Family, business, and the rewards of restoration: Ben Smith and Island Exterior Cleaning

It was time for a break. The Island Exterior Cleaning crew — owner Ben Smith and employees Carlos Machado and Melbin Machado — had worked all morning and into the mid-afternoon cleaning, restoring, and sealing a 2,500- square-foot deck on Lari Lane.

It was a hot day. Not one of those brutally hot days the Island’s had this summer, but plenty hot enough. Mr. Smith found a place under a tree with a long view of wetlands and a cooling breeze off Coecles Harbor.

Island Exterior Cleaning takes on every kind of cleaning, sealing, and restoring, from wood decks and furniture to roofs made from all materials, all kinds of siding, gutters, everything in fact that’s on the exterior of structures.

Today’s job was one Mr. Smith finds especially rewarding, low-power washing, restoring and then sealing — using all organic materials — the deck made of ipe wood. Ipe (pronounced “ee-pay”) is a hardwood from Central and South America, also called Brazilian walnut, that has a rich, chocolate-brown color, with lighter tones throughout.

You could see the work the crew had done with one section, already brought back to its original color and smooth texture. Working outside you have to be something of a meteorologist, Mr. Smith said, knowing when to prepare a surface and letting it have enough time to dry properly and today was optimal.

Asked how you do physical labor outside in the sun all day with temperatures closing in on 90 degrees, Mr. Smith pointed at his truck nearby with a big cooler in the back. “Water, water and water,” he said. “You have to stay hydrated. And after a day’s work we go swimming. Sometimes a client will let us use the pool, or we just jump into the bay.”

Being on and around the water has been Mr. Smith’s life. He, his father, Bill Smith, and brother Derrick, have been commercial fishermen and worked with Bill, who has captained boats all over the Americas. Bill was also the owner of the service company, Mildew Busters, and both sons worked with him, as well as at another family-owned company, East End Waterproofing.

A growing awareness of the health dangers of mold — a trend that intensified in late 2012 after Sandy flooded so many coastal homes — helped boost business. So had a new aesthetic that considers weathered, brown cedar shingles an eyesore. Many of today’s homeowners want their shingles to look perpetually new.

Island Exterior Cleaning features “totally green” sealants and cleaners; most of the time, no tarps are required to protect landscaping because the chemicals are non-toxic and biodegradable.

Mr. Smith described how over the winter of 2007-2008 his dad called to say that he had landed a winter job taking a yacht to the Caribbean. After conversations on the long voyage home, the two sons decided to go full-time in the business with their father. And now Ben has been on his own with Island Exterior cleaning for the past four years.

“I’ve been doing this for 26 years,” he said, an astonishing number for a man of 38. “Yeah, when I was 12, I was working with my dad sometimes after school and in the summer. It was great. What 12-year-old kid doesn’t want to use a power washer?”

Business is good, he said. “Island Exterior Clearing is serving customers from Riverhead to Orient, and Riverhead to Montauk.”

He was joined under the tree by his wife Callie Smith, holding the newest addition to the family, a bright-eyed boy of seven-and-a-half months named Kalani, nicknamed Kai. It’s a Hawaiian name, meaning, Mr. Smith said, “Where the sea and sky meet.”

Ms. Smith is a wellness professional with a private practice and also works for the Town Recreation Department giving an alignment-based exercise class.

In addition to the joyous arrival of Kai, over the last several months the family had another significant event, but in no way joyous. In May, Mr. Smith was at their home on South Ferry Road when he fell out of a tree.

He was 15 feet up trying to remove a pine tree branch that a storm had lodged against the roof. He lost his footing and fell to the ground, landing on his back.

What was most freakish about the accident, he said, is that he’s never had a fall or serious injury when working, always using safety harnesses and other equipment to keep him and his employees safe.

“Even if we slip, we’ll never fall,” he said

Mr. Smith got to his knees, he said, but that was it. He couldn’t move. Callie called 911, Shelter Island Emergency Services responded within minutes and he was taken by ambulance to Southampton Hospital. “I felt every bump and pothole.”

A crushed vertebra and a fracture laid him low, but he’s bounced back to almost 100%, he said, with some slight mobility issues that will soon be overcome.

“I’m working, I’m not paralyzed, I’m alive,” he said, taking Kai in his arms. 

This morning the family was up early with Kai being the alarm clock. “Callie’s great,” Mr. Smith said “she let me sleep a while longer.”

Breakfast for Mr. Smith was bacon and eggs and toast. “Has to be eggs,” he smiled. Behind their house is a flock of more than 40 chickens. Ms. Smith says she likes to cook eggs, but as for keeping hens, that’s her husband’s job.

Breakfast done, the Machado brothers arrived and they got ready for the day, loading materials and tools in the truck and planning the day’s job on Lari Lane.

The rewards of his work are many, he said, but one in particular that never gets old is bringing back wood that has seen better days due to exposure to weather in all seasons.

“To see this ipe wood returned to its former beauty, or working on teak furniture that needs restoration — that’s really fulfilling,” he said.

Working with his customers is also a huge benefit, he added. He enjoys the interaction. His number-one business strategy is “to listen. To ask them their concerns and to hear them.”

Often, customers become friends, he said, especially on Shelter Island, where he’ll see them around town and always stops to chat.

After a swim today, his old and ongoing passion to be out on the water will be satisfied. There’s a casting rod on a rack on top of his truck. “We’re going out to Plum Gut tonight for stripers,” he said with a smile.

Island Exterior Cleaning, 631-495-0347, IslandExteriorCleaning.com