Gasket Guy Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Gasket Guy is a commercial kitchen services franchise that replaces and repairs refrigeration and cooler door gaskets for restaurants and food businesses. Franchisees run mobile operations, managing service calls and recurring accounts.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Gasket Guy franchise requires a total initial investment of $80K – $361K, including a $60K – $300K franchise fee. The 2025 FDD does not disclose unit-level revenue (no Item 19). FranchiseVerdict grade: B (Above average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $80K – $361K
- 3rd pct Food Retail
- Avg gross sales
- N/A
- 4th pct Food Retail
- Royalty
- N/A
- Units
- 32
- 4th pct Food Retail
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Food Retail · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Food Retail avg · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- Total investment $80K – $361K including a $60K franchise fee.
- Net Sales consist of royalties/initial franchise fee revenue; company has no employees and earns income from franchisee royalties (FY2024 audited statements, Baker Tilly US, LLP).
- Verdict B (Above average), verdict score 49/100 (higher is better).
- System growing at 72.2% CAGR over 3 years with 32 total units. Strong expansion trajectory.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Gasket Guy Franchise Company, LLC
- Parent company
- Gaskets Acquisition LLC
- Ultimate parent
- DFS Parent, LLC
- Predecessor
- Gasket Guy Franchising, LLC
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer and President
- Dave Brautigan
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 3001 McCall Dr., Atlanta, GA 30340
- Auditor
- Baker Tilly US, LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $511K
- vs $358K prior year
Independent franchisee associations
- Independent Franchisee Association
Franchisee-led councils or alliances disclosed in Item 20. Indicates operator voice.
Affiliated brands
- and its predecessor has s
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
- CEO
- Dave Brautigan
- Headquarters
- GA
- Founded
- 2022
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 21
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 74% below the typical food retail franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown13 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $60K | $300K | |
| Vehicle - leased (3-months)not refundable | $2K | $4K | |
| Vehicle - purchased (3-months)not refundable | $10K | $22K | |
| Initial Inventory & Suppliesnot refundable | $500 | $3K | |
| Initial Marketing Campaignnot refundable | $1K | $1K | |
| Legal & Accounting Feesnot refundable | $750 | $2K | |
| Computer Hardware & Softwarenot refundable | $500 | $3K | |
| Office Equipment, Furniture & Suppliesnot refundable | $100 | $1K | |
| Additional Funds - 3 Monthsnot refundable | $15K | $30K | |
| Travel and Living Expenses while Trainingnot refundable | $400 | $600 | |
| Development Fee (Area Development Agreement)not refundable | $120K | $300K | |
| Initial Investment for Initial Location (with Leased Vehicle) - ADAnot refundable | $20K | $43K | |
| Initial Investment for Initial Location (with Purchased Vehicle) - ADAnot refundable | $28K | $61K | |
| Total initial investment | $258K | $770K |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. Total is the sum of line-item lows / highs — actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $80K – $361K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $15K – $30K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $60K – $300K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- Months 1-6: $0/month; Months 7-12: $750/month minimum; Af…
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 7.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Transfer fee | $20 |
| Renewal fee | $10 |
| Inventory (initial) | $500 – $3K |
| Total fee load | 7.0% of rev |
Financial Performance
Net Sales consist of royalties/initial franchise fee revenue; company has no employees and earns income from franchisee royalties (FY2024 audited statements, Baker Tilly US, LLP).
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 7.0% — below the Food Retail average of 9.2%.
Disclosure
Franchisor chose not to disclose financial performance representations. You will need to gather unit economics directly from existing franchisees.
Operator retention
System expanding at 72.2% CAGR over 3 years across 32 units — operators are staying and new ones are joining.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Food Retail averages
How Gasket Guy Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 32
- Opened
- 6
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Turnover rate
- 0.0%
- Company-owned
- 1
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 97%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +72.2%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +72.2%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 6
- Closed (3yr)
- 0
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 22 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator. Not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
Available to sell in · Item 12
- Michigan
States where the franchisor is registered to sell new franchises (FDD registration filings).
Fast growth in a small system. Newer franchisors expanding quickly may not yet have the support infrastructure of larger systems.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA loan disclosures. This brand has only 9 7(a) loans on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Total loans
- 9
- Loan volume
- $745K
- Median loan
- $83K
- average
- Charge-off rate
- N/A
- limited sample (9 loans) — rate not shown below 10
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- N/A
- 5-yr charge-off
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 6
- Defaults
- N/A
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
What could kill this investment?
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Gasket Guy presents meaningful investment risk due to undisclosed financial performance, regulatory non-compliance history, and lack of benchmarking data to validate return potential.
Litigation (Item 3)
California Consent Order (Jan 2025): agreed to pay $12,500 administrative penalty for selling franchise licenses without effective registration; Minnesota Consent Order (Feb 2022, predecessor): $1,000 fine for unauthorized franchise sales
Largest disclosed settlement: $12,500
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Baker Tilly US, LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 49 / 100 verdict
- 01MEDNo Item 19 (Average Unit Volume) disclosed — cannot assess profitability or ROI on $80K–$361K investment
- 02MINORMultiple state regulatory actions (California 2005–2017, Minnesota 2022) indicate systemic franchise disclosure violations and pattern of non-compliance
- 03MEDRoyalty structure ($1,200/month minimum or 6% of gross) creates high fixed costs with no disclosed average revenue baseline to validate viability
- 04HIGH32-unit system is small; 24% YoY growth rate insufficient to offset litigation risk and suggest stability
- 05MED10-year term with $60K upfront franchise fee represents long commitment with limited performance data transparency
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 7.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Territory type | protected |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory population | 1,500 |
| Online sales rights | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 20 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Fulton County, Georgia |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | GA |
| Litigation count | 2 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
California Consent Order (Jan 2025): agreed to pay $12,500 administrative penalty for selling franchise licenses without effective registration; Minnesota Consent Order (Feb 2022, predecessor): $1,000 fine for unauthorized franchise sales
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 26 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 14 hrs
- Training location
- Atlanta, GA (Phase 1); Franchisee's location (Phase 2)
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Field support
- 50 hrs/yr
- On-site visits per year
- Time to open
- 3 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisor approves; franchisee selects
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- iPad, QuickBooks Online
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: iPad, QuickBooks Online
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
29 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Gasket Guy · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Gasket Guy franchise?
The total investment to open a Gasket Guy franchise ranges from $80K – $361K, with an initial franchise fee of $60K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Gasket Guy franchise owners earn?
Gasket Guy does not disclose average franchise owner earnings in their FDD Item 19. Not all franchisors are required to make financial performance representations. We recommend asking existing franchisees directly about their financial experience.
What is Gasket Guy's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Gasket Guy (fewer than 10 loans on file). Charge-off rates are one way to gauge franchise risk, but not all franchise loans go through the SBA program. We recommend reviewing turnover and closure data in the FDD and speaking with current franchisees.
How many Gasket Guy franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Gasket Guy has 32 total units in the United States, including 31 franchised units and 1 company-owned units. 6 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Gasket Guy a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Gasket Guy as a B-grade franchise with a verdict score of 49 out of 100 (higher is better), based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
For franchisors
Are you the franchisor?
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.