About Us
Meet the Owner
Once upon a time there was a firefighter who lived in Hawaii. He lived on a sailboat moored in the Nawiliwili Bay on the Island of Kauai. Everyday was like a holiday with fishing, diving, surfing, hiking and hanging out with good friends. Then going into work at the fire department on the Barking Sands Naval Base to protect the airfield which mostly entailed drills and training, watching planes take off and land, playing basketball, working out, cooking and watching movies.
It was an amazing life! But he was lonely. You see, he had not found his soul mate yet. After searching all over America, even Alaska, Canada, Mexico, South America, Europe, and as far as Australia and New Zealand, she was not to be found.
Then one day he was home in Lakeland, Florida after a cruise to the Bahamas to celebrate his step father’s 75th birthday. As he helped unload the luggage he spotted a beautiful girl standing in the driveway, she was house sitting and watching the three legged dog named Bingo. She looked around wondering where his wife must be, later as the story was told he would say, “little did she know, she was standing in the driveway with me that day”.
It was the 9th of December and he was home for the next four weeks. They had a whirlwind romance with hiking, biking, going out to dinners and listening to local bands. It was true love, he had finally found his soul mate. They made plans that she would visit him the first chance she could, she was a school teacher and planned to come out in the summer. He flew back to Hawaii and they were committed to making it work.
Hawaii now seemed like a prison sentence. Everything was a little duller, less color, more gray. One week, two weeks with long distance phone calls between the time zones. Love letters, emails and text messages. Three weeks, four weeks, the once pure joy of adventure and adrenaline was no replaced with a pining heart ache of Love, a home sick feeling of loneliness. He was separated from his soul mate.
He was torn about what to do so he went to his Assistant Chief, who he trusted and respected, with his problem. Wally responded, in his Hawaiian pidgin dialect, “You gotta set your life.” And with that and without really knowing what the future held, but knowing he could not live without his soul mate any longer, he followed his instinct.
He put in his notice, sold his sailboat, V.W. Van and all his toys and bought a ticket for home. He was back by Valentine’s Day with a ring. They were engaged and got married that summer. Happy and in love, they started out on their new life together.
He missed the life of a firefighter but did not want to subject his family to the risks and long shifts so he thought to himself, how can I still work from a truck with pumps, hoses and nozzles, spraying water on houses all day and still be home in the evenings with my family?
And so, Top Down Exterior Cleaning was born. The new fight is not against fire, but against algae, mildew, dirt and other contaminants. All of Lakeland and the surrounding areas need him, and he is up to the task, one house at a time.
It has been over thirteen years now and the business and family have grown. Life could not be any better for Colie, Sara, Logan and our little girl, Megan!
Thank God for my family and business – Every day is like a holiday!
