GRIFCOTE – GOING GREEN
“Going Green” are key words in today’s construction industry. This includes concrete form release agents. Hill & Griffith now has truly biodegradable concrete form release agents, field proven and being quickly accepted in the concrete industry. Sold under the trade names GRIFCOTE® LV-50, GRIFCOTE® LV-50 Plus and GRIFCOTE® Bio Gold, these materials meets the EPA definition of biodegradability (maximum half-life of 28 days), are non-carcinogenic, non-flammable, noncombustible, non-DOT regulated, VOC compliant and will help to keep your forms clean. GRIFCOTE ® LV-50 Plus is the cutting edge of form release technology and incorporates combined reactive technology to give the best release and help minimize buildup. Conventional form release agents are typically petroleum-solvent based and are often flammable or combustible, requiring that the materials be transported only by HazMat 126 Certified drivers. GRIFCOTE® biodegradable form release agents eliminate the need for Red Labels on containers and on job site.
Hill & Griffith offers a complete line of conventional reactive form release agents, including petroleum-solvent based VOC compliant, non-carcinogenic, non-DOT regulated, non-flammable and non-combustible that are the accepted standard in the concrete industry for better release and better finish. For additional information, please contact Bob Waterloo, Technical Sales Manager (bwaterloo@hillandgriffith.com) or go to www.grifcote.com to request samples and/or additional information.
CFA Management Exchange Network
Networking with other CFA members, in particular within small groups of non-competitors, is one of the biggest benefits of belonging to a trade association. Networking takes place at our summer meetings, at the World of Concrete, at our board meetings – just about anywhere two or three contractors can get together.
This concept has been carried to a higher level by board members. They visit each other’s facilities, their personnel communicate at many levels, and of course, they socialize. Several other associations (NAHB and ASCC to name two) have structured networking programs wherein the associations facilitate the formation of these groups.
The CFA has been working for several months on a format for structured networking and is ready to proceed if the level of interest is sufficient. There are several premises that must be in place for the groups to succeed. They include:
- Participants must not be competitors;
- They must sign non-disclosure agreements;
- They should be close enough to each other so that members can drive to meetings; and,
- Participants must be willing to share information about their company operations.
The CFA acts as a facilitator by collecting interest forms, proposing the make-up of groups, and helping with the first meeting. A group will typically have between 6 and 10 member companies. The CFA will contact all members of the group and each company will have the ability to determine who is in their group. After the groups are formed they are on their own with CFA only participating if the group wants a presentation from CFA staff or if there are problems.
We have developed a list of potential discussion topics, the non-disclosure agreement, a sample meeting agenda, and a host of other suggestions on how to run the group. The individual groups will decided on meeting frequency and focus. It is recommended that they meet at least twice per year and that the meeting sites rotate between member companies. Some meetings may include financial staff, operations staff, or others depending on the focus of a given meeting. The topics we propose are only suggestions.
The length of the meetings is a decision to be made by the respective groups. They should last at least a halfday but could go as long as a day and a half. Attached to this letter is a member interest form and a company profile form. Please fill this out and send these forms to CFA headquarters if you have interest in participating. Upon receipt, we will forward you our Management Exchange Network information packet, which has the agreement, sample agenda and other relevant information.
Once the initial group has been formed, they will be encouraged to allow visitors so that they can see how an established group operates. I hope that you will find this initiative to be of value. You may want to have your groups meet at the CFA summer convention or World of Concrete.
If you are interested in this opportunity, contact Jim Baty at jbaty@cfawalls.org or by fax at 320-213-5556, with your name and company information.
NEW AND BETTER PRODUCTS FOR WATERPROOFING
Dry Dog Barriers has quickly built a reputation as the cutting-edge “go-to” manufacturer in the Below Grade Waterproofing Industry. While other manufacturers are resting on old technology and past accomplishments, we are constantly challenging the status-quo to develop new and better products for the waterproofing world.
Our latest innovation involves what many consider as the most exciting change to the industry in years.
THERMAL DRAIN ….
GREEN. GREEN. GREEN.
You hear it everywhere you go these days. Now you have a green alternative for your protection/drainage board. Thermal Drain is made from 70% Post Consumer recycle. We take those plastic green Mountain Dew bottles as well as other consumer throw aways and use them in the manufacturing of our Thermal Drain.
NO MORE ITCHY FIBERGLASS …
Go ahead, I dare you. Rub a piece of fiberglass insulation board against one side of your face and then rub Thermal Drain against the other side. We all know what will happen with that itchy fi berglass so let me tell you about Thermal Drain. NO ITCH. (Unless of course you have some rare allergy to recycled Mountain Dew bottles)
VASTLY IMPROVED DRAINAGE.
Independent labs have tested it. Waterproofers in the field have tested it. The conclusion is the same! This stuff has incredible drainage properties. The official reports show a nearly DOUBLE capacity for drainage as compared to fiberglass.
MORE DURABLE
…than fi berglass. Tired of fi berglass breaking and the corners chipping away? Though Thermal Drain is flexible, bendable and a pleasure to work with … it’s tough!
R-VALUE
Some things don’t need to change and so with Thermal Drain you can choose between R-3, R-5 and R-10 values depending on your particular needs and the needs of you clients.
Trimble Sets Date for International User Conference in Las Vegas
TRIMBLE DIMENSIONS 2009 FOR SURVEYING, ENGINEERING, CONSTRUCTION, GEOSPATIAL AND MOBILE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONALS
Trimble will hold its International User Conference February 23-25, 2009 at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas. The theme of Trimble Dimensions 2009—Positioning for Success Today. And Tomorrow—provides insight into how surveying, engineering, construction, mapping, GIS, geospatial and mobile resource management professionals worldwide can harness the power of today’s technology to help face tomorrow’s challenges. Attendees will have the opportunity to network with key industry leaders, develop new contacts, build partnerships, discuss opportunities and discover how to overcome obstacles in today’s competitive business environment. With more than 300 sessions across multiple specialty tracks, the conference will focus on increasing productivity in the field and the office to transform the way work is done.
“Trimble Dimensions is an excellent venue to learn how organizations can apply advanced positioning and information technology to improve accuracy and productivity to gain a competitive edge,” said Steven W. Berglund, president and CEO of Trimble. Attendees of Trimble Dimensions 2009 will:
- Gain insight from keynote presentations delivered by the industry’s most respected leaders and innovators
- Engage in comprehensive and unbiased knowledge sharing with more than 300 sessions—from keynotes to breakout sessions to hands-on training—across multiple tracks focused on your professional and business needs
- Visit the Dimensions Partner Pavilion, where over 30 vendors and partners will showcase and demonstrate their latest innovations
- Meet and compare notes with your colleagues and potential business partners throughout the industry
- Choose from hundreds of designated educational sessions that qualify for career-advancing Professional Development Hours
The conference will also include a Partners Pavilion that will showcase the complete suite of Trimble construction, survey, engineering, aerial and mobile mapping, GIS and infrastructure solutions, including products from Tripod Data Systems (TDS), Applanix, Pacific Crest, Apache, Quantm, XYZ Solutions, Meridian Systems, INPHO, Geo 3D, Crain, Rollei-Metric, SECO and TopoSys. Highlighted solutions and technologies include GPS; total stations; field computing and data collection; 3D scanning; pre-design construction planning; 3D visualization; construction project management; aerial mapping; wireless communications; data transfer; and field and office software applications. Other technology providers who are Trimble partners will also participate in the conference to extend the conference’s range of products and applications.
In addition, Trimble worldwide users are invited to propose topics to present at the conference. Proposed titles and a short description of the presentation should be submitted to Trimble no later than October 20, 2008. For more information about the conference and how to submit a paper, please go to: www.trimbleevents.com.
IMPROVING YOUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES Listen To Your Customers
Ernie Jessop of Concrete Form Services wrote in to say “we listen to our customers, to take their ideas and bring them to fruition. One of our long time customers, Danny Johnson, owner of Horizon Concrete out of Syracuse UT. Is the inventor of our “DJ” Jogger. Over the years he has brought flaws in the system to our attention, and helped the concept of EZ Footings to evolve into the well rounded universal forming system it is today. Danny has just completed a large distribution center, and in his words, “It took 70 days to complete the footings and foundation, and we did it 5 weeks ahead of schedule, so they’re pretty impressed”. So impressed, in fact, that the GC for the project will not be shopping for another concrete company for their next job. Whenever you have two people willing to work through scenarios that are at first problematic, but you don’t give up, wonderful things happen. The DJ Jogger, used for intersecting two forms together whenever you have an odd sized jog, gave way to the hinged skin panel. Used for the same thing and yet even more versatile, it can be used to make pier pads exact, with up to 12” of adjustability in each corner. We have created a paradigm shift in the concrete industry that becomes more and more evident as time goes by. Companies like Horizon Concrete continue to raise the bar of excellence and we are proud to be a part of that. We invite you to come out at any time to see our amazing forms in action, and we’ll pay for the trip, seeing is believing.”
Jessop can be reached at ernie@ezfootings.com, 801-280-6992, and their website is www.ezfootings.com.
FOR THE NORTH AMERICAN POURED WALL MARKET NEW K40L BY CIFA
CIFA USA is “pumped up” and excited to announce the latest addition to its line of concrete boom pumps, the K40L-meter. Taking over 80 years of experience in the production of concrete manufacturing and placing equipment CIFA has designed, built and tested an entirely new placing machine for the North American poured wall market.
The K40L is a 40-meter boom based on a 36-meter chassis (and price) it features a new subframe and turret design allowing a relatively small X-style outrigger footprint in additional to its unilateral working range in “SSS” mode that is ideal for setting up on tight excavations and subdivisions. It also incorporates a great deal of aluminum components to keep the overall operating weight (with fuel and operator) down to approximately 57,500 lbs and help with corrosion resistance. This unit should be legal in most states as a three axle chassis.
CIFA saw the trend of larger more complicated homes, further congested building lots and acknowledged some gaps in the market so they designed and constructed the K40L with 115’-2” of horizontal reach and 126’-6” of vertical reach for the poured wall contractors. With its 4-section ZFolding boom system the machine is very simple and agile to operate even in the ‘A-Frame’ configuration during priming out.
The 200 yd3/hr “open loop” hydraulic system coupled with long and medium radius elbows is very smooth on the hose man yet eats up even the harshest footer mixes. The open loop pump cell was designed to give maximum fl ow and pressure while running the engine at only 1,450 RPM which equates to unheard of fuel economy and the lowest noise levels available perfect for residential lots.
All of CIFA’s wear parts are serviceable through the top of the hopper and are very easy to maintain and trouble-shoot if needed. The simplicity of maintenance is continued from front to back with the patented automatically rotating/adjusting cutting ring and hydraulically opened and closed hopper clean-out door.
The new K40L has many features that other brands do not offer. The emergency consisting of spares hoses, fittings and wrenches is stored in its own toolbox on the truck away from your daily pumping tools so it is on the site when you need it, not back at your shop. Some of the standard equipment items on the K40L are heated clean-up water tanks, standard and high-pressure water pumps, integral prime port & clean-out ball stop, (2) proportional remote control handsets, easy to understand pump wiring, aluminum fenders & wheels, engine brake and A/C. Twin wall pipe is standard on the K40L and all other CIFA boom pumps.
The K40L has successfully passed the CPMA 27.2000 certification for the highest level of safety features.
All CIFA products are sold by dedicated dealers not pumper/dealers so we are proud to say “We are your dealer not your competitor”. Founded in 1928, CIFA is a worldwide leader in concrete placing and manufacturing equipment.
For more information on CIFA USA: http://www.cifausa.com
CERTAINTEED OFFERS SYSTEMS TO MAKE YOUR JOBS Easier, Greener, and More Profitable
In tough times like these, with housing starts continuing to fall, forward-looking concrete contractors are searching for ways to differentiate themselves by selling added value to their Builder customers with a more complete package of Foundation products and services. CertainTeed understands the needs of concrete contractors, and offers systems to make your jobs easier, greener and more profitable.
CertainTeed’s Form-ADrain™ concrete footing form system, ThermaEZE™ foam insulation panels and Platon® waterproofing membrane provide users the leading edge in green building, while simplifying installations and reducing callbacks, all with the latest technologies. CertainTeed’s Foundation Products offer drainage, radon venting, insulation and waterproofing protection for residential projects. Homeowners will also benefit from the safe, comfortable and energy-efficient structures that the complete system provides.
HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS
FORM-A-DRAIN
Form-a-Drain is used in place of lumber to form the footing, then remains in place after the concrete is poured, where it serves as a superior drainage system. Contractors don’t have to go back to strip and clean old forms, load them on the truck, and haul them to the next job. Since Form-A-Drain is both the footing form and the foundation drainage system, the crew accomplishes these two jobs at the same time. Form-A-Drain is an outstanding alternative to conventional perforated pipe when it comes to drainage performance.
With Form-A-Drain, the foundation system is located where it should be — at the top of and on both sides of the footing, the optimum area of a home’s foundation where water can be effectively collected and ultimately discharged away from valuable living space. Form-A-Drain is easily adapted to vent harmful radon gas, so crews can carry out this job efficiently in areas where code or local practice requires it. More than 100 million feet of Form-A-Drain have been installed since 1992 – that’s hundreds of thousands of homes with zero documented wet basements.
THERMAEZE
ThermaEZE provides a cost-effective means for building thermally efficient above-and below-grade poured concrete walls. With ThermaEZE, poured wall contractors can now provide their Builder with another value-added service – an insulated, ready-to-finish, code-compliant insulated wall – all with very little extra labor, as ThermaEZE doesn’t change the way forms are erected or walls are poured. And with ThermaEZE, poured-wall contractors who have made a significant investment in their business are no longer shutout and can effectively compete when specs call for a foam-insulated concrete foundation.
PLATON
Platon is a tough, durable, high-density polyethylene air-gap waterproofing membrane that provides superior foundation wall and under- slab moisture protection. This dimpled 24-mil. wrap separates water from the foundation wall and permanently bridges foundation cracks, preventing moisture from entering the basement of a home. Unlike traditional waterproofing, CertainTeed Platon can be installed under all weather conditions, and does not require a special crew or equipment.
Using CertainTeed’s Foundation Products will give homes a better foundation, while improving contractors’ bottom line. For more information, visit certainteed.com or call 800-233-8990. CertainTeed is a proud member of the CFA, and offers the best marketing programs and field-support services in the business. Ask about our Spring/Summer sales promotions!
NOW– Find ‘Concrete Facts’ Online
Now you can find Concrete Facts as an e-magazine online. As part of CFA’s green and sustainable initiatives, the online version of the magazine is free.
Covering important issues facing today’s concrete foundation contractors, Concrete Facts is distributed bi-monthly. The online version has the same editorial content as the printed version and even looks and reads just like the printed issue. The magazine can be read online or downloaded to view later. In addition, you can print either the entire issue or just a portion. The e-magazine is available at www.cfawalls.org.
According to Jim Baty, CFA Technical Director, the Association is dedicated to the pursuit of green and sustainable initiatives and the online version of the magazine is just another way to accomplish these goals and reduce CFA’s environmental impact. “Our members and others in the design and construction community will have the latest information about concrete foundations readily available to them at any time,” said Baty. “Not only will this effort increase our growing readership, but it will also improve our commitment to green practices.”
CFA Presents 2008 Contractor of the Year KUBICA’S EARN AWARD
The Concrete Foundation Association (CFA) recently presented its 2008 Contractor of the Year Award to Rich and Patty Kubica of K-Wall Poured Walls of Traverse City, Michigan & Asheville, North Carolina.
A member of the CFA for nearly a decade, the Kubicas were selected for this award for their aggressive pursuit of excellence and business expansion.
According to Ed Sauter, executive director of the CFA, the Kubica’s high level of enthusiasm and commitment to advancing the concrete foundations industry and the CFA are primary reasons why they were selected for the CFA Contractor of the Year.
“Rich and Patty have been one of the most aggressive companies in our Association,” said Sauter. “We have reveled at their ability to take on challenges for promoting high-performance foundation walls, above-grade concrete shells and the growth of poured concrete foundations in traditionally block markets.”
The annual award recognizes the contributions of a poured wall contractor to the industry. This year’s award was presented at the CFA Annual Convention held July 30 to August 2 in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico.
Founded in 1992, in Traverse City, Michigan, K-Wall Poured Walls have maintained a commitment to craftsmanship and quality by implementing the latest foundation technology and staying active in education opportunities. Their original location established a commitment to a full line of services including custom poured walls, flatwork and waterproofing that included ready to live basements. However, that wasn’t enough for the Kubicas and their firm. They continued to stay ahead of the market curves by expanding into epoxy-coated floors, pools and spas, decorative concrete and even flooring underlayment and radiant in-floor heating systems. Their excellence in crafting high-quality poured concrete foundations also led them into the above-grade concrete home market where they pioneered this form of real estate in their market. The opportunities continued to unfold as they became involved in featured concrete homes in St. John including a project affectionately known as “The Secret Seashell”.
The warmth of St. John behind them now, Rich and Patty have continued to push forward. The excellence that they brought to the Traverse City market has now been replicated in the market surrounding Asheville, North Carolina.
Traditionally a concrete block market, this region has produced many challenges requiring innovative ways of promoting concrete, proving design compatibility and raising the bar for the quality of foundations.
At every step of the way, the Kubicas have remained an excellent model for contractor members of the CFA by recognizing the value of the CFA network to their business. Rich credits the CFA with keeping his sights focused on the changing technology and providing valuable education opportunities that broadened both his construction and business backgrounds. “Where we have found headaches and extreme challenges,” states Rich, “the CFA contractors and professional staff have been quick to come to our aid and support. This encouraged us to tackle some pretty major obstacles such as jumping into the Caribbean and starting up a new venture half a country away.”
Rich and Patty thanked the CFA for the many opportunities, the support and the confidence during their presentation in New Mexico. They continued to encourage contractors to take on challenges and broaden their project opportunities by finding new products and techniques. They also encouraged each company to recognize the wealth of knowledge and the reliability that resides in the CFA network and staff. By using their membership and accessing these benefits, they can leverage their company to new heights. They firmly believe that participation in the CFA is a main reason for their success. The Kubicas were honored to receive this award and encouraged others to become involved in the one industry association that cares the most about the business they conduct.
Also during this presentation, Ron Ward, President of Western Forms, Inc. of Kansas City, Missouri added his congratulation and presented the Kubicas with a crystal eagle symbolizing the soaring achievements that their company embodies.
ENJOY THE FOLLOWING INTERVIEW WITH RICH AND PATTY KUBICA.
Do you remember your first year as a CFA member — what was it like?
Patty: We had just joined the CFA, but the very first meeting we attended was in 1999 or 2000 when we went to the World of Concrete. CFA had their Annual Winter dinner and Awards presentation in Las Vegas. Scott Smith won Contractor of the Year. He and his son have a foundation company (MPW Construction Services), and we remember talking to him. We were babies of the group, announced as new members that night. There were so many people at the meeting, focused on the foundation industry. We were in awe because everybody we talked to had knowledge of poured walls; and we had never been with that many people who knew our industry! We were members of our local group where only a few people had foundation businesses, so most of our local network consisted of builder connections. Our local meetings were always about their world; so to be in a large room at the CFA meeting, with that many people that focused on just poured walls and concrete was so cool to us – it was about us.
What is something you’d like to learn more about — what would make a good seminar topic that would be helpful to you?
Rich: I have two seminar topics I’d recommend. First, I’d like to know more about how to accurately do good job costing. As you know there is so much detail and time that goes into preparing a project estimate. Everyone seems to have their own way of doing this. We currently use a lot of software programs, but haven’t found just one that really works. We primarily use QuickBooks. We would like to know, and accurately track, what our true job costs are. Then, we could determine an accurate profit margin on the job when we are done.
Second, I believe our industry is lagging behind on the use of insulated concrete walls. This is a technology that very few traditional poured wall contractors are grabbing a hold of. There are two or three good insulating wall systems on the market, and very few wall contractors are promoting them while at the same time more and more home builders are converting to hybrid walls (like EPS foam insulated walls). My concern is that we may all wake up some day and have to be reactive instead of proactive and figure out how to get our market share back. Perhaps 20-30% of today’s foundations are insulated in northern Michigan, when just 3 to 4 years ago it was maybe 1-5%. Our northern Michigan market is getting overrun by alternative foundation systems.
Times are different and I don’t believe we can continue to only do just what our dads and their dads did. As traditional poured-concrete-wall guys, we need to maintain and improve our market share not let it slip through our fingers.
I think promoting the use of our industry’s concrete insulated walls is a win-win situation for us as contractors, for homeowners, and the environment. We have the ability to complete the job insulated or non-insulated with the same set of tools on the same job and at the same time. For the homeowner it is a financial savings because it is not only more energy efficient, but we have the ability to insulate only where it is needed to save them money during construction of their homes. For the environment, it is a green technology as our insulating material are both made of recycled materials and is highly energy efficient. We have a more economical way to get a hybrid wall that builders and homeowners love.
Patty: I would like a session about how to keep both competitive pricing and quality construction in our market. I find that when we lose jobs, it is because our competition has lowered the price by sacrificing quality for the customer, and we just won’t do that. Builders will come back to us and ask us to lower our price, and we say ‘no’ because we feel this is what we are worth and what we need for the job; particularly since in our organization we have educated and high quality employees, and we run it like a ship. Then, the customer has to make a choice over quality vs cost. I’d like to know how we let our competitors know we want fair pricing in the foundation industry that will keep us from each other’s throat? In the end, competitors lose money, have to cut back on something to make ends meet, and it lowers the quality for our customers. I’d like people to talk about this, and the CFA is the perfect source to get this going. It’s not something we like to talk about when just visiting with other CFA members.
What did you bring home from the CFA Summer Convention that will be helpful to you?
Patty: The first thing we brought home is our award of course. No one can say that but us! We have displayed it – capitalized on it, shared it with the press, and love telling others about it.
But we brought several other things home from the meeting too. We talked to a lot of people who are struggling – people going through hardship. We listened a lot, and we got some good pointers about coping with losing work, losing jobs and losing money. Now that the election is over we hope that the economy gets better.
We also brought home new information about the immigration issue. I was able to talk to the Mr. Whitlock from Littler Mendenhal, one-on-one about this. We try not employ any illegal immigrants; in fact, when we opened our office in North Carolina, we brought some of our experienced Michigan employees with us and their wages are higher than this area’s typical labor rates. These are educated employees with experience that we pay to keep. They also brought their families with them to North Carolina and have made a commitment to our company. Yes, immigrants are cheaper; for $10 an hour they work hard and don’t complain. In the end their wages keep overhead down and prices lower. David really highlighted information about this issue that Rich and I were clueless to. Now we are in tune, and watch for social security cards, etc that might indicate someone is here illegally.
Another thing that we brought home from this meeting, and all CFA meetings, is that just being a member has enriched our business. We’ve called on CFA for many resources, and both of us have called on Ed and Jim for assistance many times. Rich has often called Jim Baty, Tech Director with questions that he has needed help with. I can call Ed anytime and he is there for me. For instance, we’ve brainstormed about having potential CFA meetings in my area – and Ed took time to listen to me. CFA is a wonderful, wonderful organization to belong to. The organization is focused on our industry and responsive to individual members. You become a part of that family and that’s why we continue to be a member. We look forward every year to seeing the CFA staff and members at the Annual Convention — , it’s like a little family reunion. Lots of faces to see. Children are growing. They (the CFA members) have all welcomed our little girl, Kennedy Grace, this year. Now 18 months old, at the time she was crawling and at the evening events she enjoyed being with all the little kids. She had a ball being around all these kids what was a big spacious area and crawling-to-run to keep up them.
You have been called ‘one of the most aggressive companies in the CFA the past ten years’, where does your confidence come from?
Patty:I didn’t know we would be referred to as aggressive. We’re just regular business people. However, maybe it is because ‘we are’ our business and company – we live it and breathe it.
I was a chef and also built houses before I met Rich. I met Rich when I had hired him to do a foundation. When we got married, I either had to come in to his world or he had to come in mine (restaurant). So, we decided ‘Let’s make the business grow, I‘ll become our sales rep and do the books – so I learned how to sell. We’ve now been married 13 years. People look at us as ‘Rich and Patty from K-Wall’, and we have earned that. Many wives have said to me I don’t know how you do it to work with your husband all day. I say I don’t know how I couldn’t. We communicate all day, starting with coffee in the morning.
We now have 35 employees and we work hard to make it a team. I really enjoy being part of this team by planning holiday events, doing payroll and helping where I can. On the other side, my husband is the one that brings us knowledge about ‘the changing of times’. We talk and discuss, and support each other. Many times I was the wife with my husband’s dinner in the microwave heating at 11 pm at night. But I understand the life because I’m living it. It is not an easy industry; not easy to live and breath concrete. Because it’s my passion as well I’ve gotten over that hump and understand the hours my husband works.
Our confidence comes from the ‘one package’ we share as supporting each other in our company. The work is stressful, but I see the love my husband has for what he knows. We believe in what we do and love what we do. We feel this is a leading industry losing ground to hybrid wall systems. Doesn’t have to be that way — as an industry we must embrace technology. We keep updating ourselves and do good things with that knowledge, and we provide good service. We do special things that make us good (to our customers).
In the market conditions today, what ‘tools’ (figuratively – education? networks? experienced crews? or literally — machinery that keeps you competitive, software?) are the most helpful to your business?
Patty: One thing we use and we really believe in is a software program called ‘job clock’. It tracks employee work hours geared to the job site.
This was one of the biggest improvements we made, and we don’t use job cards any more.
A second thing that really helps us has been to ‘keep on learning’. Ever year we take one employee per year with us to the World of Concrete. We put them in classes and seminars and Rich and I always take some kind of class too. Then we bring back what we have learned and share it with others in the company. Each year the employees are excited, wondering who will get picked.
We’ve also been working on St. John for 4 years, and we’ll be taking a crew back again this year. We use the Wall Ties and Forms ledger system to pour complete concrete home shells. With our experience on St. John, we’ve learned a lot about total-concrete homes, primarily built to hold up against extreme conditions such as hurricanes and earthquakes.
With hard work, North Carolina is slowly becoming a viable business for us, and as a result we will discontinue working in St. John. We’ve captured a great deal of knowledge from working in St. John. In fact we’re going to build a concrete home this year in North Carolina. It is going to be a greenbuilt concrete home, and we hope this opens some doors in this area to this type of home construction method.
What is your best ‘surviving the current economy’ tip?
Rich: No waste. Don’t waste anything right now. Watch employee hours. Use all your extra rebar and materials where needed. Don’t over order and don’t eat up your profit costs.”
Patty: Payroll is important – have a system in place. Keeping track of employees’ hours is really important. Not only do we need to know for billing and estimating, but we don’t want to have a payroll check incorrect and short someone – we know that money is important to families.
What is your best ‘family business’ tip?
Rich: My wife and I are a team and we discuss and agree on what makes our family work.
Patty: As I said earlier, we are ‘our business’ and 90 percent of our conversation with each other is our business. We protect our business, are proud of our company, and work together as a team on projects. We understand what each other has to do. The best family business tip I can offer is ‘you have to be involved with each other to make it work.’
What is ‘next’ for the Kubica’s and K-Wall Poured Walls?
Patty: While we are not quite sure at this point, we will wrap up St. John and close there. We will focus on what we have built to this point now, and be good at what we do. Be conservative and make good customers.
With our baby we now have a home office and we are trying to think about our life cycle. We’re blessed with where we and our company are at now, and we feel very comfortable.
We will continue our growth through the CFA and the World of Concrete. We feel very appreciative of the support and friends we’ve got through this business. I respect my husband; I love him and respect our employees for what they do for us. Our employees have stayed with us for years and we have grown together. I take my hat off to our employees for keeping at it and staying with us to build our company to where we are today.
We are now reaping the benefit of our first 16 years of work and we look back and ask where did the years go? But look what we have built, we’ve done it.
K-Wall Poured Walls Inc www.k-wall.com PO Box 2189, Skyland, NC 28776 (828) 628 WALL 9255 (828) 687-0036 (828) 687-0025 PATTY Fax 231-943-4727 rich@k-wall.com, patty@k-wall.comLIV-SPACE — COST EFFECTIVE AND AFFORDABLE WAY TO TURN Basements Into Quality Living Space
When building a new home these days, many builders are now taking the extra time to design and build out the basement or lower level of their homes. Builders in this type of market are realizing the cost savings that can be generated by finishing a lower level rather than building a second or third floor.
Many homes throughout the country already include a full, in-ground foundation that is usually treated as storage space. Builders that include a fully designed basement and including large Egress approved windows can now include that area as Liv-Space™.
Liv-Space™ by Boman Kemp is a cost effective and affordable way to turn an unutilized basement into quality living space. For around 1/3 the cost of other spaces in the home the lower level can be finished and that savings can be put back in the builders pockets or can be put into upgraded finish offerings.
By including quality items in an upgraded CIP wall, contractors can offer a turnkey product from footings to the finished wall. Poured walls that include quality products such as insulation, waterproofing, proper drainage and ventilation sell much faster than the all too common 4-wall box foundation. By thinking outside of that box contractors and builders can offer a product that is ready for drywall and paint as soon as it is turned over to the builder.
Contact a Boman Kemp representative in your area today to find out more information about Liv-Space™ and how it may be utilized in your next project. Product information may be viewed at www.boman-kemp.com or by phone at 800-733-7886. Home plans utilizing this concept may also be viewed at www.creationswest.com.
