Louisville Exterior Services - Repair & Replacement Contractor

$15.5M

Revenue

$4.2M

SDE

4.5x

Multiple

Subscribe Free

Read the full deal writeup

Get Free Access

Already a member? Sign in

Full Editorial Writeup

This is an established exterior property services business in Louisville, Kentucky, founded in 2015 and serving both residential and commercial clients across the surrounding market. The company specializes in repair, replacement, and general exterior upkeep work, the kind of recurring property maintenance that gets done in good times and bad. With $15.5M in revenue and $4.2M in cash flow, this is a real operating business with margins north of 27 percent, not a thin-margin volume shop.

The operation runs through a structured process covering scheduling, material coordination, customer communication, and field execution, with day-to-day work handled by a 26-person full-time team and project managers in place. The owner sits in an estimating and relationship role rather than swinging hammers, which matters for transferability. A meaningful chunk of revenue comes from repeat customers, referrals, and recurring property improvement needs, and the company has built dependable supplier relationships that smooth out the year.

The business operates from a leased 5,500 SF facility at $5,500 per month used for equipment storage, staging, dispatch, and admin. Included in the asking price is $650k of inventory and $1.2M of FF&E covering trucks, trailers, tools, and the equipment needed to run exterior jobs. The seller is retiring and offering transition support plus potential seller financing, making this a clean handoff for an operator with construction or field-services experience.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is strong at $4.2M cash flow on $15.5M revenue, a 27 percent margin that is healthy for an exterior services contractor. The 4.48x multiple is reasonable for a business this size with project managers already in place. Repeat customers and referrals provide a recurring base of demand that smooths revenue across the year.
Durability comes from the nature of the work. Exterior repair and replacement is non-discretionary maintenance that property owners must address regardless of the economic cycle, especially storm and wear-driven repair. Established supplier relationships and a known local reputation since 2015 create switching friction and steady project flow.
Market tailwinds favor exterior services in a region with aging housing stock and ongoing property maintenance needs. Weather events in Kentucky generate predictable repair and replacement demand, and the commercial side adds contract-based stability. This is a category that compounds quietly rather than booming and busting.
Operator advantage is real here because the owner already sits above the field work with project managers handling execution. A buyer with construction or field-operations background can step into the estimating and relationship seat and immediately push for capacity expansion. The 26-person team is the asset, and it transfers with the deal.

How to improve it

Tighten and document the recurring revenue picture by segmenting commercial contract work from one-off residential jobs. Convert satisfied residential customers into annual maintenance agreements to build a contracted base that lifts valuation. Recurring revenue is the single biggest lever to re-rate this business at exit.
Build a digital lead engine. Most exterior services contractors leave money on the table by relying on referrals alone, so invest in local SEO, Google LSA, and paid search to capture storm-driven and replacement demand. A predictable cost-per-lead funnel reduces dependence on word of mouth and lets you scale crew utilization.
Add complementary service lines that share the same crews and trucks, such as gutters, pressure washing, or seasonal exterior maintenance. This raises average ticket and revenue per customer without proportional overhead. The listing explicitly flags adding complementary services as a growth path.
Professionalize estimating and pricing. With the owner currently handling estimating personally, build a standardized pricing system and train additional estimators so the function is not a single point of failure. This is critical for both transferability and margin discipline as volume grows.
Expand geographic coverage into adjacent Kentucky and southern Indiana markets using the existing operational playbook. The current footprint is Louisville-centric, and the surrounding metro offers room to add crews and dispatch zones. Growth here is largely a staffing and routing problem, not a demand problem.
Implement field management software for scheduling, dispatch, and job costing if not already in place. Real-time visibility into crew productivity and job-level margins is where the next dollar of EBITDA hides in a services business this size. Tighter job costing also flags unprofitable work before it compounds.

Diligence notes

Define exactly what the exterior services scope is. The listing is deliberately vague on whether this is roofing, siding, painting, fencing, or a mix, and the comp set, insurance dynamics, and seasonality differ dramatically by trade. Roofing in particular carries warranty and storm-claim exposure you must understand before pricing the deal.
Scrutinize the cash flow add-backs and verify the $4.2M figure against tax returns and bank statements. A 27 percent margin is attractive but must be confirmed as sustainable rather than inflated by aggressive owner add-backs. Confirm whether SDE includes the owner's estimating and relationship labor, which a buyer will need to replace.
Assess customer and revenue concentration. The business cites repeat customers and referrals, but a few large commercial accounts could represent material concentration risk. Pull a customer-level revenue breakdown for the last three years and stress-test what happens if the top accounts churn.
Evaluate the team and key-person risk. With only 26 employees driving $15.5M, individual project managers and crew leads are critical, and you need to know who actually controls customer relationships. Confirm employee retention terms, compensation, and whether key managers will stay post-close.
Review the equipment and inventory included in the price. The $1.2M of FF&E and $650k of inventory should be inspected and valued independently to confirm the trucks, trailers, and tools are in working condition and not deferred-maintenance liabilities. Verify nothing is leased or encumbered that would not transfer cleanly.
Confirm the leased facility terms and transferability. At $5,500 per month for 5,500 SF, the lease is cheap, so verify remaining term, renewal options, and landlord consent for assignment. A short or non-transferable lease could force a costly relocation that disrupts dispatch and staging.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →