Tom Lopatosky – The Home Improvement Expert

Interior

How To Pick The Correct Paint Sheen

Certainly, one of the more asked questions that I receive when I am having conversations about painting, whether interior or exterior, is what sheen of paint should be used when painting the surfaces that are being coated. While at the end of the day, the ...
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Weather Conditions

Why Snow Is Fool’s Gold

When I was growing up (by the way, I hate to sound like “that guy”…), as like many folks, our household was quite busy. Between multiple siblings, school, activities, work, etc. the day-in and day-out house environment was quite “lived-in”. With exhaustive schedules, the tidiness ...
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Chimney

Why Chimney Maintenance Is SO Important

When it comes to the Holiday Season, it should be obvious why chimney maintenance is so important. After all, if you have a heavier-set gentleman, in an enormous red & white suit, toting around large packages in a sack behind him, who – by any ...
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Cleanup

Diagnosing Leaks – The Last Resort!

Attempting to figure out where a leak is coming from can often be the ultimate exercise in frustration. Whether the leak is coming from the interior, the exterior, or someplace in between, correctly figuring out where a leak is stemming from is enough to drive ...
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Pest Control

Powderpost Beetle Damage

If you have ever ventured into your basement and have noticed a number of holes in the wooden components of it, you may have come across Powderpost beetle damage. These holes typically are numerous in nature and are about the size of pencil lead or ...
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Doors

Help! My Door Will NOT Close…Or Will It?…

One of the more challenging items around the home that if you have been around long enough, you have surely had to navigate through at one point or another, is a door that just will not seem to close. Even more perplexing are situations where ...
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Cleanup

How To Get Up Oil Stains From Your Basement Floor

In New England, one of the things that is different about our homes in comparison to a lot of the other parts of the country is that we have basements. With the absence of a basement, many other regions have their homes built on concrete ...
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Gutters

Do You Have Trees Growing Out Of Your Gutters?

It is not unusual for me to be walking around someone’s property with them and for us to notice something occurring that the Client was completely unaware of prior to doing so. This can range from a water stain that had gone unnoticed, to rotted ...
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Weather Conditions

Scared Of The Dark?

Every year when the length of daylight hours slowly shrinks as we head toward Fall, the time of day that requires daylight to get things done naturally shrinks as well. There are some tasks though that one would normally think that you need daylight for, ...
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Legal Issues

Protect Your Butts!

Recently I was asked to testify in a court case that involved a bit of a messy situation between a contractor and a client. In this particular situation, the contractor that was hired to do the work was confident that they were done with the ...
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Surface Prep

How To Get Tape ( And Other Adhesives ) Off A Wall

Many of those who know me are aware that I am a bit of an early bird. So much so that my haircut each Saturday morning typically occurs around 5am or so. Sometimes a little later, sometimes a bit earlier, but on average, 5am would ...
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Deck Care

Can You Paint Pressure Treated Wood?

There is no shortage of old wives’ tales in the field of home improvement. As in many other aspects of life, there is guidance and methods of suggested approach regarding different aspects of enhancing your home that not only couldn’t be further from correct, but ...
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Painting

How To Clean Old Paint From Paint Brushes

A good paint brush has always been a decent investment. Yes, of course you can buy what we in the industry refer to as a “throw-away” brush, but unless the project you are doing is literally a ‘one-time’ event, there certainly is value in learning ...
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Cabinetry

The Purpose Of An Astragal

Imagine a big door, like the one you use to enter a school or a store. Sometimes, these doors are extra big and have two parts that swing open in the middle. These are called ‘double doors’. Now, imagine that the two parts of the ...
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Exterior

How To NOT Damage Your Gutters When Working In & Around Them

I am an admitted Obsessive Compulsive. Although there are varying degrees of ‘OCD’ (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), outside of the normal items that you may see related to this way of life with a quick Google search, there are certain things that attract my eye like ...
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OUR HISTORY

LOPCO Expert

While looking for a way to pay his way through college, Tom Lopatosky started LOPCO Contracting in 1995. Since then, when Tom began the company with less than $100 in his pocket, LOPCO has grown to become the Home Improvement Contractor of choice for a wide number of people throughout Rhode Island and Southern New England. Tom learned many valuable lessons as he grew the business while attending college. Ultimately Tom (in the year 2000) graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree with a Concentration in Marketing, a Bachelor’s Degree with a Concentration in Finance, and a Minor in Computer Information Systems from Bryant University (Bryant College at the time) in Smithfield, RI. 

Prior to earning his degrees, Tom graduated from Classical High School in Providence, RI (where Tom won the ‘Al Morro Award’ for Football in 1994). After High School, Tom left for the University of South Carolina to pursue his dream of playing football. Soon after his mother passed away in 1997, he relocated back to RI and completed his college career at Bryant. Tom continued to play minor league football for 9 years and was part of 4 championship-playing football teams. 

As the demands of the company grew, Tom decided to retire from football in 2006 and focus on LOPCO full time.
Under Tom’s leadership, the company culture of striving to overdeliver on every project they undertake has led to much repeat business and their clients are often very happy to tell their friends and families about their experiences with LOPCO. This has helped tremendously as LOPCO has sought to further increase their customer base. Tom’s long-term goal for the company is “To lead LOPCO Contracting in continuing to paint and build the way to social consciousness while becoming the largest painting and repair company in New England.”

Tom lives in East Providence, RI with his girlfriend Leslie and his daughters Tamara & Ivelisse. Tom has held a variety of titles over the years including President of LOPCO Contracting, Regional Board Member of the PCA’s (Painting Contractors Association) Northeast Council, President of the RI Chapter of the PCA, Board Member of RIBA (Rhode Island Builders Association), and Building & Property Trades Advisory Committee Member for MTTI (MotoRing Technical Training Institute in Seekonk, MA).

Tom has been a RIBA member since 2008 and a member of PCA since 2006. In 2013 Tom received the PCA’s National “Humanitarian of the Year” Award, a “40 under 40” Award from Providence Business News, and his BNI (Business Network International) Warwick peers voted him “Member of the Year”. Tom has been involved with BNI for a number of years as well as quite a few other networking organizations.

In 2006 Tom was inducted into the Classical High School Athletic Hall of Fame. Over the years Tom has been a contributing writer and/or columnist for ExpertBeacon.com, RI Local Magazine, ShopInRI Magazine, The Jewish Voice, The Rhode Island Echo, The RI Wave, the East Providence Reporter, and The Smithfield Times and also has had weekly Home Improvement Tips that have run on the radio (630AM & 99.7FM WPRO in the RI area) and on television (WPRI 12 in the RI area). 

Tom is Roman Catholic and is a firm believer that success is often correlated with a person’s faith, not necessarily a particular religion, but faith in a greater power. 

Roman 12:12 is his favorite Bible verse which reads, “”Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.” Tom is very involved with his Church (St. Adalbert’s Church in Providence, RI) – Tom served as Chairperson of St. Adalbert’s Church’s Polish-American Festival for 6 years – and really tries to make it a point on attending service at least once per week (Tom also spends 30-45 minutes in prayer prior to beginning each day).
As a fun sidenote, Tom made it as a Semi-Finalist in the second season of “The Apprentice” (the round right before the finalists are on the show!).

Tom has been featured on the Real Estate Radio Network, the ‘Discover Rhode Island’ TV show, and on The Strongpreneur Nation Podcast. Today, Tom has his own weekly Home Improvement radio show on 630AM & 99.7FM WPRO in the RI area – ‘PROTALK Home Improvement’. Tom feels VERY fortunate to have been involved with a number of terrific community organizations over the years, such as: Amos House, Children’s Wishes, Clinica Esperanza, Goodwill Industries of Rhode Island, Habitat for Humanity of RI – Greater Providence, The Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence, The Town of Johnston, RI Police Department, Junior Achievement of RI, One Neighborhood Builders (formerly Olneyville Housing Corporation), Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council, YouthBuild Providence, and YMCA of Greater Providence. Two of the biggest community initiatives that Tom has been involved with are being a lead organizer of ‘Clean Day’ on the Woonasquatucket River Greenway for nine years and a lead organizer for YouthBuild Providence’s annual ‘Build-a-Bed’ event for four years.

In addition to LOPCO, Tom also owns Cheer UP Athletics – an All-Star Cheerleading Gym located in East Providence, RI – and The Smithfield Times. Tom is an avid New York Yankee, University of South Carolina (ALL of their sports!), and Providence College Basketball fan. Tom’s extensive experience and overall industry knowledge have made Tom one of the most sought-after experts in the Home Improvement Industry. Remarkably, Tom is often even called upon by other contractors to help them through challenges in their businesses (often speaking at National Industry Conferences). Because he has made it a focus to delve into and solve problems that others in the industry simply want nothing to do with, Tom has become an invaluable resource for homeowners near and far. With all being said, it confidently is safe to say that Tom Lopatosky truly is – The Home Improvement Expert!!!

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