conway, executive vice president, Great Lakes Plumbing and Heating Co., Chicago. "But we treat a sprinkler retrofit job almost as if we were coming into someone's home and keep it looking the way we found it when we leave."
To do that, Great Lakes may typically work through the night to install the sprinkler systems, and also hire plasterers, dry wall installers, painters and even a janitorial crew to clean up - not just at the end of the job, but at the end of every day (or night) until the project is completed.